Q&A - Excessive Speeding

Q&A ImageQuestion: If I was driving at 150 km/h in a 110 km/h zone, is that considered excessive speeding? The definition I have found on line states that excessive speeding is over 40 km/h.

Was I ticketed correctly and if not do I have a claim for dismissal as I was charged with excessive speed and impounded?

Excessive speeding

image of car depicting excessive speeding

148 (1) A person who drives a motor vehicle on a highway at a speed greater than 40 km/h over the applicable speed limit set under the authority of an enactment commits an offence and is liable on conviction to not less than the aggregate of the fine amount and the applicable supplemental fine amount, if any, prescribed under section 148.1 for this offence and, subject to those amounts, section 4 of the Offence Act applies.

(2) If a person is charged with an offence under subsection (1) and the evidence does not prove the offence but does prove a contravention of section 140, 146 or 147, the person may be convicted of contravening section 140, 146 or 147, as the case may be, and the person is liable on that conviction to not less than the aggregate of the fine amount and the applicable supplemental fine amount, if any, prescribed under section 148.1 for that offence.

So, no, 150 in a 110 zone is not excessive speeding, one needs to be travelling at 151 km/h or more. I always left a little room on top of that to account for the accuracy of the speed measuring device as well.

Radar / Laser Accuracy

The Pro Laser III is a common laser speed measuring instrument currently in use. Kustom Signals says that the accuracy of this device is +/- 2 km/h.

The Stalker Dual DSR and Genesis 2 radars also specify a similar accuracy.

There are a number of different devices that police in British Columbia use. I expect that the +/- 2 km/h is probably going to be similar among all of them. Without knowing which one was used to measure your speed I could not comment more specifically than this.

Impound Review Information

Impound review information is found on the RoadSafetyBC web site.

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