‘We’ve heard this excuse before’: BCHP catches speeding driver trying to ‘test the engine’ of new Mustang

B.C. Highway Patrol clocked a novice driver doing 200 km/h on Highway 1 while she says she was trying to "test the engine" of her new Ford Mustang. (Source: BCHP)

A 39-year-old woman from Penticton, B.C., is facing steep fines after being caught driving double the speed limit in what she said was an attempt to “test the engine” of her new Ford Mustang.

The vehicle was clocked doing 200 km/h in a 100 zone on Highway 1 near Laidlaw—about 16 kilometres west of Hope—on the afternoon of Feb. 4, according to the B.C. Highway Patrol.

In a statement Friday, BCHP said the novice driver behind the wheel said she had just purchased the 2018 Mustang and “wanted to test the engine.”

“We’ve heard this excuse before, and it does not hold up,” Cpl. Michael McLaughlin said, in the statement.

“Speed limits are necessary because we all share the road. Doing double the limit is a serious danger to everyone around you and must come with consequences.”

In this case, those consequences include a $483 ticket for excessive speed, a $109 ticket for failing to display an “N” and the cost of having her car towed and impounded for a week, far away from her home in Penticton.

Combined with at least three years of high-risk premiums and escalating insurance, the BCHP estimates this joy ride cost an estimated $2,500.

There’s also the cost of the taxi that BCHP says the driver and her passenger had to leave the scene in.