A speeding driver in Abbotsford told police they “needed to get to a bathroom” when asked why they were travelling nearly twice the speed limit this week. The incident occurred around 10 a.m. Thursday near the intersection of King and Bradner roads, the Abbotsford Police Department said in a social media post Saturday. An officer with the department’s Traffic Enforcement Unit was conducting speed enforcement in the construction zone near that location “when he observed a vehicle aggressively passing other motorists,” according to the post. The vehicle was clocked at 98 km/h, nearly double the posted limit of 50 km/h, police said. “Had the officer not been present, the 65-year-old driver would have entered the nearby school zone at nearly 100 km/h,” the post reads. “When asked why they were travelling at such a high rate of speed, the driver stated they needed to get to a bathroom.” The officer issued a ticket for excessive speeding and the vehicle was impounded for seven days. Police did not share the driver’s gender or say whether they made it to a bathroom. Excessive speeding is defined in B.C.’s Motor Vehicle Act as exceeding the speed limit by 40 km/h or more. Drivers caught speeding excessively can have their vehicles impounded for seven days on a first offence, and longer if they’ve been caught doing so on any previous occasion within the last two years. Excessive speeding also comes with fines ranging from $368 to $483 and three penalty points for the driver, according to ICBC. “There is never an excuse for placing other road users, pedestrians, or children at risk through excessive speed,” Abbotsford police said, in the post. “School zones are designed to protect some of our most vulnerable community members, and speed limits exist for a reason.” Abbotsford police have impounded 329 vehicles for excessive speed so far this year, according to the post.
