It was 9:20 on a Sunday morning.
On Stoney Trail N.E. near Deerfoot Trail, Calgary police stopped a driver travelling 204 km/h.
The speed limit was 100.
That's 104 km/h over the limit, more than double the posted speed. The stop happened on Sunday, September 20, and the driver was ticketed for three offences:
Speeding.
Careless driving.
Illegally tinted windows.
None of the charges has been proven in court.
What 204 km/h actually means
At 204 km/h, a vehicle travels almost 57 metres every second, nearly the length of an NHL rink.
A typical driver needs about a second and a half to see a hazard and react. At that speed, the car has already covered roughly 85 metres before the brakes are even touched. Then it still has to stop.
Stoney Trail is Calgary's ring road, built for highway traffic, and the limit on most of it is 100 km/h. This driver was going twice that.
"Driving at extreme speeds leaves little time to react and puts everyone on the road at risk," Calgary police said.
What happens when you're caught going that fast in Alberta
Once a driver is 51 km/h or more over the limit, Alberta has no payable ticket.
It's a mandatory court appearance, and a judge decides the fine. A licence suspension is also possible.
For comparison, the province's fine schedule tops out at $744 for exactly 50 km/h over. Alberta raised traffic fines across the board on March 13, 2026, including for speeding and careless driving.
Careless driving is a separate charge and carries six demerit points.
About those tinted windows
The tint charge is the least serious of the three, but it's one plenty of Calgary drivers could get.
Alberta's rules are stricter than many people assume. Under the province's vehicle equipment rules, aftermarket tint generally isn't allowed on the windshield or the front side windows, the ones beside the driver and front passenger.
The reason is visibility, in both directions. Drivers need to see clearly, especially at night, and police and other drivers need to be able to see into the car.
Rear windows are treated differently. Tint behind the driver is generally permitted, as long as the vehicle has side mirrors on both sides.
Cars often come from the factory with lightly tinted glass, and that's fine. It's the darker film added afterward on the front windows that gets drivers ticketed, and it can be written up on its own, even without a speeding stop.
This isn't the first extreme stop this year
Earlier, Calgary police arrested a driver after clocking 218 km/h on Stoney Trail, faster than Sunday's stop.
And inside the city, a driver caught doing 129 km/h in a 60 km/h zone faces a $1,200 fine and a 30-day suspension.
The bigger push
Calgary police tied the stop to the city's Vision Zero strategy, which aims to eliminate deaths and serious injuries on Calgary roads.
"Slow down, stay focused and follow the rules of the road every time you get behind the wheel," police said.
See someone driving like this? Here's what to do
If a driver is putting people in immediate danger, call 911. Calgary police treat a vehicle travelling at extreme speed or driving erratically as an emergency.
Pull over safely before you call, or have a passenger make it. Don't follow the car or try to keep up.
Police will want the basics:
Where you are and which direction the vehicle is heading.
What it looks like: make, model, colour.
The licence plate, if you can read it safely.
What you saw: speed, weaving, tailgating.
For something that's already over, with no one in immediate danger, use the Calgary Police non-emergency line at 403-266-1234. Dashcam footage can help, and police may ask for it.
Sources
Calgary Police Service, social media post, September 2026
Fines for speeding, Government of Alberta
Vision Zero, City of Calgary
Comments
Conversation