There are no public roads in Australia where you can legally drive at 197km/h, but a 70km/h zone seems an especially dumb place to try this.

On Sunday, March 16, St George Highway Patrol officers were performing speed enforcement duties when they detected a BMW M3 travelling at 197km/h in a 70km/h signposted stretch of Captain Cook Drive in the south-east suburb of Woolooware.

The M3 was subsequently pulled over, with police finding the sports sedan’s 21-year-old driver wasn’t its owner.

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While this prevented them from confiscating the car’s number plates – something which New South Wales Police officers have the power to do, if the vehicle’s owner is the driver – he was still slapped with significant penalties.

This included an infringement notice for exceeding the speed limit by more than 45km/h, which incurs a fine of $2959 and six demerit points.

However, as it’s also classified as a “serious speeding offence”, the man’s licence was also suspended for six months on the spot.

Last year, St George Police was one of three New South Wales Area Commands to launch Operation Engage, which targeted motorists driving anti-socially or dangerously on the Botany Bay foreshore.

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