Teen going 147 km/h on Hamilton road tells police he was driving to the mall

A Hamilton teenager pulled over by police for going 147 km/h told the officer he was on his way to the mall.

A 17-year-old driver in Hamilton told a police officer that he was on his way to the mall after being stopped for speeding.

Hamilton police posted the body-worn camera footage of the interaction that occurred on Centennial Parkway on Tuesday.

In the video, the officer informs the teenage driver that he was stopped because he was coming down the hill very fast. According to police, the teen was travelling more than double the speed limit, going 147 km/h in a 70 km/h zone.

“Was I?” the teen asked. When the officer asked where the teen was going, he said he was going to Eastgate mall.

“Why were you in such a rush?” The officer asked. The driver replied, “I don’t think I was going that fast.”

The footage then shows the officer speaking to a woman on the sidewalk.

“There’s been four traffic fatalities in the last week. Majority of them are speed-related,” the officer tells the woman.

“I don’t want anything to happen to him or anybody else on the roadway. So our job is to stop this behaviour from happening and the only way that we can do that is by enforcing the law.”

The officer, now speaking to both the woman and the teenager, tells them that speeding and stunt driving charges are going to be laid.

According to police, the driver’s licence was also suspended, and the vehicle was impounded.

The teen is one of the four drivers stopped recently for speeding during Hamilton police’s targeted enforcement initiative.

A 36-year-old driver was clocked at 172 km/h in a 70 km/h zone in Ancaster while allegedly racing another vehicle. Police intervened.

“These speeds are not just numbers, they represent real danger,” Hamilton police chief Frank Bergen said in a statement. “Every time someone chooses to drive this way, they are putting lives at risk.”