Police charge driver with going almost twice the speed limit on 401

By Mariia Khanenko

BELLEVILLE – Two stunt drivers and 85 speeding charges were issued by area police over the long weekend.

A 26-year-old man from Belleville was charged with stunt driving and failing to stop for police after he was clocked driving 191 kilometres an hour on Highway 401, where the limit is 100 km/h. The man’s car passed a police cruiser at the high rate of speed at 2:26 a.m. Saturday in the eastbound lanes near Belleville, according to the Napanee OPP.

The police officer activated the cruiser’s lights but the car initially failed to stop, police say. When the car eventually stopped and the police officer spoke to the man, it was clear that the man had been drinking, the OPP say. The driver’s blood-alcohol level registered at the warning level when he blew into a roadside screening device, they say.

His licence was suspended immediately.

Another incident occurred on Sunday on Bridge Street West in Napanee at 1 p.m. A police officer stopped a car travelling 133 km/h in an 80km/h zone.

The driver was charged with stunt driving for travelling in excess of 50 km/h over the posted speed limit. A conviction carries with it a fine of up to $10,000. A driver also receives an immediate roadside licence suspension for seven days, and the vehicle is impounded for seven days.

Overall during the Thanksgiving weekend, the OPP charged 85 people in Napanee with speeding, and three drivers with going more than 50km/h over the speed limit.

Highway Safety Division officers, who work out of the Napanee detachment, charged 251 drivers over the long weekend.