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.