SANTA ROSA

113-mph Mini tops 60 speeding tickets



Published: Saturday, November 29, 2008 at 4:21 a.m.
Last Modified: Saturday, November 29, 2008 at 10:45 a.m.
A CHP speed enforcement operation on Highway 101 in south Santa Rosa resulted in 60 citations in less than three hours Friday morning, authorities said.

Officers involved in the effort were targeting mainly those going 15 mph over the 65-mph speed limit, CHP Sgt. Robert Mota said.
The top speed? 113 mph, he said.
The culprit? A young man late to work in a Mini Cooper -- owned by his boss.
"And he was unlicensed, so he had his car towed," Mota said.
The speed enforcement operation involved eight officers in separate cruisers along southbound Highway 101 around Todd Road beginning at 7 a.m., Mota said.
Most of those cited were going at least 80 mph, though a few people pulling trailers and traveling 70 mph were cited as well, he said. The speed limit for those pulling trailers is 55 mph.
"Speeding is one of the three leading causes of all major injury and fatal traffic collisions in California," Santa Rosa Area CHP Commander Kelly Young said in a written statement. "Our goal is to reduce the number of injuries and deaths on our roadways this Thanksgiving holiday by targeting those who fail to drive at a safe speed."
-- Mary Callahan
http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article...NEWS/811290374

 

WOW, I wonder if he still has a job....

 

CHP Commander Kelly Young said that they were reducing the number of injuries and death on roadway by driving safe speed. Why don't the police give ticket to those that drive below the speed limit in the passing lane?

 

2X... Theres nothing that pisses me off more than that

 

I can sort of answer that. If there is not a law passed defining a minimum speed, police really can't write a ticket for it. Example: the interstates in Missouri are posted with a 70mph Speed Limit/Minimum Speed 45mph. If you are driving below 45mph, you can get a ticket. However, the Interstates are the only roads in Missouri I have seen with a posted minimum speed.

It would be bad for someone to get a ticket for driving too slow in town (by a subjective judgement of an officer), speed up and kill/injure someone and say they were driving that fast because they got in trouble for driving too slow. Probably not the answer you want to hear, but that's the reason.

 

There may not be posted minimums, but there are signs about "Slower Traffic Keep Right". From the California Vehicle Code http://dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/d11/vc21654.htm :

 

Not every state has a law stating slower traffic must keep right. FWIW, as long as I can remember there were signs saying "Slower Traffic Keep Right" in Missouri, but there was no law requiring it until 1-2 years ago. Sure there were signs, but nothing could be done about it because it wasn't actually illegal.

Also, I wasn't referring to the part of the post about driving in the passing lane. I was referring to the part about giving a ticket to someone driving below the speed limit. That's why I said I could sort of answer his question.

 

Rumor has it my car will get up to 125 pretty fast!

I am still trying to figure that thing out.............................

 

You wouldn't have started that rumor by any chance, LtRex?

 

Umm..........

Well there was this guy in an Acura..........

Ah heck, never mind!

 

speeding tickets are also the city's biggest money maker

 

The New York State Thruway has a minimum speed of 45, and trucks going up some of the long, steep hills are supposed to have their flashers on to indicate they are traveling below that speed. I've never heard of anyone getting pulled over for going too slowly, however. The number one cause of accidents is 'following too closely', aka tailgating, not speeding. Don't know if anyone keeps track of the number of accidents caused by slow pokes in the passing lanes.

 

I know-you were chasing the guy who drove through your yard.......

That's how you know.

 

Expect more of these showy revenue-generating operations now that the public coffers are empty. How dangerous is the autobahn? We drove a circle around Germany on them, rain and shine. Not a single accident spotted, only one douche cutting us off. Then again they actually have real driving instruction and painful repercussions for lawbreakers.

 

My brother lived in Germany for several years (and my sister in law is German)and had to take the full German driving instruction courses before getting his license. You may not have seen any accidents, but that doesn't mean there weren't any. Germany actually has a much higher fatal accident rate per population (not cars) than the US-and remember that there is a smaller part of the population driving in Germany than the US. They also are MUCH more strict in the enforcement of traffic laws than the US.

 

My girlfriend did not really like my JCW until I floored it on I-4 and it jumped from 75 to 120 in what seemed like no time at all. Now she loves it and she can't wait until she learns to drive a stick. Way to bad I'm not going to teach her in my car.
Ronnie

 

90 is the fastest I have gone. Passing on a 2 Lane Road on our way home from Black Butte Ranch, Sister, OR.

 

Beats my 103 mph record...

 

IB4TL !

 

124 mph

 

You need to rephrase that: give tickets to those that CRREEEEP along in the passing lane. I don't care what the cops think, the turtles are just as dangerous as drunk drivers.

 

that is exactly why i wish i had machine guns mounted in my MINI some times. I live in Florida, nothing is more aggravating then a 90 year old woman who can't see over the steering wheel, driving a boat of a car, and making a right turn from the left lane.

 

Learned to drive in PA and traveled up and down the east coast and New England many many times, currently live in DC Metro Area and I went to College in Daytona Beach, FL. And by far FL has the worst drivers I have ever encountered, drive under the speed limit in the passing lane and refuse to move over, or if it is a one lane road still drive under the limit, do not use blinker, turn from whatever lane they feel like regardless if it is a turn lane or not, stop in the middle of the road when they don't know where they are going, merge into other lanes without blinker or looking, and by far the most annoying they don't go when the light turns green, there is a good 3-5 second pause at every light . The one that confuses me the most is that a lot of people do not turn on there lights when it is raining I know there are idiot drivers everywhere and have encounter isolated incidents of these everywhere I have driven. However, FL seems to be harboring these people. Wow that was a rant, sorry.

Although truthfully it was never a MINI driver, a higher class of driver.

The best place I have driven with the best drivers, Germany, the Autobahn

 

105 mph on 101 n.bound, nor cal felt like 75

 

This is how it works in CA, I had a talk with a CHP officer and he hates the left lane lemmings too, but they've got to write for "obstructing traffic" or similar, and that's got criteria that need to be met, and it's extremely rare that they've got everything they need to stop for that.

And I've seen the Troopers in IL stop for such left lane non passing on the interstate, and IL has a new law explicitly stating to move over unless actively pass when on the interstates.


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