You’ve just left the movie theater after watching the latest installment of your favorite film series. The highlight was easily the car chase scene. Drifting, suspension-shattering jumps, subsequent crashes and of course the best part, when the hero successfully makes a run for it from the bad guys all while escaping the coppers. None of it is possible in the real world but according to The New York Times, that isn’t stopping people from trying.
Since 2001, The Fast and the Furious franchise has tried to convince the teenager in us that reckless speeding is acceptable. With the adrenaline pumping through our veins after the showing, some then go on to do just that. The result? A lot of speeding tickets.
NYT reviewed traffic violations in Montgomery County, Maryland during a five-year period in which the Fast & Furious 6, Furious 7, and The Fate of the Furious were released. Here’s what it discovered:
“We found a large increase in the average speed of drivers who received speeding tickets on the weekends after ‘Fast and Furious‘ releases. Comparing the three weekends before each movie’s release with the three weekends after, we found that the speeds people were given tickets for increased almost 20 percent, to an average of 19 miles per hour over the speed limit, from 16 miles per hour.”
There were also instances of “extreme speeding” where law enforcement caught drivers traveling more than 40 miles per hour higher than the posted speed limit. The overall verdict? People think they, like the fictional characters in the movie, are invincible behind the wheel. Come 2020 you might want to slow down when the ninth installment is released.