The Challenger leaves Highway 1 near Golden on a flatbed, Oct. 2, 2026. Photo: BC Highway Patrol (handout)
A 59-year-old Vernon man told a BC Highway Patrol officer on Oct. 2 that his Dodge Challenger Hemi R/T was “too fast.” The officer, according to police, pointed out that the car has two pedals.
The exchange comes from a BC Highway Patrol news release issued Oct. 16, two weeks after the stop. It says the officer saw the black Challenger doing 151 km/h in a 100 km/h zone on Highway 1 near Golden at 10:15 that morning. That is 51 km/h over the limit, past the 40 km/h line where B.C.’s Motor Vehicle Act turns speeding into excessive speeding and the car leaves on a tow truck.
“We’d like to invite all drivers to experiment with using the ‘go fast’ pedal a little less,” Sgt. Michael McLaughlin said in the release.
Same car, second impound
The release says the driver lost the same Challenger in June 2025 to an excessive-speed impound issued by BC Highway Patrol’s Falkland unit, about 16 months before the Golden stop. Police haven’t published the speed from that first stop.
The province’s own guidance on excessive speeding lists the impound periods as seven days for a first offence, 30 days for a second within two years and 60 days for any after that. The Golden stop falls inside that two-year window. The release says the driver was issued a seven-day impound, then adds that ICBC “may choose” to raise a second offence to 30 days. It doesn’t say whether that has happened.
The same hedge shows up in a BC Highway Patrol release dated Oct. 20, about an 18-year-old novice driver from Abbotsford whom the RCMP’s Air 1 helicopter caught at 175 km/h in a 90 zone in his father’s Cadillac. It was his second excessive-speed offence in about a month. He also got seven days, with the same note that ICBC may extend it.
“We stop drivers of all ages who are speeding excessively,” McLaughlin said of the Vernon driver, “but arguably, drivers of this age should really know better.”
The bill
The release itemizes what the Vernon driver was issued:
- $368 for excessive speed (41 to 60 km/h over), section 148(1) of the Motor Vehicle Act
- $109 for tinted windows, section 7.05(8) of the Motor Vehicle Act Regulations
- Towing and a seven-day impound, at his expense
- At least three years of higher high-risk driver premiums
Police put the total at $2,500 or more and say a second offence brings escalating premiums, but the release doesn’t break the figure down. BC Highway Patrol used the same $2,500 estimate in an April release about a first-time offender: a 29-year-old Coldstream man clocked at 207 km/h in a 110 zone on Highway 97C near Elkhart, who drew the $483 ticket for going more than 60 over. He was also driving a black Dodge Challenger. Coldstream borders Vernon.
The souped-up part
The release opens by calling the car a “souped-up Dodge Challenger Hemi R/T.” It doesn’t say what was done to it. There is no model year, no list of modifications and no claim that anything under the hood was changed. The only equipment ticket was for window tint, and a Hemi R/T left the factory with a 5.7-litre V8 and no governor set to 100 km/h.
As excuses go, blaming the car is at least candid. It beats the New York Corvette owner troopers say fled at more than 150 mph and then reported the car stolen.
The Vernon driver hasn’t been named. The release doesn’t say whether he plans to dispute either ticket, and violation tickets in B.C. can be contested in traffic court; he hasn’t been found guilty of anything there.
Should a second excessive-speed impound in B.C. be 30 days at the roadside with no discretion, or are seven days and three years of premiums enough?
Sources: BC Highway Patrol news releases of Oct. 16, Oct. 20 and April 15, 2026; RoadSafetyBC, “Excessive speed and careless driving.”
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