My Reatta will not be in the record books

[Barney Eaton]

Attached is a link with the top 20 speeding tickets in Texas for 2017.

If  you have ever been to Texas, you know it is big and I suspect that there are some high speeds that never got caught....especially in west Texas where one Trooper may be patrolling an area the size of Connecticut.

For comparison, I live in Williamson County, pretty much in the middle of the state, it is larger than Rhode Island.....and has 3 of the top 20 speeders.

Also note that 14 of the top 20 are motorcycles.

Link = http://www.thedrive.com/news/17282/181-in-a-75-here-are-the-20-fastest-speeding-tickets-in-texas-in-2017

Edited January 11, 2018 by Barney Eaton (see edit history)

[John_S_in_Penna]

Going 100 miles per hour OVER the speed limit!

Those daredevils could get their thrills legally

at some of the leading amusement parks.

That would be safer for us all.

[89RedDarkGrey]

In NY going 30mph over a posted limit carries a charge of Reckless Endangerment- 1-3 years in prison, and your license is suspended for  1 year first offense, 3 years each consecutive sentence. If any occupants of the vehicle 17 and under- that's Endangering the Welfare of a Child- a Class A Misdemeanor, for each count, 1 year County Jail, $500 fine. Fines and penalties are also doubled in School and Work Zones.

[waltmail]

Relating a story I heard a while back. U S 27 West of Fort Lauderdale, FL. Nightly high speed runs. One dude on a Suzuki Hayabusa was so excited when he cracked 200 mph on his speedo ( these clowns actually have a radar gun to check) he sat up straight in the seat to celebrate. Anyone want to guess what happened next?

[Restorer32]

Several years ago a fellow was caught on the interstate doing 139 on his motorcycle trying to outrun the cops. When they caught him he said he would have outrun them if his wife hadn't been making such a fuss on the back of the bike.

[Joe in Canada]

 Some of these cars were impounded for 30 days that were rentals for the weekend. Would not want that rental bill. If you get racing in Ontario and if you loose in court they can bail your car if the judge deems it. Two teenagers got caught racing in their parents high end cars and it happened to them a couple of years ago getting it back in a 3 Ft. cube.

 

[Ronnie]

The fastest I've been was in a friends '69 440 GTX. It had a big, wide speedometer that was pegged at 150 on I-40. It had a Dana 60 with 4.10 gears so the speedo was probably off but it still felt really fast to me.

[oldcarfudd]

My '07 Cadillac must need a tune-up.  It won't go that fast.  Even back in '07, it probably never got over 30 mph.  And with only one cylinder and 10 horsepower, that was fast enough.

[Larry Schramm]

Oldcarfudd, I am in the same league with you.  My '15 Buick truck might go 35mph, but likes 30+- 2mph for touring.

[SC38dls]

I got a ride in an F16 once — close to Mach 1. It was a blast. 

[Barney Eaton]

We were returning to Central Texas after attending SEMA in Las Vegas.  East of El Paso the speed limit then was 75 and we were running 85+ in a Buick Rendezvous.

The Trooper was probably bored so he stopped us and ask why we were driving so fast.........we told him we had been gone all week and wanted to get back to Texas ASAP....

he gave us a warning.

 

The day before we were in AZ and here is a shot of the speedometer in the Rendezvous.......

Yes it was acting up

Edited January 16, 2018 by Barney Eaton (see edit history)

[Ronnie]

Who remembers when the speed limit on interstates was lowered to 55 MPH everywhere? Here in Tennessee we went from 75 to 55. I hated that because I was driving 40 miles each way to work and it seemed like it took forever at 55. Now the speed limit in here in East Tennessee is 70 in most places outside the cities. If you get in the left lane doing 80 you will have a half dozen cars riding your bumper wanting to pass.

[TerryB]

Today's sport motorcycles are capable of speeds in excess of 150mph, the hp to weight ratio is insane.  An experienced rider can do those speeds with ease and somewhat relatively safely assuming on a road like the autobahn.   For a short time I owned one of those rockets, in the junior form as in 600cc displacement.  One early morning on the PA turnpike the speedo went on the plus side of 130.  That was the only time.  I kept the bike for just two years as it's uncomfortable riding position and ease of exceeding the speed limit were not for me.  I was 50 yrs old at the time of ownership so I guess it was my brief fling at a mid life crisis.

