Another aspiring Darwin Award winner
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Lexus Champion
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From: Alberta
Another aspiring Darwin Award winner
There should be a test to become a parent. The stupidity of some people is astounding. 
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/windsor/sto...lt-100615.html
A Toronto mother has been charged with street racing on Highway 401 with her four young children in the car.
Ontario Provincial Police said an officer spotted a woman driving 157 km/h in a 100 km/h zone near Charing Cross Road in Chatham-Kent around 7:30 Monday evening.
'It's certain that if that vehicle was in a crash, those children would have been seriously hurt.' —Const. Aaron McPhail
Four children all under the age of eight were in the vehicle -- three of them were not properly restrained, said police.
Police said two of the children were sharing a seatbelt, while the third was not in a child car seat and should have been.
Const. Aaron McPhail said police believe by pulling the woman over and seizing her licence and vehicle, they may have prevented an accident.
"It's certain that if that vehicle was in a crash, those children would have been seriously hurt," said McPhail.
Vehicle, licence seized at roadside
The 28-year-old driver from suburban North York only has a G2 driver's licence, which in Ontario limits the number of passengers she can transport.
She is charged with street racing, several seatbelt offences, and failing to give police proof of insurance and ownership.
Individuals caught speeding 50 km/h above the posted speed limit face an immediate seven-day licence suspension, a seven-day vehicle impoundment and a fine of at least $2,000, but as much as $10,000.
McPhail credited Ontario's stunt driving legislation for giving officers the power to stop vehicles they believe are travelling at a dangerous speed.
"This stunt driving legislation has made a significant impact on the number of fatalities on Ontario roads; there has been a significant reduction," said McPhail.
Ontario Provincial Police said an officer spotted a woman driving 157 km/h in a 100 km/h zone near Charing Cross Road in Chatham-Kent around 7:30 Monday evening.
'It's certain that if that vehicle was in a crash, those children would have been seriously hurt.' —Const. Aaron McPhail
Four children all under the age of eight were in the vehicle -- three of them were not properly restrained, said police.
Police said two of the children were sharing a seatbelt, while the third was not in a child car seat and should have been.
Const. Aaron McPhail said police believe by pulling the woman over and seizing her licence and vehicle, they may have prevented an accident.
"It's certain that if that vehicle was in a crash, those children would have been seriously hurt," said McPhail.
Vehicle, licence seized at roadside
The 28-year-old driver from suburban North York only has a G2 driver's licence, which in Ontario limits the number of passengers she can transport.
She is charged with street racing, several seatbelt offences, and failing to give police proof of insurance and ownership.
Individuals caught speeding 50 km/h above the posted speed limit face an immediate seven-day licence suspension, a seven-day vehicle impoundment and a fine of at least $2,000, but as much as $10,000.
McPhail credited Ontario's stunt driving legislation for giving officers the power to stop vehicles they believe are travelling at a dangerous speed.
"This stunt driving legislation has made a significant impact on the number of fatalities on Ontario roads; there has been a significant reduction," said McPhail.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/windsor/sto...lt-100615.html
I heard someone mentioned that SUV have a special feature called the Darwin. When someone drives an SUV like a sports car, the Darwin feature is invoked.
crazy lady... I bet she thinks she can just easily make another one (of those kids).
crazy lady... I bet she thinks she can just easily make another one (of those kids).
I think this is blown a little out of proportion. I'm not giving any credit to this lady she was endangering her kids but 157kmh is around 100mph. How many of you can say you've never hit 100mph on the streets? That's not really that fast, where was the other vehicle she was supposedly racing?
She should've been cited for speeding (or wreckless driving) not street racing. I think cops will throw racing in to make the violation worse even though there was no vehicles involved in a race.
Again, she definitely deserved to get her car impounded and license revoked but the street racing thing is out of hand in my opinion. I've heard stories that people were driving next to each other at a steady 80mph on a major highway where 65mph is the speed limit and they get pulled over for "street racing."
She should've been cited for speeding (or wreckless driving) not street racing. I think cops will throw racing in to make the violation worse even though there was no vehicles involved in a race.
Again, she definitely deserved to get her car impounded and license revoked but the street racing thing is out of hand in my opinion. I've heard stories that people were driving next to each other at a steady 80mph on a major highway where 65mph is the speed limit and they get pulled over for "street racing."
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Lexus Champion
Joined: Jun 2008
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From: Alberta
I think this is blown a little out of proportion. I'm not giving any credit to this lady she was endangering her kids but 157kmh is around 100mph. How many of you can say you've never hit 100mph on the streets? That's not really that fast, where was the other vehicle she was supposedly racing?
She should've been cited for speeding (or wreckless driving) not street racing. I think cops will throw racing in to make the violation worse even though there was no vehicles involved in a race.
Again, she definitely deserved to get her car impounded and license revoked but the street racing thing is out of hand in my opinion. I've heard stories that people were driving next to each other at a steady 80mph on a major highway where 65mph is the speed limit and they get pulled over for "street racing."
