Is it only illegal if you get caught?
How often do you find yourself running late? When you do, how often do you forget things or take chances because you’re late? I would often forget specific books when I slept in for school. It normally annoyed me when I made those mistakes, which usually forced my hand to make other mistakes. Most of those mistakes I knew about, but I still consciously did them. How many times has that happened to you?
I recently read in the newspaper http://natpo.st/U3ff5c how a driver was driving her 2013 Merecedes-Benz luxury sedan at 212 km/h in a 100 km/h zone on the freeway. I’m assuming they were late getting home as they were approximately three hours from their home territory. Now, driving at more than twice the speed limit is dangerous enough, but there were two other huge problems; she had her two young kids improperly secured in their car seats in the backseat.
What was she thinking? Better yet, I know she wasn’t thinking! How on earth could she risk the lives of her kids by knowingly driving that speed? What was so important three hours away that couldn’t wait? Did she not realize that slower traffic would cause her to brake, which would slow down their travel time? Did she think about what would happen if another driver changed lanes directly in front of her causing her to suddenly swerve?
Well, they’ll have at least one week to think about those things as their license was suspended and their vehicle was impounded for 7 days. Will the time off from driving make them change their views? Will their hefty $2000 fine make them think differently about their driving choices? I would certainly hope so. I also wonder if the authorities would be called in because of how this person risked the lives of her two young kids. Personally, I love my kids so much and would never knowingly risk their lives.
So, if this driver was driving twice the speed limit on a three hour drive, you may think, as she did, that they would cut their travel time in half and arrive at home an hour and a half sooner compared to driving at the speed limit. Wrong. Remember all those other drivers on the road? They’ll be driving much closer to the speed limit which would cause this speeding driver to slow down a lot more often. In reality, the most time that this driver would probably save would maybe be 10 minutes because of all the traffic they would encounter on the freeway.
My best guess is that this driver never thought of her actions until after she was caught. Is it only illegal if you’re caught? Think again. I really hope someone she respects gives her something to think about. In the end, this person was charged with dangerous operation of a motor vehicle, racing a motor vehicle and two counts of failure to ensure a toddler is properly secured. I’m hoping that’s enough to make her think again about risking her safety, the safety of her young kids and the safety of the many other people on the road.
I think CAS should have been contacted along with the tow truck. There is no excuse for going this fast at anytime much less with children strapped in improperly.
I haven’t seen articles about it, but it’s obvious that homo sapiens have a speed urge which is paramount. Look at the chap who needed to jump out of a plane, with all the money and support he got–for what? Speed.
We’re creatures of the planet, with hormones driving us, and–as you point out–our brains in the back seat. As a passenger the other day, I watched as my fairly bright friend, Ralph, duked it out with the driver of an SUV. Our lane merged with the lane on the left. Neither would yield. Right of way never entered the mind of the other guy. I asked Ralph what he was thinking and he said, as if it made sense, “I figured I’d slow down when I had to.”
When I took my drivers test, centuries ago, the testers were police officers. The day I took my test was the first snow of the season, with a heavy fall and accumulation. Our instructor called us all early in the morning for an extra practical lesson on dealing with the snow. Taking the test, at the old Keele Street testing facility, driving on the real road, the tester told me to drive down the middle of the 2 lane access road. My reaction was to do as he told me, then, “uhhh, you are a police officer but that’s driving into oncoming traffic”, and his response, was “only if you inconvenience other drivers and only if there’s a cop around. Safety first. If you drive exclusively in your lane on this kind of road, you’ll end up in the ditch.” He made a good point. Safe driving, taking into account road conditions, and defensive driving, with consideration for other vehicles on the road.