Police hunt Mercedes clocked at 224 km/h on Gardiner

[alexmst]

By Madeleine White
Staff Reporter

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/cri...mercedes-clocked-at-224-km-h-on-gardiner?bn=1

Police have charged one driver and are searching for another after two luxury cars were spotted racing along the Gardiner Expressway early Monday.

The pursuit began after a BMW and a Mercedes whizzed past a police cruiser in the westbound lanes of the Gardiner near Kipling Ave. just after 2 a.m.

The officer who tried to chase them down was only able to pull over the BMW, which was clocked at 189 km/h in a 100 km/h zone.

Its driver, a 29-year-old Mississauga man, driver, was charged with stunt driving and speeding. His vehicle was impounded and his licence suspended.

Police are still searching for the driver of the Mercedes, which was last seen accelerating away from police at 224 km/h.

Back in the 80's I rceall on the TV show Knight Rider KITT in the opening credits showing an increase in the speedometer rapidly shooting up to 300 MPH and the car (KITT) disaapearing into the horizon. I guess the Mercedes driver saw that series as well..."activating Turbo boost...whoosh...later, dudes!" I guess he figured he had nothing to gain by pulling over as he would get a suspension, confiscation and massive ticket...by accelerating away he had a chance of getting off scott free.

Sort of not a fair outcome though, the guy who pulls over when told to gets the book thrown at him, and the guy who takes off and outruns the police gets away.

 

[james t kirk]

I heard on the news the cops have a plate on the guy who got away.

This isn't just speeding, this isn't even reckless, they need a whole new word to describe 224 on the Gardiner.

Throw the book at them.

 

[girorok66]

Throw the book at them.

Agree. If they wanted to race go to a track and do it under a controlled environment...

 

[K Douglas]

When will these clowns ever learn? I hope they catch that mofo Mercedes driver. He/she is a danger to everyone on the road.

 

[Brill]

I hope Lisa is given a slap on the bum.

 

[danmand]

I heard on the news the cops have a plate on the guy who got away.

This isn't just speeding, this isn't even reckless, they need a whole new word to describe 224 on the Gardiner.

Throw the book at them.

Might be difficult. How are they going to prove who drove the car?

 

[rhuarc29]

I'm almost glad to see the police chose not to chase the other guy. I saw the result of one such chase on the QEW and 403 where the culprit's car clearly outclassed the cruiser and it resulted in his car, the cop car, and several other cars getting torn up pretty bad when the shoulder suddenly disappeared (due to construction). This was around 5 pm and anyone who travels that way around that time knows how packed it is. As far as I know, only the police officer and the suspect were seriously hurt, but there must have been atleast 10 cars involved.

 

[Dougal Short]

Sort of not a fair outcome though, the guy who pulls over when told to gets the book thrown at him, and the guy who takes off and outruns the police gets away.[/I]

Odds are, the Benz driver isn't known to the BMW driver, so you're right. Even if they find the car, they might have trouble proving who was driving... Mind you, the owner (and therefore the person most likely to be the driver) might well rat out the driver if it wasn't him/her, if he's faced with having the car impounded. (Can they impound the car, if they don't know who the driver was???)

 

[smart_alek]

They can and have impounded cars which did not belong to the person driving the car. An Aston Martin was inpounded by 7 days when the driver was going over 160km/h on the DVP. It was not his car.

 

[mr.cat]

Just Dumb!!!!!!!

 

[tboy]

Odds are, the Benz driver isn't known to the BMW driver, so you're right. Even if they find the car, they might have trouble proving who was driving... Mind you, the owner (and therefore the person most likely to be the driver) might well rat out the driver if it wasn't him/her, if he's faced with having the car impounded. (Can they impound the car, if they don't know who the driver was???)

they will (most likely) drive the owner of the vehicle unless he informs them of the name of someone else who was driving. At the very least they WILL take the car. I wonder though, do we have a law that protects someone from having to incriminate themselves???

Now, if there was ever a reason for the anti-racing law this is a perfect example. The car should be shredded, not just impounded.

 

[chris123]

They can and have impounded cars which did not belong to the person driving the car. An Aston Martin was inpounded by 7 days when the driver was going over 160km/h on the DVP. It was not his car.

The person doing that should be absolutely ashamed of himself.







It's an Aston, get it up to at least 200kph.

 

[alexmst]

Odds are, the Benz driver isn't known to the BMW driver, so you're right. Even if they find the car, they might have trouble proving who was driving... Mind you, the owner (and therefore the person most likely to be the driver) might well rat out the driver if it wasn't him/her, if he's faced with having the car impounded. (Can they impound the car, if they don't know who the driver was???)

I think if they can prove it was that car, they can impound it regardless of who was driving.

As for the driver, if he says he keeps the car in his driveway unlocked with the keys on the dashboard every night when he goes to bed, since he always forgets where he puts his keys, and he can't recall if he drove the car that night...and he is usually in bed by 1am...and now that you mention it, it wasn't parked in the usual spot in his driveway he tends to park it in though he didn't think much of it at the time, so maybe kids in the neighborhood took it out for a joyride and brought it back later...it might be hard to make any charges stick. Esp if he does (now lol) keep his keys on the dashboard and the car unlocked at the bottom of his driveway LOL.