 

It was replaced with a 1000cc bike that had a speed limiter installed to keep its max at 120 as it was equipped with off road capable tires that were not rated for higher speeds.  That one was a great mule for traveling.  It was replaced with a 650 cc of similar design as I had wanted a smaller mule to handle more difficult terrain.  The 650 was erased by an inattentive driver two months after purchase, who also almost erased me too.  

[Ronnie]

I know some Harley owners who refer to those fast motorcycles as "fly and die" motorcycles.

[TerryB]

3 minutes ago, Ronnie said:

I know some Harley owners who refer to those fast motorcycles as "fly and die" motorcycles.

When PA took away the mandatory helmet laws, the first to adapt were most of the HD owners.  The sprtbike guys knew their best defense is top flight gear, the same gear that saved me.  My full face helmet and expensive Kevlar lined jacket with hard pads is the reason I can still write to tell about it. I would love to show the helmet to all the non believers I see.  My accident was at me doing 45-50 mph and having a jeep turn into my line of travel.  High speed is not always the factor for a motorcycle accident.

[Ronnie]

I agree on the safety gear. I flipped over backwards doing a wheelie in 3rd gear. If not for the helmet I would be dead. One of the snaps that held the face shield to the helmet was ground completely off on the pavement. I had enough road rash to send me to the doctor and keep me out of work for four days. Luckily no bones were broken.

[hidden_hunter]

My state has some of the strictest enforcement of speed limits in the world where you can get booked for 2 miles over the speed limit.

 

Having said that with driving conditions similar to a lot of Texas (and only slightly smaller population), Australia had less than a third of the fatalities. 

 

We also have a statutory no-fault insurance provider that's paid for as part of your registration, they spend a lot of money pushing safety (through advertising and road projects) - The theory behind it is that if they do that it will in turn reduce premiums (we're already one of the cheapest places in Australia so it must work ok) as their payouts tend to be very expensive as they include things like income support

[SC38dls]

My dad use to tell the story about being stopped for speeding in a small town in South Dakota in the early 50’s . I remember the old Plymouth was an early 40’s . He was doing about 12 mph and the speed limit was 7 mph.  He got a warning only because he told the cop he had it in first gear and could not go any slower or it would stall. I think the cop felt sorry for him because the car looked beat and he had three kids in the back seat 

[Larry Schramm]

23 hours ago, Ronnie said:

I know some Harley owners who refer to those fast motorcycles as "fly and die" motorcycles.

 

Or crotch rockets.

[Bill Harmatuk]

I've seen a speedometer go all the way around and come back to 15, in a (built), 1967 RS/SS 350 Camaro. My brother dogged that car to death.

Ended up selling it for 250.00 with bent valves. That was when 67 Camaros were a dime a dozen. 

 

(I don't think 67 Chevrolet had a stop on the speedo at zero.) I saw it go to 15.

 

5 Liter Mustangs were killing a BUNCH of kids around here when they first came out.

 

Bill H

[capngrog]

44 minutes ago, Bill Harmatuk said:

 

5 Liter Mustangs were killing a BUNCH of kids around here when they first came out.

 

Bill H

 

Bill H;

 

Where is "around here"?

 

Back in the early and mid 90s, it seems like every other "kid on the block" had one of those Fox-bodied Mustang 5.0s.  You don't see those cars much any more, because like Bill H said, they were frequently wrecked by their young owners.  I have (2nd owner) a 1993 Mustang 5.0 with a 5 speed, and it sure is fun to drive; however, as an old guy,  my driving habits are tempered by my own sense of mortality.

 

Cheers,

Grog

 

 

[DAVES89]

On 1/12/2018 at 1:29 PM, Ronnie said:

I know some Harley owners who refer to those fast motorcycles as "fly and die" motorcycles.

I know those bikers... They have to have loud pipes for "safety" and then don't wear helmets. I especially love those loud pipes at 2:00 am on their way home from the bars or 6:00 am on their way to work...

