Apparently, You Can't Blame the Car

Steph Willems
by Steph Willems

A finely tuned German road machine is always seeking to influence its driver. Prodding the individual to let down their defenses, throw caution to the wind, and open ‘er up.

Make any road your Autobahn. Feel alive, if only for once in your pathetic, stinking life, the German car whispers…

And yet, despite the supercar-fighting prowess instilled into many Mercedes-AMG products, you can’t blame the car or the manufacturer once Johnny Law catches up to you. Especially when you’re a teenager clocked going 191 mph in dad’s C63.

Yes, punishment was no doubt doled out both by dad and the law after a 19-year-old and his similarly aged passenger decided to see just what papa’s previous-generation Mercedes-AMG C63 could do. Clearly, the best time and place to probe the upper limits of the vehicle’s abilities was on the Queen Elizabeth Way in Burlington, Ontario ⁠— one of Canada’s busiest highways. And to ensure nothing bad happened, they decided to do it at night.

Apparently, radar still works after the sun goes down. The duo was clocked by an Ontario Provincial Police cruiser on Saturday going 308 km/h, or 191 mph, making them only the latest example of drivers taking advantage of light, pandemic-caused traffic loads to satisfy their need for speed.

That C63 has since sped to the impound lot, where it will stay for 7 days. Charged with street racing, the teen driver’s license was also taken off the road for 7 days. In an odd bit of legislative boneheadery, stunt driving charges in Ontario apply to anyone caught going 50 km/h over the limit, meaning this driver’s punishment would have been the same had he been nabbed going 150 km/h (93 mph).

That said, the fine incurred can vary, and the possibility of a steep charge as well as a jail term grows as the speedometer of the car in question rises. Something tells this writer the judge will seek to make an example out of this kid.

[Images: Ontario Provincial Police, via Twitter]

Steph Willems
Steph Willems

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  • -Nate -Nate on May 12, 2020

    Wow; Glad no one was hurt / killed . Me, I enjoy driving quickly, not actually fast . I've done 135 H and it scared me because I've been working in the junk vehicle industry for 50 + years now so I know what can happen and how easily . -Nate

  • Kkop Kkop on May 12, 2020

    This should be easy for the kid to get out of. '308 kph'? 'kph' is a non-existent unit, should've read 'km/h'. Canadians!

  • Honda1 Unions were needed back in the early days, not needed know. There are plenty of rules and regulations and government agencies that keep companies in line. It's just a money grad and nothing more. Fain is a punk!
  • 1995 SC If the necessary number of employees vote to unionize then yes, they should be unionized. That's how it works.
  • Sobhuza Trooper That Dave Thomas fella sounds like the kind of twit who is oh-so-quick to tell us how easy and fun the bus is for any and all of your personal transportation needs. The time to get to and from the bus stop is never a concern. The time waiting for the bus is never a concern. The time waiting for a connection (if there is one) is never a concern. The weather is never a concern. Whatever you might be carrying or intend to purchase is never a concern. Nope, Boo Cars! Yeah Buses! Buses rule!Needless to say, these twits don't actual take the damn bus.
  • MaintenanceCosts Nobody here seems to acknowledge that there are multiple use cases for cars.Some people spend all their time driving all over the country and need every mile and minute of time savings. ICE cars are better for them right now.Some people only drive locally and fly when they travel. For them, there's probably a range number that works, and they don't really need more. For the uses for which we use our EV, that would be around 150 miles. The other thing about a low range requirement is it can make 120V charging viable. If you don't drive more than an average of about 40 miles/day, you can probably get enough electrons through a wall outlet. We spent over two years charging our Bolt only through 120V, while our house was getting rebuilt, and never had an issue.Those are extremes. There are all sorts of use cases in between, which probably represent the majority of drivers. For some users, what's needed is more range. But I think for most users, what's needed is better charging. Retrofit apartment garages like Tim's with 240V outlets at every spot. Install more L3 chargers in supermarket parking lots and alongside gas stations. Make chargers that work like Tesla Superchargers as ubiquitous as gas stations, and EV charging will not be an issue for most users.
  • MaintenanceCosts I don't have an opinion on whether any one plant unionizing is the right answer, but the employees sure need to have the right to organize. Unions or the credible threat of unionization are the only thing, history has proven, that can keep employers honest. Without it, we've seen over and over, the employers have complete power over the workers and feel free to exploit the workers however they see fit. (And don't tell me "oh, the workers can just leave" - in an oligopolistic industry, working conditions quickly converge, and there's not another employer right around the corner.)
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