WESTLOCK - A man caught driving nearly 60 km/h over the posted 100 km/h speed limit on Highway 44 earlier this spring received a massive fine and an admonishment from the judge.
In Westlock Court of Justice April 5, Daniel Nmerukini pleaded guilty to speeding after being caught by RCMP travelling 159 km/h on Highway 44 between Fawcett on Chisholm at 3 p.m. Feb. 7, 2023.
While handing Nmerukini a $750 fine and giving him until July 5 to pay it, or serve five days in jail, Justice Gordon Putnam bluntly told him to “slow down.”
“One hundred and fifty nine, that’s getting into the territory of danger. Please sir, slow down,” said Justice Putnam.
In an April 5 interview, Alberta RCMP Traffic-Westlock Const. Dalton Rouse, whose unit patrols the highways around Westlock, Barrhead, Wabasca and Slave Lake, said the officer was heading south on Highway 44 that day and when he clocked Nmerukini “it actually took him off guard.”
“It surprised him because it was such a marked departure from the normal violators that we see on that highway,” said Rouse. “Thirty over the posted limit isn’t an uncommon speed … perhaps 30 over might be too common.”
Rouse also noted that the stop was unique in that Nmerukini didn’t have a Canadian driver’s licence and where they pulled him over, they couldn’t get cellphone service and had to issue an old-school paper ticket. And although Rouse wasn’t completely sure, he believes a ticket for 59 km/h over the limit usually carries six demerit points.
“One of the points I want to pass on to the public is that just because you don’t have a driver’s licence from this country and we don’t have cell reception, that doesn’t mean that we won’t hold you accountable for breaking the law,” said Rouse, noting Nmerukini was cordial with the officer during the stop. “He was entitled to drive in Canada, he just didn’t have a licence from this country. So, just because you don’t have a licence from this country, it doesn’t mean you’re not going to get a speeding ticket.”
