Speeders brag about how fast they've gone on RCMP post about 173 km/h ticket

A Manitoba RCMP Facebook post sending a message about a serious speeding incident took a strange turn as hundreds of peoplestarted postingtheir own top speeds on the police agency's site.

On Thursday, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Manitoba Facebook page put up a post about a driver caught on Highway 6 going significantly faster than the speed limit.

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Officers doing traffic enforcement on the highway, about 60 kilometres south of Grand Rapids, clocked the SUV doing 173 km/hr in a 100 km/h zone.

The driver, who was a resident of Grand Rapids, Man., was charged with speeding, failing to provide a driver's licence and was handed a serious offence notice which means a judge could choose to take away her licence.

She was also handed a hefty $1,119 fine.

RCMP spokesperson Tara Seel said the driver told officers she was in a hurry to deliver an order of flowers.

"We are really hoping to remind people that the speed limits are there for a reason. They are put in place because those are the safe speeds to be travelling on the road," Seel said.

The Facebook post soon generated hundreds of comments. However, many were from people posting the top speeds they've clocked on their own vehicles.

"I think that people do seem to forget that it is a police Facebook page," Seel said.

"While we welcome all sorts of comments, those types of things also do get passed on to investigators."

Serious message

Seel said she hopes the posters debating top speeds don't miss the point of the post slow down.

"Maybe some of [the posts] are a bit light-hearted that we put out there but the message behind the posts are very serious," she said.

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With the highways filled with cottagers heading home from a sunny weekend at the beach or Folk-Festers ready for their own beds, Seel said it's very important people pay attention to the road and to their speeds.

"Highways are busy right now, and this time of year, on the weekends," she said.

"The RCMP really encourages people to slow down, be alert, buckle up, drive sober and just make smart choices so everyone can get home safely."