Fastest Speeder

[Scruit]

What is the fastest you have ever ticketed a speeder for? What penalty did they get?


I heard of a guy in the UK caught doing 153mph in a BMW M5 back in '96. He got 3 months in jail.

[Officer Moe]

The fastest speeder (biggest infraction difference) I ticketed was 72 in a 25. Worked for the city's street department. Coincidentally it was my very first speeding ticket I ever wrote.

[darrell]

I was riding with a officer one night when we clocked a black car going 111 in a 35. Officer turned on the overheads and the guy pulled over as fast as he could. Its ok though he still wrote him for 111 in a 35, and hooked his car and made him walk home.... lol Better then arrestign him he told the guy..

[vadep]

103 in a 55 (got 10 days in jail and something like a 1000 dollar fine)

Just a few days ago got a guy doing 74 in a 35, court case pending....

[tim9412]

I've had 103, 111, and 114 all in a 60 zone. A fellow officer had one at 135.

[Scruit]

I frequent a nissan maxima forum and there are certain individuals in that group that will admit to speeding in excess of 100mph on the freeway at times. I myself once drove 145mph for about 5 miles when I was much younger and just got my license and keys to my dad's Cavalier (Vauxhall Cavalier SRi 130 in the UK - not an American chevy cavalier!)

Last time I was in the UK I drove from Edinburgh to Huddersfield on deserted fmotorways in 2:45. That's 260 miles. We didn't see any other cars for 25-30 miles at a time. Averaged 100mph the whole way, at night. My wife slept through most of the journey except when I slowed down to normal freeway speed because there were other cars around - and in between I was doing 110-120.

Through all this I never really considered that a custodial sentence was possible for a speeding offence. I guess it's something to think about. :eek:

(in the US I never exceed the limit by more than 10mph on the freeway - Even if I wanted to, I would not be able to because freeway lane discipline is so bad!)

[Stump]

I got caught for 20 mph over twice, years and years ago.... I was doing 55/35 and 75/55. No big deal. I don't know why I didn't get snagged going 125 one night when I went past a deputy.... ???

[DepDog]

I have gotten lots of vehicles a 100+ mph. In Michigan a speeding violation is only a civil infraction and a fine, you cannot get jail time for a civil infraction.

Some of the posts indicate that the person got jail time for a speeding violation? How can this be? Are you writing them for Reckless Driving also, which would be a misdemeanor?

[zander_zye]

Driving over 100+ in CA makes it reckless driving, a misdemeanor. (The CHP's criteria is also 3 moving violations such as unsafe lane changes, speeding, failure to signal, etc -- however this is merely policy and not law)

[vadep]

Originally posted by DepDog
Some of the posts indicate that the person got jail time for a speeding violation? How can this be? Are you writing them for Reckless Driving also, which would be a misdemeanor?

I wrote my above violations under reckless driving (Virginia code section 46.2-862... 20 mph above posted speed limit or in excess of 80 mph regardless of limit). The "speeding" violation is a lesser included offense of the reckless under this code, and is not written separately.

Reckless driving is a Class 1 misdemeanor, punishable of up to 1 year in jail and/or a 2500 dollar fine.

Just to add a couple things.... in order for the violator to be eligible for jail time when writing a summons for an offense like this, you must ensure the the subject is arraigned. We do this by writing "arraignment" on the summons, and by setting the court date/time appropriately.

[allusivewolf]

Maybe i am not tracking here, but i dont understand why people feel compelled to go 30-50 mph or what ever over the speed limit, majority of the people that speed like that only do for a short period of time, so actually they arnt gaining that much as far as distance.

It seems that some people dont realize that if it is 65mph and they are going 85mph they are 20mph over and "reckless driving" however for them to really see a difference in thier milage vs. time issue they would have to go that speed for a couple hours or so. why would you want to "cut your own throat" to save yourself about 10 more minutes of driving, not to mention a hefty fine, and or jail time.

just a thought

[Scruit]

I can count the number of times I've exceeded 90 in the US on two hands - that's over 6 years. It always happens the same way - I'm a mile from my exit and need to get over but the freeway traffic to my right is very dense. Up ahead there is a safe gap across all four lanes in front of the clump to my right. I have the choice to accelerate up to 90 for a few seconds to reach the safe gap and make my lane changes there, or try to squeeze myself into and through the traffic clump on my right - mostly they don't leave enough following distance fro themselves, never mind another car....

Lesser of two evils... This explanation may not fly with an officer by the side of the street, but if you really compare how dangerous each option is, what would you do?

[Barenaked]

I have the choice to accelerate up to 90 for a few seconds to reach the safe gap and make my lane changes there, or try to squeeze myself into and through the traffic clump on my right

How about the safest option. Miss your exit. Get over when it is safe to do so at a resonable speed and get off at the next exit to turn around. Whats so hard about that?

[txinvestigator1]

Or plan your exit better and begin to look for a gap farther from the exit.


There ya go Scruit, two additional choices for you, neither of which require you to do the lesser of two evils.

Glad to have helped.


:p

[Scruit]

I will do that. Thanks TX and USCG. My twice daily 100mph runs are a thing of the past... :p