Speeding at 152 km/h over limit leaves Mustang renter with licence suspension, drug charges

A police officer stationed at a median on Highway 401 to monitor for speeding drivers clocked a local driver breaking the 100 km/h speed limit by more than 150 km/h.

The incident occurred on Ontario’s busiest highway on the morning of Sunday, Oct. 15, 2023, when, at approximately 7:13 a.m., an officer with the Lennox and Addington (L&A) County Detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) was parked on the median of Highway 401 near Switzerville Road, facing westbound and running radar. According to the OPP, the officer had only been stationed at the location for a few minutes when he “observed a vehicle travelling eastbound at a high rate of speed toward him.”

The officer activated the radar, which found the vehicle – a black Ford Mustang – was travelling at a speed of 252 km/h.

“As police were closing the distance on the vehicle, it could be seen swerving lane to lane, passing other vehicles erratically,” the OPP said in a press release the following day.

“Police were able to catch up to the vehicle as it slowed down due to heavy traffic blocking the vehicle.”

The driver was pulled over just east of County Road 6 “without incident,” police said, and the driver was arrested and placed in the backseat of the officer’s cruiser. Upon searching the driver’s vehicle – which police noted was a rental vehicle on social media – the officer found “a small quantity of cannabis easily accessible to the driver in the centre console.”

According to the OPP, the driver, a 40-year-old man from Kingston, was released from custody at the roadside after police laid “multiple provincial offence charges.” Those charges included:

• Stunt driving of a motor vehicle with excessive speed
• Careless driving
• Driving a motor vehicle with cannabis readily available

The driver had his driver’s licence suspended for 30 days, and may face further suspension if convicted. Additionally, the vehicle he was driving was towed and impounded for 14 days. The accused driver will be responsible for all related fees and fines, and is scheduled to appear at the Provincial Offences Court in Napanee “at a later date,” police said.