Ottawa police say they stopped a driver on Riverside Drive Saturday evening after clocking them at a jaw-dropping 172 km/h in a 60 km/h zone — nearly triple the posted speed limit.
The stop happened along one of the city's busier arterial roads, a stretch that connects neighbourhoods across the south end and sees a steady mix of commuter traffic, cyclists, and pedestrians throughout the evening. Police have not released the driver's age or the exact make and model of the vehicle involved, but the excessive speed is enough on its own to trigger Ontario's stunt driving provisions.
Why this matters for Ottawa drivers
Under Ontario's Highway Traffic Act, driving 50 km/h or more over the posted limit qualifies as stunt driving — a charge that comes with immediate consequences. Drivers caught stunt driving face an on-the-spot licence suspension, a vehicle impoundment, and fines that can run into the thousands of dollars if convicted. At 172 km/h, this driver was going well over double the threshold for the charge, putting them 112 km/h above the posted limit.
Riverside Drive has long been a focus for Ottawa police traffic enforcement. The road's long, relatively straight stretches make it a magnet for drivers looking to open up their vehicles, but those same stretches also carry regular traffic, transit routes, and access points to nearby communities. Incidents like this one are part of why the corridor shows up repeatedly in the city's traffic safety conversations.
A pattern police are watching closely
This stop isn't an isolated case. Ottawa police have flagged a rise in stunt driving incidents across the city in recent years, with officers running periodic high-visibility enforcement campaigns on roads like Riverside Drive, the Airport Parkway, and sections of Highway 174. Community associations along Riverside have previously raised concerns about speeding, particularly during evening and overnight hours when traffic thins out and drivers feel freer to accelerate.
For Ottawa residents living near the corridor, incidents like this reinforce long-standing calls for traffic calming measures, photo radar expansion, and continued police presence on the road. The city has already rolled out automated speed enforcement cameras in select community safety zones, but Riverside Drive's higher-speed sections fall outside many of those zones, leaving traditional police enforcement as the main deterrent.
What happens next
As is standard in stunt driving cases, the driver would have faced an immediate roadside licence suspension and vehicle impoundment, with further penalties to be determined if the matter proceeds through the courts. Ottawa police have not indicated whether additional charges are pending.
For now, the incident serves as a stark reminder for anyone driving through the city's outer neighbourhoods: even wide-open stretches like Riverside Drive carry real traffic, real pedestrians, and real consequences for excessive speed.
Source: CBC Ottawa
