Autoblog

An automotive journalist in the Canadian province of Quebec was caught driving 222 km/h (approximately 138 mph) on a public road early Monday morning. Philippe Laguë was testing the Dodge Charger SRT-8 on highway 132 in Longueuil, near Montreal, and faces a fine of $958 CDN ($845 US) , plus 15 demerit points on his license – enough to have it suspended. Maudite!

Laguë claims he's not the only journalist who performs high-speed testing on public roads in Quebec, and that while car manufacturers advise journalists to watch out for police, they often prevent them from testing on closed tracks. He admits that he was driving too fast and obviously made an error in judgement. (Uh, no kidding.) He also says he's going to ask the Quebec provincial police (Sûreté du Québec) to investigate how the information on his arrest was leaked to the press.

Quebec has some great driving roads and many are tempted to push the limit. (Claiming you were rushing home to watch the hockey game doesn't always work.) Needless to say, losing your license, for an automotive journalist especially, poses an even bigger problem than usual. But as the saying goes, "if you can't do the time, don't do the crime."

Merci pour le tip, Raoul!

[Source: La Presse – for translated version click here]