In an SUV, no Less...

Quebec speeder clocked at 240 km/h

Gets $2,598 ticket, record 42 demerit points

Last Updated: Friday, February 4, 2011 | 4:48 PM ET

CBC News

Quebec provincial police stopped a man driving 240 kilometres an hour on Montreal's Ville-Marie Expressway early Friday in one of the worst cases of speeding in Canadian history.

The Quebec driver clocked at 240 km/h was in a BMW SUV, similar to the model shown here.(CBC)The car was caught on radar in a 70 km/h zone at 3 a.m. ET, and police stopped the BMW SUV just before it entered the tunnel.

Police spokeswoman Geneviève Bruneau said the 20-year-old man was sober and co-operated with authorities.

He was issued "a ticket of $2,598 and he also received 42 demerit points," and his licence has been suspended for six months, she said.

Normally, drivers can only be assessed a maximum of 15 demerit points, but new provincial laws allow more points to be taken away from particularly egregious offenders, Bruneau explained.

Friday morning's incident is the most demerit points ever handed out for a speeding infraction in Quebec's history, according Quebec's auto insurance board, the SAAQ.

However, the man is not the fastest speeder caught by Quebec authorities. Police say they have stopped a driver speeding at 242 km/h. But he was driving in a 100 km/h zone and lost 36 demerit points.

The BMW SUV wasn't stolen, but was towed after the driver was stopped. The car has now been returned to its owner, police said.

Canada's worst speeders

The incident is easily among the most notable speeding cases in Canada in recent memory.

Last September, two motorcyclists were caught going 220 km/h on a highway in Quebec's Eastern Townships.

In the same month, two cars were caught racing at speeds up to 200 km/h on Mount Seymour Parkway in North Vancouver, B.C.

In Oct. 2010, a Thornhill, Ont., man was caught going 200km/h on Highway 407.

In 2009, a man on a motorcycle was clocked by police radar doing 210 km/h on a stretch of Saskatoon's Idylwyld Freeway.