stunt driving ontario

Ontario cops catch speeding American who thought speed limit was in miles

If you've ever driven through the U.S.-Canada border, you've likely experienced that transition period where your mind must substitute kilometres for miles on speed limit signs. 

While this state typically only lasts a moment or two for most, one driver seemed to completely blank on the fact that they were driving in an entirely different country. 

A driver from New York was recently pulled over by Ontario police after they allegedly "didn't realize" the speed limit signs weren't posted in miles per hour. 

Ontario Provincial Police Const. Kevin Westhead told CTV News that police pulled the driver over at Highway 420 and Drummond Road just after 3 p.m. in Niagara Falls. 

Although the speed limit in the area is 80 kilometres per hour, police caught the driver going at a whopping 142 kilometres an hour. 

"They didn't realize it wasn't in miles," Westhead said. "If you convert 142 [kilometres per hour] to miles, that's still 90 miles an hour." 

Ontario police also reported that a child around ten years old was in the vehicle during the incident. 

The driver has since been charged with stunt driving, and will have their vehicle impounded for 14 days and their license suspended for 30 days. 

Although it's expected that most drivers will need a second of adjustment to interpret the signs correctly, not driving 60 kilometres over the speed limit is simply common sense.

Lead photo by

OPP Highway Safety Division


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