Police stop alleged driving instructor going 140 km/h

A person claiming to be a driving instructor was stopped by Ottawa police officers for speeding well above the limit.

In a post on social media, officials from the traffic escort unit say they pulled over the “lead-footed” driver on Limebank Road near Leitrim on Wednesday. This portion is an 80 km/h zone; the driver was going 140 km/h, police said.

“Officers continue to hold lead-footed drivers accountable, as was the case earlier today when the driver of this vehicle (claiming to be a driving instructor) was charged with stunt driving,” police said.

As a result the driver faces a fine, a licence suspension and demerit points.

Later on Oct. 8, Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) stopped a vehicle speeding on Highway 417. It happened just before 11:30 p.m., when officials clocked the vehicle travelling 177 km/h, resulting in stunt driving and careless driving charges.

The person faces a $490 fine, fail to surrender permit and fail to have insurance card.

Due to the additional offences, the driver is facing a vehicle impound for two weeks, a $2,000 fine upon conviction and six demerit points.

This driver was only three kilometres from getting upgraded to a criminal code charge.

Crown, OPP agree on tougher charges

There have been several instances of drivers travelling on Ottawa roadways above the threshold for stunt driving charges. In some situations, police are catching the same drivers for speeds double the limit.

Because of this, OPP Constable Michael Fathi said police have consulted the Crown in Ottawa and agreed that any speeds over 180 km/h, officers can lay a dangerous driving charge.

“We’re trying to get the message out to people that you’re not facing just highway traffic charges, but you could now be facing a criminal code charge,” he said.

In this latest enforcement, some of the people caught faced criminal charges for dangerous operation. Fathi credits the Ottawa detachment commander as part of the reason for the changes and the proactive enforcement they are conducting.

“Through his leadership and enthusiasm, he wants to literally make Ottawa as safe as possible for the motoring public and use every resource available to us,” Fathi said.

Shortly before 11:30 pm on October 8th, #OttawaOPP stopped this driver for #StuntDriving on #Hwy417. The driver was caught driving at 177km/h! The driver received several other charges, including – Speeding 50+ km/h over the speed limit, Careless Driving- a $490 fine, Fail to… pic.twitter.com/OFSTNGio6D

— OPP East Region (@OPP_ER) October 9, 2025