[Ronnie]

13 hours ago, DAVES89 said:

I know those bikers... They have to have loud pipes for "safety" and then don't wear helmets. I especially love those loud pipes at 2:00 am on their way home from the bars or 6:00 am on their way to work...

Yep, you described them perfectly but the ones I know aren't hard core bikers. They just like to pretend they are. They probably have to get permission from their wives before they can go ride their Harleys.   Besides riding their bikes their favorite thing to do is get together once a week at Cracker Barrel to eat. 

[victorialynn2]

On 1/12/2018 at 7:33 AM, Barney Eaton said:

We were returning to Central Texas after attending SEMA in Las Vegas.  East of El Paso the speed limit then was 75 and we were running 85+ in a Buick Rendezvous.

The Trooper was probably bored so he stopped us and ask why we were driving so fast.........we told him we had been gone all week and wanted to get back to Texas ASAP....

he gave us a warning.

Most of 1-10 in that area (east of El Paso to Junction) is 85 MPH. Even my Tundra likes to open up, but I’ve usually got a trailer, and even empty, I try to keep it at 55 to avoid sway. It’s hard and it feels like you are crawling at that speed there. 

[Uncle_Buck]

20 hours ago, Larry Schramm said:

 

Or crotch rockets.

 

Or Zoom Splats ...

[60FlatTop]

I hear a macadam road is recommended for speeds over 100, unless it is salt.

 

[SC38dls]

Thinking of West Texas makes me recall uncle Rays cool story. I’m sure every young person has an uncle Ray type relative. The one that would tell the slightly off color tail at Thanksgiving dinner with the sly smile on his face. The one the parents would say Ray is such a character after he left. The one all the kids thought was cool. He drove the cool car and always had the pretty girl on his arm. Uncle Ray married aunt Kate which was very cool as Kate was the perfect aunt. Unfortunately she passed away. About 5 or 6 years later Ray got remarried to a bimbo (according to our parents, but a real babe to the kids). Ray had a big Cadillac convertible and took off for their honeymoon in NM and AZ. Somewhere in West Texas he was doing about 95+ or so, with the top down and the babe sitting a little too close, when they heard a voice say “This is the police will the White Cadillac pull over”. They sat up, looked around and could not see anything or anyone. So Ray being Ray just kept speeding along. Again the voice from no where says “pull over”. Now Ray and the babe look at each other and still can’t believe they really heard a voice. Ray says maybe he was just tired from honeymoon activities (parents go nuts with that comment) so he keeps going. The cop helicopter then sweeps down in front of the car. Ray slams on the breaks. The cops come up and say “did you know you were doing close to a hundred”. Ray says “Of course I do, we’re on our honeymoon and in a hurry to get to the hotel”. “Do you know you damn near gave us a heart attack!”  The cops laughed so hard they let him go but made him promise to slow down. He only did 85 after that. 

Uncle Ray swears it was true, mom and dad say it was a tall tail. All the kids just think it was part of Uncle Rays legend of being the cool relative we all looked up too

Have fun 

Dave S 

Edited January 14, 2018 by SC38DLS (see edit history)

[Paul Dobbin]

Speed is a thing of the past for me too.   I've owned some really fast cars but prefer a nice ride on secondary roads in a car older than I am.   

[Restorer32]

On 1/14/2018 at 10:31 AM, Uncle_Buck said:

 

Or Zoom Splats ...

 

Around here they are called Organ Donors.

[padgett]

I remember living in Texas when "at 55 you don't ever get there".

 

ps hope Ray's caddy was new enough to have disks. I remember fading the brakes out completely on one hard stop from a bit over 70 in a 61 'vert.

 

pps Nothing beats a Florida shell road for traction. Had to move to Texas before burnouts made any sense.

Edited January 15, 2018 by padgett (see edit history)

[Bill Stoneberg]

Was up in the panhandle of Texas and got caught going way over the limit one night.  Spent the rest of the night in jail before being able to call and get bail.  

 

[SC38dls]

Padgett - no idea if the Caddy had disk and I doubt Uncle Ray knew or cared. As long as the girl sitting next to him looked as good and had the curves and lines as nice as the car did he had a smile on his face. Gotta love that attitude. 

Dave S

Edited January 16, 2018 by SC38DLS (see edit history)