This is the mother of all speeding tickets

[ps1074]

The below Minnesota speeding ticket should be in a museum someplace. That's because motorcyclist Samuel Tilley, 20, was clocked Saturday afternoon going 205 mph on his Honda. That was 140 mph over the limit on U.S. Highway 61. Tilley was clocked at Indy car speeds by a State Patrol pilot flying overhead, stopwatch in hand. The pilot radioed ahead to a state trooper who pulled Tilley over and issued the reckless driving citation. Tilley, the son of a sheriff's deputy, displaces William Faenza at the top of TSG's speediest driver list. Faenza was nabbed last September when Pennsylvania cops clocked him doing 182 mph in his Lamborghini Diablo.



http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/0922042speed1.html

[Voice_of_Europe]

1. 115 $ ??

That's cheap...

In Switzerland we pay about 50$ for 5kmh over the limit and then it increases almost exponentially...

In other countries you even pay x% of your income which can be many thousand and in some cases millions of dollars.

[kick-ass-bob]

5. I think that was just one of the fines

the one for speeding seems to be $215.

[ze_dscherman]

2. Cheap

In Germany, he would be fined 375 Euro and loose his license for three months.

[RivetJoint]

3. Of course

he could also not be fined anything if he was on a unrestricted speed part of the autobahn.

[BigMcLargehuge]

4. I read that story a couple of weeks ago... 205 MPH... Jeebus

on a motorcycle...

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

6. Nice. And we trust the helicpoter sheriff's math skills?

Sorry. I have been at 140 on a bike on a new stretch of pavement. I am having a difficult time buying that speed.

[dr.strangelove]

7. Thats pretty hard to believe

A motorbike travelling at that spped would need almost perfect pavement, with no turns and near perfect weather conditions to achieve and carry that speed for a long enough length of time for the "air cop" to observe it and record it. I'd love to see the tape of this. It is certainly possible, but if he was going 205, he is lucky to be alive.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

8. Thank you

140 was plenty scary on NEW pavement.

[dr.strangelove]

9. You are nuts

I could never drive a bike that fast. I had a great little Vulcan when I was in college. I got a little scared hitting 95-100 on flat open road. Granted I'm no professional driver, but I thought 100 was pretty scary. I could never do 140 on a bike. you are either a much better driver than I, or you are plain crazy. Maybe even a little bit of both. (Kidding about the crazy thing, you must have some great driving skills to pull that speed.)

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

10. Nah, nuts is more like it. It was a test of a GPS unit. That is

how I know I hit 140... my spedo on my Honda topped at 85.

It was very scary, but it was a nice humid day on new pavement on a flat highway... Ocean Parkway in NY. No other traffic, btw. Everyone was diverted to the other side for painting.

Someitmes it pays to have friends in State Trooper cars.

[GiovanniC]

11. I Just Got a Ticket for 88mph in Virginia...

And the penalty is up to $2500, 6 license points and a year in jail!

[rbnyc]

12. Sorry, but I think that's fair.

I don't see the difference between speeding and assault with a deadly weapon.

[GiovanniC]

13. I Guess It Would've Been Easier to Accept That Logic

If the two people who had just passed me got the same treatment. I think that my out-of-state plates had more to do with me getting pulled over than the number on my speedometer.

People drive like maniacs in Virginia, from what I saw. In Michigan, I keep it to the speed limit (70 mph) or just slightly above. In VA, going the speed limit is a good way to get yourself killed.

[Pithlet]

15. I've driven in VA many times.

DC beltway and surrounding areas. And have never gone even close to 88 mph.

[GiovanniC]

16. Not the DC Beltway

I barely went 20 mph around DC, with all the traffic. I'm talking about south of Richmond. It's whatever... I hear the same crap in Michigan, too. People drive like idiots on I-94 and I-96. I don't have much sympathy for them, either. But here, the penalty is between $150-200 fine and 4 points and no jail time, so they get off pretty easy. My driving record is clean as a whistle here in Michigan. No tickets, no nothing. I'm a good driver. And again, I was going SLOW in relation to the vehicles around me. I was getting passes like crazy, even at (according to the cop) 88 mph.

For the record: I was speeding, but I don't believe I was going 88 mph. That's pretty damn fast. I am taking the officer's word for it. When I saw the cop and glanced down at my speedometer, I was going around 80. Which, for all purposes in VA, is the same as 88 anyway.

[Pithlet]

18. Well.

I don't think that you should go to jail. I'm talking about excessive speeding, multiple times. Your post sounded a little like a lot of the defensiveness from chronic speeders, so I misunderstood. A lot of people get the occasional ticket for going 10-15 mph. I'm not talking about that. Reckless driving needs to be cracked down on, though. And people that repeatedly get get speeding tickets who go 20+ or over need to get more than a slap on the wrist.

[GiovanniC]

23. I Agree With That

I saw some incredibly dangerous driving during my week in Virginia. One time, a tractor-trailer loaded with about 7 or 8 SUVs on the back was weaving in and out of traffic like he was driving a Miata or something. And FAST. He had to be going at least 85. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it. I wished there were police around then.

Another time, we saw a police car that was going probably at least 80, and was getting PASSED by other motorists. I don't know if he was just out of his jurisdiction or something, but he didn't make a move to pull anyone over at all.

If I was a crazy driver that sped all the time or something, I could understand the harsh penalties. But I haven't had a ticket since I was a teenager (until now, obviously). My driving record now is very clean.

[rbnyc]

26. They should have gotten the same treatment.

It is also frustrating that so many people break driving rules that it puts you in danger to follow them. That's one reason I will never drive.

[Pithlet]

14. I agree. We'll get flamed

But I think penalties for excessive speed and reckless driving should be higher, especially after one or two offenses. I think the guy who got the ticket in the original post should have been arrested. I think anyone driving 100+ mph should be arrested.

[CanuckAmok]

17. Up here...

I know that a certin percentage in excess of whatever the speed limit is will net you an automatic, on the spot license suspension. The cop takes your license right there and then, and you have to go to court to get it back. Fines are huge, too.

I've only ever had one, and it was $185 for doing 80KM/h in a 60KM/h zone (that's about 65mph in a 50mph zone).

[Pithlet]

21. That's how it should be.

I've only ever had one ticket as well. The cop said I was doing 10 over, but I don't even think I was doing that. There was another car that had just passed me before we went around the corner.

[rbnyc]

25. I expect we will.

Especially if someone reads this who doesn't remember that I lost my first baby due to reckless driving.

I still get so scared whenever we have to drive anywhere. I sit in the back seat with Garrison.

[geniph]

19. He's not even licensed to operate a motorcycle

I'm trying to picture what hitting a stone in the road, even a small stone, could do to a motorcycle traveling 205mph. Sudden deceleration upon pavement impact seems like it would pretty much turn the rider into strawberry jam. They'd scrape him into body bags with snow shovels.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

20. Again, I sincerely doubt the 205 claim. I suspect math error

on the part of the pilot.

[TX-RAT]

22. Should have been arrested.

[skygazer]

24. Son of a cop

Why doesn't this surprise me? And simply issued a citation? I would have been dragged downtown and put under the bright lights.