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Today's Burnaby speed trap was nailing people racing uphill

Living on Burnaby Mountain means living a life of temptation. To speed, that is. The only way to get off the mountain is by going downhill and nobody likes to do 60 km/h going downhill – it’s feels unnatural.
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Living on Burnaby Mountain means living a life of temptation.

To speed, that is.

The only way to get off the mountain is by going downhill and nobody likes to do 60 km/h going downhill – it’s feels unnatural.

But I do it, which is good because the Burnaby RCMP love setting up speed traps on Gaglardi Way. There is a perfect spot for officers to park their patrol cars and set up their radar equipment because it’s really hard to see them.

It feels unfair to nail people going downhill because you have to ride your brake just to maintain the correct speed. Momentum is a hell of a thing.

Going uphill is another matter. I see people getting nailed speeding uphill all the time. After drivers pass the Broadway intersection, they switch into warp drive to rocket up Gaglardi. Many are trying to get to the top so they can turn left and go down the hill again. This is a shortcut for commuters who want to avoid Highway 1. Other speeders are students with 'N' stickers driving $100K luxury cars.

I’ve seen drivers doing some insane speeds up the hill – only to get met by the RCMP.

And really, I have no sympathy for them. It takes special effort to exceed the speed limit going uphill, as opposed to riding your brake downhill to slow down. Yes, I know this doesn’t really make sense, but this is an opinion column and sometimes I have weird opinions.

So, be warned about driving Gaglardi. The cops are there a lot and if you get caught, you only have yourself to blame.

Myself included.

Follow Chris Campbell on Twitter @shinebox44.