Victoria Police Chief Del Manak was met with a novel excuse when he pulled over a driver speeding through the snow on Wednesday.
The man told Manak that he is from Alaska and comfortable driving in the wintry weather.
That didn’t sway Manak, who was in an unmarked police cruiser and pulled the man over on the Patricia Bay Highway near Uptown shopping centre.
“The roads were terrible,” he said.
Manak said a Volkswagen Jetta sped by him and the line of traffic he was in at what he estimated was 90 kilometres an hour. The speed limit was 80 km/h, but even that would have been too fast, he said.
“Under severe road conditions, the posted speed limit actually doesn’t apply,” Manak said. “You have to adjust your speed relative to the road conditions.”
The driver got caught up in traffic ahead, where Manak reached him.
He said the driver was respectful and the two had a discussion, but the man still got a $167 ticket for driving at an unsafe speed relative to road conditions.