His biggest worry would be that the BMW driver got a good look at his face and could pick him out of a line up. If they were challenging each other to a friendly late night race, I would assume they made eye contact first (before lining up and having at the open road in front of them), so the BMW driver, even if he doesn't know the Benz driver, could in that case pick him out of a photo array if the police find out whose car it is and put the owners photo in front of Bimmer driver.

 

[Huron]

Speeding does not kill.

 

[zigzaw joker]

I think if the police did get the plate #, they would have already shown up on the car owners door step

 

[alexmst]

http://www.torontosun.com/news/torontoandgta/2010/05/10/13892011.html

In an interview, Sgt. Tim Burrows said a patrol officer spotted two cars racing west along the QEW at 2:05 a.m. — with other cars on the freeway.

The officer gave chase, clocking the Beemer at 189 km/h and his rival driver in a Mercedes-Benz, which got away after accelerating to 224 km/h.

The speed limit on the freeway is posted at 100 km/h and "there was some traffic at the time," Burrows said.

The racers were first spotted around Kipling Ave., and "it took two to three football fields to stop him (BMW driver)" around Dixie Rd. in Mississauga, he said.

Burrows said the officer's video system was operating at the time and investigators will review images of the Mercedes licence plate to "follow up" with that driver.

 

[blackrock13]

Where's a copter when you need one?

 

[alexmst]

Speeding does not kill.

Yes and no.

I enjoy driving fast, sure.

I support raising speed limits to 130 KM/H on 400 series highways

I don't care for racetrack driving as I like the appeal of the open road. This limits opportunity to driving in Germany (if one is lucky enough to get a stretch of road without truck traffic on it), the Utah salt flats, the Volswagen test track in Germany where Top Gear test drove the Veyron to 400 KM/H, etc. 407 is another matter lol.

There are different purposes of driving fast.

A) Because one has a deserted open, controlled access road or test track and enjoys seeing how fast one can go on a straightaway.

B) Becasue one is late and in rush to get someplace

C) Because one is racing another car

D) Because one just likes to drive faster than the speed limit for no reason.

I think reason B is the most dangerous as when one is stressed one is more likely to make mistakes, plus often this occurs in rush hour with many other cars doing unpredictable things, changing lanes without signaling, etc.

Reason C is next most dangerous as if one is intent on 'beating' another car one takes risks one wouldn't take if one was alone just pushing it for fun. I have low tolerance for racers if there are other cars on the highway during their race as they are putting the other drivers in danger.
Close the road or wait for a deserted road. I said before the 407 or DVP should be closed to traffic one day a year for legal street racing for a fee to benefit charity. Let people have fun without endangering other cars.

Reason D is what most speeders in the GTA do I think. Everybody on 407 goes at least 120 km/h. I think speed does not kill if itis matched to road conditions and traffic volume/flow. If everybody is doing 125 km/h on the 407, I will do it to as it is the safest thing to do. When one driver starts doing 100 km/h that is when accidents happen. Or one driver starts to do 160 km/h too, on the flipside. Go with the flow, avoid accidents.


Reason A, be honest how many haven't wanted to test their car once in a blue moon? I think it was in Germany where I got a CL600 up to 221 km/h on a highway, and to be honest it wasn't unsafe. The car can do 320 km/h and is built for speed and it felt like doing about 80 km/h in my Caddy. The road was empty. I would have punched it up to 300 km/h but I ran out of deserted road and once other cars appeared I dialed it down. It was fun, I'm not denying it. However, it is one of those rare things that one savours in the memory. I wouldn't want to risk it here in the GTA on 407 now that teh 50 km/h over limit is in place.For those who liked oval tracks, sure, there is that option. I don't care for it, and would rather have enjoyed my public highway 221 km/h burst in Germany ONCE to doing laps every weekend on a track in Ontario.

In this article, the racers did not have a deserted road, there were other cars around. That is why I am against what they did - derserted highway, I'm not going to be on their cases. But I will complain if the highway has grandpa driving home from visiting the kids on it as racers put less skilled drivers at risk as collateral damage. Also, driving 200 km/h + on city streets that are not contolled access (like the moron who did that speed on Finch Ave W previously and killed people) is crazy and I have no sympathy for that kind of recklessness.

 

[alexmst]

Can anyone find a Smiley for "TALKING OUT OF YOUR ASS"?

Photo array? Too many Law and Order re-runs?

I know it is the internet but I don't know why I even bother challenging such idiotic statements. After all, those who make them are often too stupid to know that they are too stupid.

But...


The owner of the car has no obligation to explain ANYTHING. To go off on such a bullshit story is a criminal offense.

oh... forget it... carry on Perry Mason

Thanks

I'm not in law enforcement so I have no idea whether police in Canada use photo arrays or lineups. If you have such knowledge, fine I defer to you on that.

As for the joke about leaving his keys in his car, my sarcastic form of humour often goes over your head...obvious I was not SERIOUSLY suggesting he use that humorous excuse. I will remember to use a sarcastic icon next time for you. How many people on here thought I was serious about using the excuse? Come on, man, lighten up.

 

[alexmst]

if they knew who it was they would never suggest the person talk to a lawyer and turn himself in.

I would agree with you on that.

How long does it take to review the camera footage? Seems to me they would have looked at it by now.