Recorded weaving through traffic at heart-racing speeds that reached 299 km/h, and darting between cars, trucks, and minivans south of Nanaimo, is a mystery motorcyclist that Const. Dave Pennington wants to know the identity of.
“If you’re going to do that, go to a racetrack. This is not the place for this, on the highways,” Pennington with the RCMP’s Central Island Traffic Services told CHEK News on Friday.
Pennington is a motorcycle-driving member of the BC Highway Patrol based out of Parksville, and knows the stretch of highway that’s captured in the video.
It’s a 90 km/h zone south of Nanaimo between Morden Road’s Ruckledge Store and the Nanaimo Airport, and he said he is beyond frustrated that the driver so brazenly risked others’ lives, then posted it to social media.
“So the person that he’s rapidly closing in on doesn’t see him in the blink of an eye, (and) decides to lane change, he’s wiped out,” said Pennington.
The video was posted under an Instagram account called Atrixill, that also posted video of a motorcyclist speeding through traffic on the Lion’s Gate Bridge at 230 km/h. The Vancouver Police’s Traffic unit confirms it is now investigating that incident. But tracking down the specific bike could be difficult.
The account’s bio refers to a Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R motorcycle, but according to Jamie Dick, a salesperson at Parksville’s Spunky’s Motorcycles, it is a very common bike, made for speed, and at a price point of under $25,000, is within many people’s reach.
“It’s like buying a super car. It’s [for] anybody that likes performance. No different than somebody who likes a corvette, young and old, Lamborghini’s, young and old,” Dick told CHEK News, adding that the model is sold “everywhere.”
The videos were pulled from social media soon after CHEK News was made aware of them. But according to investigators their digital footprint will still be present.
If the motorcycle in the video is identified, the registered owner could face a fine of $483 for the speeding caught on camera in Nanaimo alone.
SEE ALSO: ‘Reckless’ motorcyclists speeding almost 300 km/h on Pat Bay difficult to convict, say police
Skye Ryan
