Most 17-year-olds have done something questionable behind the wheel. Maybe you rolled a stop sign. Maybe you “forgot” to check your mirrors.
But a Welland, Ontario teen managed to speedrun basically every traffic violation on the books in a single Sunday night joyride — including a detail so absurd it almost sounds made up.
Ontario Provincial Police pulled over a 17-year-old G2 driver on Highway 406 northbound near Highway 20 around 8:20 p.m. this past Sunday after clocking the vehicle at 125 mph — in a 68 mph zone. That’s not “running a little late” speed. That’s “I have somewhere extremely important to be and also zero regard for physics” speed.
But here’s where the story takes a turn worthy of a heist film: as officers prepared to tow the vehicle, they discovered two passengers tucked away in the trunk. The car had already been found to have four people inside the cabin, which itself violated the teen’s G2 novice driver restrictions. But no — apparently four wasn’t enough. The trunk was apparently open seating. A bit of a crazy turn to an otherwise cut-and-dry police chase.
The Aftermath
In total, the driver walked away — or rather, was driven away by someone else (not in the trunk) — facing charges of stunt driving for excessive speed, careless driving, novice driver passenger violations, failure to surrender a permit, and failure to have an insurance card. Dad’s car, by the way. Which is now impounded for 14 days. That’s going to be a fun dinner conversation.
The driver’s license has also been suspended for 30 days, giving everyone involved plenty of time to reflect on their choices — including the two people who apparently decided the trunk was a reasonable place to sit for a highway cruise at highway-plus-fifty-seven speeds.
To be fair to car enthusiasts everywhere: this is not what anyone means by “she’s got plenty of room in the back.”
Police did not release the gender of the driver or passengers, but did confirm that the vehicle belongs to the driver’s father, who presumably had no idea his car was being used as both a rocket ship and a people carrier simultaneously.
The OPP Highway Safety Division continues to remind drivers that Highway 406 is not a race track, trunks are not passenger compartments, and G2 licenses come with restrictions that exist for reasons that should now be painfully obvious.