Young driver caught at 168 km/h on A65 loses licence and car

A 19-year-old driver was stopped at 168 km/h on the A65 motorway in Pyrénées-Atlantiques, south-west France, on October 25.

The stretch at Viven had a 100 km/h limit for him as a young driver, although the general limit there was 110 km/h.

The road was wet and it was getting dark, conditions that can make speeding more dangerous.

He appeared to be in a hurry to get home to Mont-de-Marsan, but gendarmes said he gave no credible explanation for driving so fast.

His licence was taken immediately, and his Dacia was impounded for seven days.

Gendarmes stopped him during a traffic-control operation aimed at tackling serious speeding on major roads in the department.

He will need another way to travel while his car remains in the impound lot.