What I learned from my recent speeding ticket....BEWARE

@WillM
Really, 153 mph on public roads? How old are you and who do you think you are? I'd have put you in jail for the reckless driving and kept you there for your lazaie faire attitude.
And while you could be dead at 55 you will certainly be dead at 153, probably taking others with you. Try thinking about the others you share the road with for a change.
Your style of driving took the life of a family member, a ten year old decapitated when a triple digit speeder's car sailed across the median and peeled back the roof of this innocent family's car. His aunt, my then sister in law survived, albeit trapped in the car with her nephew's headless body.
How would that scenario weigh on your conscience, sir?
Is 55 about revenue? You bet, same as your buying your way out trouble demonstrates. That doesn't excuse your reckless behavior.

 

Unless there is some issue where you meant you were going 150kph (which is *only* 93.5mph) in a 55mph zone, I'd agree with Ross. This isn't Germany, our roads aren't designed for those speeds, and the public isn't used to cars passing at near triple their speed. A 55mph crash in a modern car is very survivable. A 150mph crash is not. The energies involved in crashes at that speed are almost 10 times that of a crash at 55mph.

I certinly agree that the 55mph speed limit and much of its enforcement is not at all about safety, but thats when we're talking about going 60 or 70mph, not double that.

 

OP claims 153 in second post.
Yeah, I'd like to think that guys doing this would be hauled off to the slammer and given a soap on a rope.
Some other holes in the story; There is no "crystal lake county" The town of Crystal Lake is in McHenry county. And while I94 goes through Lake county it would not be patrolled by the sheriff but state police.
I am friendly with a Lake County sheriff's officer. I'll make an inquiry about this, it would certainly make the locker room talk.

 

Anyone can pull you over, regardless of jurisdiction and even that is not always clear to the cops themselves.
On I-294 a State trooper or any local municipality cop can give you a ticket, you can get pulled over by anyone with a badge and hurt ego also.
In the latter case (was pulled over by a Forest Preserve cop in a pick up truck), no ticket would happen but if you ignore him and keep going he will report to State Police God knows what kind of BS about you and you can end up in unnecessary complication.

 

Forest Preserve cops are a branch of the State Police. Running from them is not a good idea.

 

Since the discussion has turned to trying to outrun the police, I thought I'd add a moment of levity. In the early 90s I worked for the Park District. I was at Leone Beach and needed to stop at Ardmore beach to drop off payroll sheets. So I bike down Sheridan cut over to Ardmore, and then opened it up going south on the bike path. Just past Foster, a guy pulls up next to me and says, "Hey!" I said, "Hey" back. He then says, "Pull over!" I looked up and it was a bike cop! I got a ticket for going to fast. Being a dumb 20 nothing, as he's writing the ticket, I asked him what would have happened if I hadn't stopped? He told me he probably would've have chased me for a while and then radioed ahead to Fullerton and North avenue to stop me. I've always wondered in hindsight, if I should have tried to outrun him.

 

It's nearly impossible to have a consistent 70-80+ mph on Illinois highways without running into an Uber driver doing 50mph in the left lane every quarter mile, which is what irks me the most about American drivers. As said above we aren't a culture that can sustain higher rates of speed. I question the story as well, if you're from Germany the fines etc can't be a complete shock if you've ever driven through your neighbor country of Switzerland. If you were really doing 153mph vs 153kph you got off incredibly well.

 

I think I’m still wanted in Switzerland from back in 2004. Driving to the airport in Zurich at 7am on a Sunday morning. The speed camera got me going a whopping 5 k/mph over speed limit. There wasn’t 1 car on the highway the whole trip. So I get some nasty letters in German that I had translated saying they are requiring me to come to court, etc.. we’re talking 3 mph over.

 

Swiss are the worst speed Nazis.
Btw, regarding that 153mph speeding, no way in hell it would not end up in an arrest in Illinois.
Any judge in this State would throw the book at the offender, no deals, no mercy of any kind.

 

Agreed. It is either a BS story or they were going 153 kilometers/hr.

 

Is it just me or did they increase the speed limit on I-90 (between 290 and 294) to 70 mph??

I just noticed the signs yesterday, wasn't it 55 before? Nice to finally have a reasonable speed limit there now

 

Yes, speeds increased this week:

https://www.illinoistollway.com/documents/20184/580106/2018_SpeedLimits_Cars%252CTrucks%252CBuses/6bca008a-586b-46ad-9f36-9105f2acc35e

 

Had to pick up my son at the airport last night, average speeds on 294 were about 85mph (including trucks).

 

Excellent. About time