Highway driver nabbed at 184km/h

A motorist on a central South Island highway has achieved the inglorious honour of one of the fastest-ever speeds caught on a speed camera.

The 20-year-old man's car was photographed while travelling at 184km/h on State Highway 73 between Christchurch and Arthur's Pass at Easter, police said.

"It's stupid beyond belief really. That's all you can say," said head of the Canterbury Highway Patrol, Senior Sergeant Neville Hyland.

At that speed, if anything went wrong, the driver would travel about 292 metres before reacting and coming to a stop. This compares to about 115 metres for a driver travelling at the legal limit of 100km/h.

The driver will appear in court to face a dangerous driving charge, mandatory suspension of his driver's licence and a hefty fine.

Mr Hyland said the speed of 184km/h would be one of the fastest recorded by a speed camera in New Zealand. But "anything up to 160km/h is unfortunately not too uncommon. There's a big difference between the time and distance taken to stop at the speed limit to excessive speeds. We encourage all drivers to drive to the conditions within the speed limit.

"It's got nothing to do with the fact that 'I'm a good driver and I drive a good car so it's OK'. It's all about the fact that if something goes wrong, how much damage am I going to do to myself or someone else before I stop moving."