A ‘flabbergasted’ police officer has delivered a stern lecture to an irresponsible P-plater who was allegedly caught driving 215km/hr on a rural Queensland road.
‘Never in my policing career have I ever booked someone for exceeding the speed limit by that much,’ the officer told the young man after pulling him over on Thursday.
‘I’ve seen some high speeds in my time, but this takes the cake.’
The 20-year-old driver has lost his licence for at least 6 months, been fined $1,177 and had 8 demerit points deducted after he was pulled over on the Flinders Highway west of Townsville.
A 20-year-old driver has lost his licence for at least six months for driving at 215km/hr in QLD
‘The reason you were intercepted today is because you were exceeding the speed limit,’ the officer told the driver in footage recorded by a bodycam.
‘Do you have any lawful or emergent reason for exceeding the speed limit today?’
After the man confirmed that he had no reason, the policewoman handed him his fine and explained that he they would be deducting 8 demerit points.
But despite the punishment handed down in accordance with Queensland law, thousands of angry commentators have taken to Facebook to bemoan the ‘pathetic’ punishment.
‘A P-plater! The fine needs to be 10 this amount!! Car should be seized and crushed. I don’t care if he’s a first time offender!’ wrote one man.
‘105km over the limit is dangerous, ridiculous & shows he has a blatant disregard for common sense operating a motor vehicle,’ added another.
‘Teach this bozo and any other like him a lesson! Driving on the road is a privilege, not a right,’ commented a third.
A ‘flabbergasted’ police officer delivered a lecture to a speeding 20-year-old provisional driver
The video was posted on Facebook, drawing thousands of commends about the ‘pathetic’ fine
Almost 800 people agreed with his comment, and thousands more chimed in with suggestions of how to punish the dangerous driver.
‘Take these bloody kids to see a dead body even better one who has just died in a car accident and let them see what their parents will have to look at when it’s them,’ suggested one user.
Another wrote that the driver should be made to spend time in the emergency room to gain firsthand experience of the carnage caused by speeding.
‘He should never get his licence back,’ another argued. ‘While these soft sentences continue to be given out innocent people will continue to die on our roads.
‘THIS TIME he didn’t kill someone [but] next time it may be different’.