Dangerous operation of motorcycles on Highway 17 near Victoria

At least three motorcycles, excessively speeding and weaving in and out of traffic on Highway 17, prompted over a dozen 9-1-1 calls to police Monday evening.

On Monday, June 6 at 7 p.m. witnesses reported to police that the motorcycles were racing up and down Highway 17 in Saanich and then into neighbouring Central Saanich, North Saanich and Sidney. There are reports they were in the West Shore area as well.

Traffic Safety Officers with the Saanich Police Department attended to the highway, observed the racing motorcycles and attempted to stop them. The riders failed to pull over and they continued to accelerate at a high rate of speed.

"At this time, we are asking the public to check their dashcam footage to see if they captured the riders, who did multiple laps up and down the highway around 7 pm," said Cst. Markus Anastasiades. "One of our officers was able to obtain a speed reading on one motorcycle of 270 km/h, which is an incredibly dangerous speed that put all road users at a significant risk of injury that evening."

The motorcycles were described as red, blue, and black sports bikes with no licence plates visible.

The Traffic Safety Unit will be working with ICBC and Road Safety BC as part of this ongoing investigation.