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jail for 172mph porsche driver


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Mother: "That's funny, because you passed me while I was picking up your brother from basketball practice."

That reminds me of a funny story. I worked with a guy at Raytheon back in the late 80's who splurged on a Mustang Cobra GT (or was it a Saleen?). He babied this thing. One of the seats got a little tear, so he brought it into the shop to get it fixed. As his father was driving him to work down the highway, his Mustang passed him. His father tried catching up, with his speedo topping out around 110 mph and they never even saw the car again. They turned around, went back to the dealership and told them to expect a call from their lawyer. I think the guy got a new car out of them. :)

FWIW, the fastest I ever drove was 110 mph in my parents' 1972 Pontiac Catalina with a 402 V8. Scary as hell.

Since that day, I've traveled (never driven) on the German autobahn at ~160 mph. Scarier than 110! :D

The craziest was when a young rep was driving me around Germany, doing maybe 130-150 mph in the rain with the temperature near freezing!

Kevin

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I've always wondered how many people get killed per year because they drive as fast as possible regardless of conditions or because people don't understand that if you ain't driving fast enough you gotta stay to the right.

A lots, alcohol and speeds are the major reason for road casualties over here, expecially in the week end.

Edited by porcy62
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In the 70's, I used to drive home after my overnight radio show

on a Central Expressway in Dallas that was much less traveled than it is now.

Driving a Lincoln Mark IV, often at speeds above 100

until I got near a local Drive-In theatre just off the road

where cops used to hide behind the movie screen.

Foolish youth...

...but maybe the youth is still there

'cause I do a nice round 200kph (ca. 125mph)

on the Autobahn everytime I'm there.

The first time tho - I very foolishly

took out my digital camera to snap a photo of the

speedometer! :crazy:

No problem with fast drivers - it's reckless driving

that I hate and is the most dangerous.

Gimme people doing 200kph+ on the Autobahn

over US drivers at 75+ mph careening and wildly passing with no turn signals, etc any day!

An amazing system they have there -

tho friends tell me that it was much better years ago.

Edited by rostasi
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No problem with fast drivers - it's reckless driving

that I hate and is the most dangerous.

Gimme people doing 200kph+ on the Autobahn

over US drivers at 75+ mph careening and wildly passing with no turn signals, etc any day!

An amazing system they have there -

tho friends tell me that it was much better years ago.

Agree on all 3 counts.

I've found Germans to be much better drivers overall than Americans. The system there is better - they have much more intensive driver's education, and the rules of the road are enforced (and more importantly obeyed). Things are much more orderly. The Autobahns are built better and maintained better. Annual car inspections are more rigid in general, plus the cost of driving is more expensive, so people tend to take it more seriously.

Another factor that I think contributes to the overall better driving experience in Germany (which is speculative on my part, but I think true) is that Germans are able to drink legally (and maybe not legally in some cases, but socially more acceptable) at a younger age than Americans, and don't really start driving at quite the same age. In the U.S. there are alot of 16-18 year olds who are just learning to drive and wanting to drink at about the same age. Generally not a good combination. In Germany that didn't seem to be quite as big of a problem as in the U.S.

The traffic in general on the autobahns has gotten quite a bit worse since I first drove on them in 1979 though. Since the Eastern bloc countries opened up, transportation (i.e. truck traffic) has increased tremendously going east and west. It's really slowed things down in general, in my experience.

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No problem with fast drivers - it's reckless driving

that I hate and is the most dangerous.

Gimme people doing 200kph+ on the Autobahn

over US drivers at 75+ mph careening and wildly passing with no turn signals, etc any day!

I agree completely. Very few Americans understand the limits of their machines. When you understand those limits, you can use them to your advantage. I've had a "new" car for 9 months and have not yet mastered the inherent qualities. I love cars and driving. My preference is 4 cylinders, torque, speed and a relatively stiff suspension.

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No problem with fast drivers - it's reckless driving

that I hate and is the most dangerous.

Gimme people doing 200kph+ on the Autobahn

over US drivers at 75+ mph careening and wildly passing with no turn signals, etc any day!

I agree completely. Very few Americans understand the limits of their machines. When you understand those limits, you can use them to your advantage. I've had a "new" car for 9 months and have not yet mastered the inherent qualities. I love cars and driving. My preference is 4 cylinders, torque, speed and a relatively stiff suspension.

What'd you get?

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I agree completely. Very few Americans understand the limits of their machines. When you understand those limits, you can use them to your advantage. I've had a "new" car for 9 months and have not yet mastered the inherent qualities. I love cars and driving. My preference is 4 cylinders, torque, speed and a relatively stiff suspension.

What'd you get?

yugo.jpg

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Oh, I understood plenty what my car could do.

Back when I was an angry young man, I had just broken up with a long-time girlfriend [the fucking BITCH, er....sorry] and took off down a foothill road around 1AM and pushed my [4-speed] car red lining every gear to 100+mph. I was fucking pissed.

Shouting at the wind and gritting my teeth in a white hot rage, I had the pedal to the metal. I didn't give a good god damn if the engine blew. After a few minutes, I passed the only car for miles and saw in my headlights the colors black-white-black.

It was a cop.

Next thing I saw was red and blue lights in my rear view mirror.....and I knew I was had. I pulled over, still seething with righteous rage. Without thinking, I immediately got out of the car and reached back for my wallet.

Then it happened.

The two plain clothes cops in the patrol car dropped down behind their opened doors and drew their guns, .45 semi-automatics, aimed directly at my head. They ordered me to drop my gun [it was my wallet] and place my hands on top of the car.

I was scared spitless.

They approached me, frisked my sorry ass and told me to sit on the curb.

After what seemed like an eternity, they came back to me and said I was free to go. Apparently, there had been a robbery in the area and they thought I was their guy. BUT, they said, if they had been in uniform and on patrol....my sorry angry ass would be in cuffs and headed to the county jail with my car impounded.

My pride in tatters and my heart broken into pieces, I drove 25mph the rest of the way back home....got into bed and stayed in the fetal position until the morning came.

Edited by GoodSpeak
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Yeah, that was in another lifetime, when TonyM and I would have had more to talk about bikes and less about music!

:D very possibly true.

It's funny because I rarely tell people my fastest 'recorded' time going downhill because I don't think they believe you, but it's very possible to do these speeds; I hit 61mph in Time Trial (against the clock) with one disc, one tri spoke, tri bars and cap turned back to front back in 1991. The descent was long, sinewy and smooth with a very light following breeze. You don't' think about punctures! I lost that event by 2 seconds but the course record went on my ride :P

Coming down an Austrian mountain the year after I'm pretty sure I went faster trying to catch the leading riders.

I don't drive fast really. Even when I had the TVR. In the days when even your average Euro-barge can cruise at 100mph and most big German execs are limited, there's little fun in having a big CLK up your arse with blacked out windows.

Getting there is the best bit. Between 60 and 130 was a hoot. My favourite was to find a long Yorkshire climb and pick off 3 or 4 cars in a stretch..

In the UK there's a theory that 'Speed Kills'. Personally I think it's ignorance, intolerance and stupidity. In this neck of the woods nearly everyone drives a silver 5 series BMW or a fast Audi. When I see them hoofing along on cold, damp or icy mornings, usually in a rush to get Junior to nursery, relying upon all the driver aids technology has to offer I despair. Especially when I'm ahead of them on my bike.

Edited by tonym
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