Gardaí investigate Bebo video of 160km/h ‘boy racers’

GARDAÍ are investigating two internet videos showing a driver racing at 160km an hour under the River Lee and along a dual carriageway in Cork.

One of the mobile phone recordings placed on the Bebo website include an image taken by the passenger showing the car’s speedometer touch 160 kilometres per hour (100mph) during a night-time race with another motorist on a road near the city.

In the other video, the driver races through the 600-metre Jack Lynch Tunnel on the outskirts of Cork during the day in just 14 seconds. This puts his average speed in the tunnel at 157km per hour — almost twice the 80km/h speed limit — but means the car probably topped this significantly before slowing as it approached speed cameras which face motorists exiting the tunnel.

The website shows the videos were posted by a member called Brian McEvoy, but his details are no longer available online as the membership has been cancelled.

Inspector Pat Lehane, head of the Cork city garda traffic division, confirmed last night that the matter has been brought to the gardaí’s attention and an investigation has begun.

“We will be examining the material on the internet and also going to the cameras around the tunnel to see if the incident has been recorded,” he said.

The driver and registration of the second car are clearly visible at various points during the minute-long video.

Cork City Council member Ciarán Lynch said the driver clearly thought he was in a PlayStation game and the incident indicates the phenomenon of “boy racing” poses as big a threat to road safety as drink driving.

“There is a case to be made for laws to punish these drivers by confiscating their cars,” said the Labour Party candidate in Cork South Central.

One comment on Bebo said: “Not only is he dumb enough to drive like that. He is also dumb enough to put it on the net and get caught.”