Police catch speeding driver, sunroof-selfie-snapping passenger

West Vancouver Police assisted with extra enforcement on the Sea to Sky highway over the long weekend and came across an usual sight on Monday.

An officer in an unmarked vehicle recorded a passenger vehicle travelling at 40km/h over the posted speed limit through Lions Bay. As the officer positioned himself to initiate a traffic stop a passenger in the vehicle stood up in his seat through the open sunroof and tried to record a video/take a photo of themselves.

Constable Jeff Palmer, West Vancouver Police Communications Officer says that at that moment the officer gave a couple of quick blips on the siren to alert the driver that he was going to be pulled over; “In quick succession the passenger who’s standing in the seat with his smartphone is apparently startled, looses his grip on the smartphone, it smashes to the ground. The driver taps the breaks right as the passenger is attempting to seat back down into the seat, so unfortunately the passenger gets jostled and bumps himself on the edges of the sunroof as he’s sitting back down”.

The 26 year old Vancouver driver received a $196 speeding ticket and the 23 year old passenger, also from Vancouver was issued a $167 ticket for failing to wear a seat belt.

Officers also handed out tickets for distracted driving, unsafe lane changes and speeding over the long weekend on the Sea to Sky. One vehicle was impounded by police for excessive speed. The driver was caught travelling at 146km/h in a 90km/h zone. The vehicle was impounded for seven days and the driver also received a $368 fine.

Palmer says the vast majority of drivers travel the highway lawfully and safely, but there are a number of drivers that “exceed the speed limit by wide margins”. His message to those drivers is that, if police are conducting enforcement at the time you should “expect to have some attention paid”.