Merritt man caught doing 208 km/h on Coquihalla in lifted pickup

A Merritt man is facing some serious repercussions after he was clocked going well over the speed limit on the Coquihalla Highway just south of Kamloops last wee.

The 43-year-old was behind the wheel of a lifted Dodge pickup truck when he was nabbed around 7 p.m. Friday, April 10, when an officer saw the vehicle was going much faster than the other traffic.

“This pickup was hard to miss, with its lifted suspension and a laser radar reading of 208 km/h in a 120 zone,” Cpl. Michael McLaughlin with the RCMP BC Highway Patrol said in a media release issued today, April 17.

“No vehicles are safe at those speeds on public roads, but a heavy truck that is high off the ground is even more unstable than other traffic.”

The driver, whose son was in the passenger seat next to him, told the officer he was testing his engine which is not a legal excuse for speeding.

The Merritt man was given a $483 fine for excessive speed, he’ll pay the cost of a tow truck and a seven-day impound and a least three years of high-risk driver premiums which bring his total cost to around $2,500.

“There was no margin for error here, and this is why excessive speeding tickets and impounds exist,”Cpl. McLaughlin said. 

“We don’t want you or your kids to get hurt or killed and we would much prefer that you just slow down.”