AO

Considering that you haven;t met me in person, I'd say that's a low blow. If you had met me face-to-face, then I'd probably let you get away with it, but as it were....

VehiGAZ

My cousin just retold his great speeding story this past weekend, and it's relevant to this discussion.

He was driving back to Kingston, Tennessee (I think this incident actually occurred in Johnson City) in his new-for-him Corvette (C5 IIRC) on a Sunday night with a friend. The conversation turned to "how fast do you think this thing will go..." (as alluded to above somewhere) and they were off. They got up to around 145 mph or so when they drove past a state cop hiding on an overpass. "Was that a cop?!" "****, I think so!" was the next part of the conversation. They were well past when his spotlight lit up the rearview. My cousin lifted and tried not to have a heart attack, but there was no chase. They cooled off their jets and drove the rest of the way back (a good half hour or or so) within 10 mph of the limit.

I've had similar incidents (like getting a $50 non-moving seatbelt ticket instead of the 93 in a 65 the cop clocked me going - with my seatbelt on), although not at triple-digits, and I've heard similar stories from others before reading this great collection of stories here

So...
Just because you are going waaaay too fast, doesn't mean there will be a cop to see it.
Just because a cop sees it, doesn't mean he's going to chase you down for it.
Just because he won't chase you, doesn't mean he's even going to radio to anyone else to pull you over.

dprantl

Man, it sounds like all you guys live on another planet where all the cops are nice and give breaks all the time. Me on the other hand, I've never once been given a "break". In fact, most of the time the cop is a huge ******* with an unbelieveable problem with abusing his authority.

Dan
'91 928GT S/C

Tom. M

Well..the tickets I seem to get are in my beater Integra at barely above the posted..like 72 in a 60 or similar..
Maybe the cops figure if it can do 150..then the driver must have some semblance of control ..I know ..gross generalization..but who knows.. maybe blatant and total disregard for the speed says something..

Tom in Austin

Great topic! This is true ... when I first got my Mazda RX-7 I was driving on the Natchez Trace Parkway in MS, which if you've ever been on it, is out in the middle of nowhere. There are no buildings, no driveways, absolutely nothing out there.

So I decide it's a perfect place to open her up, and I hold the pedal down till it won't go any faster. Up ahead, coming the opposite direction I see a vehicle ... as it gets closer I can make out that it's a pickup truck. Except there was a cop right behind him, and as I soon as I passed them I could see him turning around to come get me.

I pulled over and got my ins card ready, thinking exactly what you were ...

He was one pissed off officer and let me know that he could take me right then to jail in Woodville, MS and lock me up if he wanted to. After some calm discussion I convinced him I only wanted to see what my new car could do and wouldn't do it again. He said he clocked me going 121 mph.

He ended up writing me a ticket and a stern warning never to try anything like that again.

Some time later, I looked at the ticket ... turns out the jurisdiction is a National Forest and the maximum fine for a traffic violation in a National Forest was, at the time, $25 !

sharknoob

In 1984 i was doing over 100 in my lincoln ( kid plus 460 not a great idea ) pass a cop going other way ....i know he cant turn around for a mile

Got off the next exit and somehow hid in a car thats the size of football field...cleaned out my shorts and didnt do it again....well till i got my bike a few years later (bikes plus old people in cars is for different forum)

New York State Troopers are not real cool about this kind of thing

Stylemobile

If, while pulled over for speeding and you just know you're gonna get the ticket, ask the officer to please give you your ticket soon so you can be on your way because you were obviously in a hurry......

: )

kjurkic

I am a lead-foot too, but fully support realistic speed limits (future essay #1).

I will never call down a civil servant/public employee for performing their duties, even if it means a fine for me. The police perform a duty that I never could, and most of their encounters are with the folks who will never be "leading lights" in the community (just watch any episode of COPS) or upstanding members of society.

Let us look at this from another perspective. Despite being well-engineered, the 928 can still suffer from neglect, and just because a person has the finest of taste in vehicles, does not automatically bestow the finest of driving skills.

Let us also consider that the EASIEST/SAFEST decision for an officer to make is to enforce the letter of the law, rather than the intent (future essay #2). If an officer cuts you some slack, and 5 minutes later you plow your asphalt missile into a van full of school kids, how do you think that officer is going to feel? They don't know you, or your level of skill, and many have no interest in whether your car was designed for those speeds or not. All day long they have to deal with knuckleheads who think they are better drivers than everyone else, often despite much evidence to the contrary. As noted before, any time they DON'T throw the book at you, they are being nice AND taking a chance. I just consider it a velocity tax, and move on.

I do have a comment for any law enforcement folks out there. I have had acquaintances get out of a speeding ticket by claiming they were distracted, and didn't notice they were speeding (>20% over; hard to believe that). Why would a person who is NOT EVEN PAYING ATTENTION TO THEIR DRIVING be less of a hazard than a driver that is travelling that speed or more, but fully focussed? I never deny (but never confess) travelling contrary to posted limits, and I never try some lame-*** excuse, yet it seems the lamers more often get a break; some were even posted here

ramblin' on
Ken

Lizard928

no offence intended, some people are just built larger than others. Police (here anyways) dont normally have cuffs which fit people who have larger wrists.

Gretch

Too late. Man-up fer yer beatin'............

kjurkic

I was worried that Colin might seriously have been banned.....having met him, I would say that despite his (ahem) direct, and some might say abrasive commentary, it would be a loss to the forum.

He is also perhaps too familiar with the habits & processes of our mounties

VehiGAZ

+1!

I call it my speed tax, to be paid once every year or two in order to enjoy a wonton disregard for the posted speed limit. Plus, you can show that you have applied for a waiver to the tax by posting a Valentine 1 on the inside of your windshield.

VehiGAZ

Um, considering the context, please don't tell them I referred you...

chaadster

Yeah, no kidding! Man, I got the business once in L.A. from a cop for jaywalking across Ventura Blvd! Can you believe that? He came out of nowhere, too, just like that cop in the opening scene of the movie Supertroopers.

kjurkic

Dumb-*** that I am, my detector was tucked away in glove box for my first ticket in 5 years. In a place where they are legal, no less.