2016 Dodge driver racks up 180-mph speeding ticket on Michigan freeway
I don't think he'll be able to negotiate that down to traffic school.
The stretch of I-75 around Sigler Road in Michigan, between Detroit and the Ohio state line, is one of the straightest segments of highway in that area. That doesn't mean it should be used as a testing ground for land-speed records, but one dingus sure didn't heed that advice, and they racked up one major speeding ticket in the process.
Michigan State Police this week posted a serious speeding ticket on its Twitter account. The tweet, which has since been deleted to protect the driver's identity, showed that this individual was cited on April 19 for going 180 miles per hour in a 70-mph zone at 11:45 p.m. local time. That's 110 mph over the speed limit, or 2.6 times what Johnny Law would prefer. MSP usually let you get away with 80, which is the average flow of traffic in Southeast Michigan, but 180 isn't really within error tolerances.
According to MLive, which caught up with the Michigan State Police following this extraordinary traffic stop, the driver did comply and pull over, thanks to multiple troopers posted ahead of the officer who first noticed the serious speeder. It's unclear whether the driver was simply cited and told to appear in court or if more serious measures, like impounding the vehicle, were taken. The Michigan State Police did not immediately return a request for comment.
With quarantine orders keeping most people in their homes, some car enthusiasts have taken the lack of traffic as a sort of green light to hit the road and perhaps engage in more extralegal activity than usual. It's worth noting that there have been some dips in reported crimes during this period, which means there will be more idle police officers hanging out, if anything. In fact, as a Detroiter myself, I've seen plenty of MSP dutifully patrolling the area. Save it for the drag strips -- when they open back up. In the meantime, drive safely, the last thing first responders need is more unnecessary crap to deal with.
First published April 29.