New driver with street racing bumper sticker crashes into tree
A new driver with questionable taste in bumper stickers wrapped a car around a tree early Thursday, sending one of three passengers to hospital.
The bumper stickers say: “Street racing is not a crime. Well it is but f**k it” and “Yes officer I did see the speed limit sign (I just didn’t see you)” A sticker on the windshield says: “Speed hunter.”
Oak Bay police said the crash happened at 12:45 a.m. on Beach Drive after a Ford Mustang sped past an officer and was clocked doing 73 kilometres an hour in a 40 km/h zone. The officer turned on his lights and turned onto Beach. The driver hit the tree about 350 metres away.
The 20-year-old driver was given five tickets for driving without due care and driving contrary to licence restrictions.
She was also found to have a blood-alcohol reading of .04, which is against the conditions of her licence. The decision on what happens with the licence goes through the superintendent of motor vehicles.
The passenger who was hurt was taken to hospital with a possible vertebrae injury, but has since been released.
“The stickers on this car are an indication of how immature and unaware some drivers are,” Oak Bay Police Deputy Chief Ray Bernoties said. “This driver endangered the lives of her passengers and others and ultimately injured one of her passengers.
“We sincerely hope nobody has to die for these people to understand how serious this is.”
Due to the potential for serious injury and the proximity of police, the Independent Investigations Office was contacted, Bernoties said. He said the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner was also notified “to ensure accountability and transparency.”
Oak Bay police stopped another new driver with three passengers June 7 going 110 kilometres an hour in a 40 km/h zone in the area of McNeill Bay. The driver was slapped with a $477 ticket for excessive speeding and a sevenday vehicle impound.