We’ve all either been a lucky recipient of a speeding ticket, or heard the stories of unfortunate motorist receiving a costly reminder to obey the posted speed limit. Working for Trapster I get to to hear stories about this everyday, and thought it would be good to supply some interesting speeding ticket tales paired with some useful resources for our Trapster users.
Some Fun Facts
That’s a first:
“The world’s first speeding ticket was issued in Dayton, Ohio in 1904.
Throughout most of the twentieth century, the city of Detroit, Michigan, was synonymous with American automobile manufacturing. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, that was not the case. Instead, Ohio innovators in Cleveland and elsewhere were at the forefront of this new form of transportation technology.
Because of Ohio’s important role in the early automobile industry, the state was the site of numerous firsts in automobile history. Among these firsts was the first speeding ticket for an automobile driver. In 1904, Dayton, Ohio, police ticketed Harry Myers for going twelve miles per hour on West Third Street.”
The current USA record holder:
The Koenigsegg CCR holds the fastest speeding ticket in the United States allegedly occured in May 2003 in Texas. It was supposedly 242mph (389 km/h) in a 75mph zone. The car was involved in the San Francisco to Miami Gumball 3000 Rally.
The driver Arthur Chirkinian was arrested and the car towed. His co-driver paid his bail and they retrieved the car from impound. While trying to catch up to the other gumballers the driver noticed smoke from the engine and his oil pressure was low. He pulled over to find his Oil cap had gone “missing” while it was impounded. Arthur Chirkinian hitched a ride to the local Volkswagen dealership where he purchased a brand new Volkswagen beetle and drove it to where his CCR was parked. He filled the CCR back up with oil and took the oil cap off the Beetle and put in on the CCR as that is the only oil cap that would fit his car. He then took off in hopes of catching everyone else, leaving a brand new Beetle on the side of the road with the doors unlocked and the key still in it . He caught up to the pack later that night in New Orleans.
Bugatti Veyron Stunt:
“You may have seen the speeding ticket issued to a Bugatti Veyron driver during Top Gears news segment (July, 2009). It looked as though the California Highway Patrol had issued a 2008 Bugatti a fine for doing 210mph in a 65 zone.
An Orange county newspaper did some investigation and it turns out that the ticket was actually issued to the driver of a 2004 Infinity for doing 100mph. Sadly, the whole thing was a cheap marketing stunt for a self proclaimed social media mogul.”
Highest speeding ticket written to a Minnesota motorcycle rider:
“With a State Patrol airplane overhead, a Stillwater motorcyclist hit the throttle and possibly set the informal record for the fastest speeding ticket in Minnesota history: 205 mph.
On Saturday afternoon, State Patrol pilot Al Loney was flying near Wabasha, in southeastern Minnesota on the Wisconsin border, watching two motorcyclists racing along U.S. Highway 61.
When one of the riders shot forward, Loney was ready with his stopwatch. He clicked it once when the motorcycle reached a white marker on the road and again a quarter-mile later. The watch read 4.39 seconds, which Loney calculated to be 205 mph.
“I was in total disbelief,” Loney told the St. Paul Pioneer Press for Tuesday’s editions. “I had to double-check my watch because in 27 years I’d never seen anything move that fast.”
Several law enforcement sources told the newspaper that, although no official records are kept, it was probably the fastest ticket ever written in the state.
The State Patrol officer arrested the faster rider, 20-year-old Stillwater resident Samuel Armstrong Tilley, for reckless driving, driving without a motorcycle license — and driving 140 miles per hour over the posted speed limit of 65 mph.”
Speeding Ticket Resources
Here is a map of the current Maximum Speed Limits in the U.S.A.
60 MPH in Hawaii? Gotta love the mellow island lifestyle.
Top speed limits in the United States; lightest red color (Hawaii) is 60 mph, darkest green color (certain counties in Texas) is 80 mph.
Play Nice:
If you do get pulled over Stewart Rutledge did a blog post with some good tips on “How to beat a speeding ticket (or at least better your chances)” Here’s the top 3:
1. Get your attitude right.
Fighting with the police officer never increases your chances of leniency. You want him to like you. Prepare to achieve this goal.
2. Turn your car off, and turn the interior lights of your car on.
Place your hands at 10 and 2 on the steering wheel and remove your sunglasses or hat. Some people even advise you to place your keys on the roof of your car as a sign of total submission. Never, ever get out of the car.
The whole point of this is to take any unnecessary tension out of the encounter. You want the officer to be comfortable. Imagine the types of people and the dangers that most officers have had to deal with. Be just the opposite.
3. Be very polite and do exactly what the nice cop with the big gun says.
Save your pleas until after the basics are finished. Many officers will never speak to you until after they’ve done the basics. It’s almost a litmus test for jerk drivers.
Continue reading Stewart’s post here.
Happy Motoring
I should mention that this is just an entertaining read, and I know that speeding tickets do serve a purpose. Many argue that Police should focus on patrolling neighborhoods instead of trying to catch citizens speeding, but if hitting you where it hurts (wallet) is going to make you a safer drive, it is hard to argue with that.
An interesting alternative to this, is Europe’s Speed Camera System. These Euro speed cameras will radar you and then you get a ticket in the mail, no embarrassing public roadside slap on the wallet.
Creative Commons Photos: 1904 Stanley steam car by Skuds, Koenigsegg CCR (at MPH) by TGIGreeny, Bullet Falcon Motorcycle ~ Kick Side by Custom Motorcycles DSCN0362 by aslinth Sources:1st speeding ticket – http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=2599, fastest speeding ticket – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speeding_ticket, fastest speeding ticket on motorcycle – http://www.usatoday.com/news/offbeat/2004-09-21-speeder_x.htm, speed limit map- http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b4/US_speed_limits.svg, fake ticket – http://www.excitador.com/2009/07/bugatti-veyron-speeding-ticket-a-fake/
