Local brass are putting out the call for legislation that would allow cops to seize vehicles of drivers caught cruising 50 km or more over posted speed limits.

Edmonton Police Chief Rod Knecht — who also serves as President of the Alberta Association of Chiefs of Police — says it’s a necessary step to curb a “dangerous trend” in excessive speeding here in Edmonton, and Alberta in general.

He says some motorists have taken speeding to another level, citing a motorcyclist who was recently nabbed traveling at a “frightening” speed of 264 km/h on the Anthony Henday — Edmonton’s ring-road.

Under Alberta’s current traffic laws, leadfooted drivers tagged doing more than 50 km over the limit are fined, given six demerit points and ordered to make a court appearance.

But, Knecht says it’s often not enough to deter repeat offenders.

“We’re clocking people at over 200 km fairly regularly on the Anthony Henday,” he said, adding all they can do is ticket those drivers and send them on their way. “You could give them a ticket, and 15 minutes later they’re in a fatal crash.”

Most worrisome for city cops, is the recent spike in traffic fatalities in Edmonton.

“We are at 25 traffic fatalities as of this morning, and that’s double the fatalities at this time last year,” said Knecht. “A lot of these fatalities are speed related.”

Every year, Edmontonians identify traffic issues as their number one concern to the Edmonton Police Services.

Now, cops are looking for feedback on whether or not a law allowing them to impound Mr. Speedy’s zippy-mobile would ease some of the fear on the roads.

“We’re going to put forward a business case to the province,” he said, adding he doesn’t know what the magic number would be — whether it would be over 50 km or over 60 km an hour. “That’s something we’re hoping Albertans can help us decide.”

He says other jurisdictions in Canada already allow cops to impound vehicles in these cases — including the province of B.C.

Meanwhile, city cops are shifting their focus this year to domestic violence, which has gone up significantly in Edmonton over the last year.

“It’s trending upwards at an alarming rate, we’re seeing a lot of stabbing and beatings,” said Knecht.

He hopes to ask for more funding for the domestic violence unit in the next EPS budget meeting.

angelique.rodrigues@sunmedia.ca

@SunAngeliqueR