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Opinion: A Burnaby speed freak got his ride seized. It's not enough

We’re fresh off a pickup truck driver dying after speeding down a Burnaby road and here comes another maniac.
burnaby rcmp traffic
This vehicle was travelling highways speeds on a quiet Burnaby road. Now it's been impounded by the traffic enforcement unit. Burnaby RCMP photo

We’re fresh off a pickup truck driver dying after speeding down a Burnaby road and here comes another maniac.

Despite rainy and dark conditions, this driver was nailed doing twice the speed limit - 105 km/hr in a 50 km/hr zone - entering a residential area, according to Burnaby RCMP.

That is freeway speed on a quiet street.

“For his error, the driver got a $368 VT and his vehicle was impounded for 7 days,” said the RCMP.

Seven days feels like a slap on the steering wheel, but that’s what the law says and police are just following it.

I wish we could impound vehicles longer to really send a stronger message. Seriously, driving on a residential street like you are on Highway 1 – that’s insanity.

For me, it’s not just about protecting other drivers, pedestrians and cyclists. I also want to protect the speed freaks - from themselves.

Second person dies on a Burnaby road after driver rolls truck_1
The driver of a pickup truck heading southbound on Boundary Road in Burnaby lost control and rolled the vehicle across into the northbound lanes, colliding with a car before landing on its roof. Shane MacKichan photo

As I said, a truck driver was killed on Saturday while speeding down Boundary Road in the dark. He lost control and flipped his truck and then CROSSED THE MEDIAN before crashing into another vehicle.

This 40-year-old man is now dead. If he was married, then he made a widow out of somebody. If he was a father, then those children now have no dad for the rest of their lives.

All because he was speeding. All because he was reckless.

Too many people need protection from their impatient selves. The public needs protection from them too.

I’m fed up with coddling these maniacs.

Follow Chris Campbell on Twitter @shinebox44.