A 21-year-old man has been charged after he was clocked allegedly travelling at 259 kilometres per hour while behind the wheel of a high-performance car in Western Australia’s South West.
Police say the orange McLaren MA3 coupe was pinged doing 149km/h above the 110km/h speed limit along Forrest Highway near Noble Street in Binningup, about 140km south of Perth, on August 12.
After conducting “extensive inquiries” to identify the driver, police executed a search warrant yesterday at a home in Shenton Park in Perth, where they seized several items.
The young man was one of several drivers charged for allegedly driving recklessly on WA roads. (ABC South West WA: Bridget McArthur, file photo)
It led to the young man being charged and the car, which has a top speed of around 325km/h and the ability to accelerate from 0 to 100km/h in just 3.2 seconds, being impounded.
Police said the McLaren has been returned to the owner after it was impounded for 28 days.
Police would then decide the fate of the car following the court-imposed punishment, which could include the vehicle being permanently confiscated or even destroyed.
Another punishment option would be to sell the car, which comes with a lofty price tag of between $255,000 and $400,000, and put the money towards road safety initiatives.
‘No margin for error’
WA Police Commander Mike Peters said the alleged speeds reached by the young driver was “mind blowing”.
“At 259km/h, there is no margin for error. A momentary lapse in concentration, a vehicle entering the roadway, or an unexpected hazard would have catastrophic consequences,” he said.
Commander Mike Peters and Police Minister Reece Whitby say excessive speeding will not be tolerated on the state’s roads. (ABC News: Nicolas Perpitch)
Police Minister Reece Whitby described the driver’s alleged behaviour as “unbelievably stupid” and said innocent people were at risk of paying the ultimate price.
He said police had seen “some of the worst cases of excessive speeding in the state’s history” in recent months.
Roads treated like ‘speedway’
A total of 553 people were charged with reckless driving offences and 3,075 vehicles were impounded between July 1 and September 30.
Commander Peters said that worked out to be an average of 55 cars seized every day, adding there had been a “steady increase” in the number of cars impounded over the last three years.
Some of the cars that have recently been seized as a result of a WA police crackdown on reckless and speeding drivers. (ABC News: Nicolas Perpitch)
“We just will not tolerate excessive, crazy, breakneck speeds that we’ve seen lately,” he said.
Among those charged recently include a 26-year-old Waikiki man who allegedly reached 197km/h — 127km/h above the 70km/h speed limit — on Ennis Avenue in Port Kennedy in Perth’s south.
More than 3,000 vehicles were impounded as part of the blitz. (ABC South West WA: Bridget McArthur, file photo)
A 23-year-old woman from Beechboro was pinged allegedly doing 133km/h in a 70km/h zone in her Land Rover in a residential area on Marshall Road in Malaga in Perth’s north on September 26.
“If you treat our roads like a speedway, expect WA Police to come after you. Our officers will use every tool available to identify you, take your vehicle off the road and hold you accountable,” Mr Whitby said.
The 21-year-old alleged driver of the McLaren is due to face Bunbury Magistrates Court on October 15.