She should've been cited for speeding (or wreckless driving) not street racing. I think cops will throw racing in to make the violation worse even though there was no vehicles involved in a race.
Again, she definitely deserved to get her car impounded and license revoked but the street racing thing is out of hand in my opinion. I've heard stories that people were driving next to each other at a steady 80mph on a major highway where 65mph is the speed limit and they get pulled over for "street racing."
This "street racing" ticket is something that the Ontario government created to deal with actual street racing. Whether or not it should apply in this instance is completely irrelevant.
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Out of Warranty
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From: Houston, Republic of Texas
I think you're missing the point. No one is suggesting that 100 mph is excessively fast, but doing it on a busy highway with some kids unrestrained and others sharing a seatbelt clearly is not in the children's best interest and very dangerous. Parents are supposed to take care of and protect children not expose them to uneccessary risks and dangers.
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Lexus Champion
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From: Alberta
100 mph in almost any SUV is more than excessive. Truck-based SUV's do not have the handling or braking capability for these speeds - anything over 80 should be considered extremely dangerous. Crossovers may tolerate a bit more speed, but again, as with their larger cousins, they are incapable of recovery from a significant dynamic upset, whether avoiding a car pulling into their lane or a dog in the road. Most, given their high CG, relatively poor steering/suspension, and underperforming brakes, will run out of control during evasive manuvers and roll over under these conditions. Not a place for small children.
I don't think this type of speed in traffic is ever a good idea. You're generalization about SUV's though is accurate only for some. The points you make are certainly valid, but I've "heard" that the ML's are comfortable and stable up to about 190 km/h and that the X5's will do over 200 km/h on empty highways with zero traffic. I'm certain that the Cayenne's and all of the "performance" SUV's are more than capable of handling higher speeds.
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I think this is blown a little out of proportion. I'm not giving any credit to this lady she was endangering her kids but 157kmh is around 100mph. How many of you can say you've never hit 100mph on the streets? That's not really that fast, where was the other vehicle she was supposedly racing?
She should've been cited for speeding (or wreckless driving) not street racing. I think cops will throw racing in to make the violation worse even though there was no vehicles involved in a race.
Again, she definitely deserved to get her car impounded and license revoked but the street racing thing is out of hand in my opinion. I've heard stories that people were driving next to each other at a steady 80mph on a major highway where 65mph is the speed limit and they get pulled over for "street racing."
She should've been cited for speeding (or wreckless driving) not street racing. I think cops will throw racing in to make the violation worse even though there was no vehicles involved in a race.
Again, she definitely deserved to get her car impounded and license revoked but the street racing thing is out of hand in my opinion. I've heard stories that people were driving next to each other at a steady 80mph on a major highway where 65mph is the speed limit and they get pulled over for "street racing."
But, it was on a major interstate highway, with very few cars around, and the cars in the fast lane were going 85-90 MPH.
I was simply using the middle lane to... pass the passing lane
...at 95+Cop stopped me and was totally nonchalant about it. It was a routine traffic citation.
The cop wasn't mad because it was clear that the speed limit "in practice" in the passing lane here was 85-90 MPH at the time.
The moral of the story is, if you travel as a group of 3..4..5 cars in the passing lane at, say, 90 MPH in a 60 MPH zone on a major interstate highway and you're keeping large distance between each cars (i.e. nobody is tailgating), you're not going to be stopped by a cop.
The only car that's potentially at risk in this scenario is the car leading the pack. He/she has to make sure that he/she isn't moving away from the pack behind, because if the cop senses that you are gaining on the pack, you will be stopped (this was the case for me after all - the only difference was, I was in the middle lane, but the concept still holds)
If you're in the "middle of the pack" sandwiched by cars (albeit going 90 MPH), it's almost a certainty that you will not be stopped by a cop.
This "power in numbers" concept (particularly, power in being in the middle of the pack) is something I've exploited many times and it's worked perfectly.
The trouble is, you're not always going to find a group of 3 or 4 other cars who are willing to go 85-90 MPH with you on a major interstate like this.
Also, you have to be savvy about the context. It's one thing to go 90 MPH on a 60 MPH interstate where it's clear that one can do so reasonably safely. It's an entirely different thing to go 85 MPH on a windy 55 MPH road (which is still 30 above).
It takes time and experience to understand that it's not such an egregious crime to go 90 MPH on a wide, flat, stable interstate like IH-35 (Texas) when the roads are reasonably clear and you are not tailgating anybody...and 4 or 5 other cars are going 90 MPH with you while keeping sufficiently large inter-car distance.
Giving a leeway of just "10 over" is not universal. For example, we have one freeway here in Austin called Capital of Texas Highway. The speed limit along a certain portion of road has, for many years, been 60 MPH. Cops used to give you "10" on this portion, so you could safely travel up to 70 MPH without fear of being stopped.
Recently, the speed limit was somewhat arbitrarily changed to 55 MPH.
How did the cops react? They reacted by allowing 15 over now (still 70 MPH). That comes straight to you from a cop who stopped me for going 77 MPH, which itself (22 over) he did not find to be egregious or stupidly dangerous.
In fact, because I had cooperated with him so well, he reduced the ticket from 77 in a 55 to 60 in a 55. Great guy. Point is, some people have this notion that going 20 MPH over the limit, or sometimes 30 MPH over the limit is some egregiously irresponsible and dangerous thing to do, but the context within which the crime is committed matters a lot, and cops tend to take context into account, from what I've seen.
Edit: And if it matters, none of this was in an SUV, none of this was with other passengers (certainly not children) on board.
It was all by myself in my IS350.
Edit again: And I hope what I said doesn't color me to be some excessively speedy and aggressive driver. Truthfully, I've only been given 3 tickets in my entire driving lifetime (which, I suppose, isn't that long, just 4 years. I got my license at 18 and I'm 22 at the moment).
Last edited by syzygy; Jun 16, 2010 at 12:12 PM.
I hate the 401, i take it to gt to toronto and all the canadians drive mad fast and i do the same to keep up but am always paranoid i will get pulled over and get hassled because i am an American
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From: CA
Eh, I've heard of much worse. Locally a woman was caught when she got into an accident with her SEVEN children in a Corolla. IIRC 1-2 of them were in the trunk.
Then there are the drunks:
A car driver in Australia has been fined for strapping down his beer rather than his young child.
Police said they were "shocked and appalled" when they pulled over the car south of Alice Springs in Australia's Northern Territory.
They said the 30-can pack of beer was strapped down between two adults in the back, with the five-year-old child unrestrained on the floor.
The driver was handed a fine of A$750 (US$709; £362).
The fine was for failing to ensure a child was wearing a seatbelt as well as driving an unregistered and uninsured vehicle.
The car was pulled over on the Ross Highway last Friday.
Constable Wayne Burnett said: "I haven't ever seen something like this before.
"This is the first time that the beer has taken priority over a child... The child was sitting in the lump in the centre, unrestrained."
When Constable Burnett handed over the fine he said the driver "just looked at me blankly".
"He didn't get it," Constable Burnett said.
--------------------------
ST. AUGUSTINE, FL -- Investigators say a woman accused of drunk driving had a case of beer buckled up safely, and a one year old girl sitting in the backseat without a seatbelt or car seat.
On Super Bowl Sunday, a deputy saw a car drive through a red light and swerve back and forth over the center lane on U.S. 1 South.
The deputy stopped the car.
Investigators say the woman, who identified herself as Tina Williams, smelled of alcohol.
According to the report, Williams told the deputy she never had a license and was running out of gas.
The deputy saw a case of Busch beer in the front seat with a seat belt around it, and a baby girl in the backseat with her mother.
When asked why the girl wasn't restrained, Williams reportedly told the officer, "I don't know."
Williams told the deputy she had a few drinks. Authorities say she staggered when she got out of her car.
The deputy arrested her for DUI after she failed a field sobriety test.
Authorities also found two silver metal pipes in her purse.
Williams faces charges of driving under the influence, child endangerment, driving without a valid license running a red light and not having a seatbelt or child restraint.
Then there are the drunks:
A car driver in Australia has been fined for strapping down his beer rather than his young child.
Police said they were "shocked and appalled" when they pulled over the car south of Alice Springs in Australia's Northern Territory.
They said the 30-can pack of beer was strapped down between two adults in the back, with the five-year-old child unrestrained on the floor.
The driver was handed a fine of A$750 (US$709; £362).
The fine was for failing to ensure a child was wearing a seatbelt as well as driving an unregistered and uninsured vehicle.
The car was pulled over on the Ross Highway last Friday.
Constable Wayne Burnett said: "I haven't ever seen something like this before.
"This is the first time that the beer has taken priority over a child... The child was sitting in the lump in the centre, unrestrained."
When Constable Burnett handed over the fine he said the driver "just looked at me blankly".
"He didn't get it," Constable Burnett said.
--------------------------
ST. AUGUSTINE, FL -- Investigators say a woman accused of drunk driving had a case of beer buckled up safely, and a one year old girl sitting in the backseat without a seatbelt or car seat.
On Super Bowl Sunday, a deputy saw a car drive through a red light and swerve back and forth over the center lane on U.S. 1 South.
The deputy stopped the car.
Investigators say the woman, who identified herself as Tina Williams, smelled of alcohol.
According to the report, Williams told the deputy she never had a license and was running out of gas.
The deputy saw a case of Busch beer in the front seat with a seat belt around it, and a baby girl in the backseat with her mother.
When asked why the girl wasn't restrained, Williams reportedly told the officer, "I don't know."
Williams told the deputy she had a few drinks. Authorities say she staggered when she got out of her car.
The deputy arrested her for DUI after she failed a field sobriety test.
Authorities also found two silver metal pipes in her purse.
Williams faces charges of driving under the influence, child endangerment, driving without a valid license running a red light and not having a seatbelt or child restraint.
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