With fewer people on the roads due to stay-at-home orders nationwide, those who do go out are facing essentially zero traffic and, in some cases, driving at blazing-fast speeds. The California Highway Patrol says that the number of drivers ticketed going more than 100 miles per hour was up 42 percent in March compared to the same time last year, and the driver of this Toyota Camry TRD will be one of those for the month of April. They were pulled over while driving 106 mph in a 55-mph work zone. Their excuse, as they told the officer, was that they thought they were only going 80.
We’ll sidestep the fact that traveling 80 mph with workers present is, in and of itself, extremely dangerous, at least for the moment. California Highway Patrol’s Capistrano region posted a picture of the driver’s ticket to social media, and speeding isn’t the only charge for the inattentive Camry owner. Their warp-drive run happened to take place in a work zone, which alone brings double fines. Then there’s a separate charge for exceeding 100 mph, and the driver also appears to have been dinged for tinted windows. It’s unclear what the total dollar amount for such a ticket will be, but it’s likely that there will be some financial pain in the driver’s future.
The 2020 Toyota Camry TRD is a new variant of the super-popular midsize sedan and is the sportiest version we’ve seen yet. It’s the first Camry to receive the full TRD treatment, and the Toyota’s 301 horsepower is good enough for it to make the run from 0 to 60 mph in 5.8 seconds. That sounds a bit soft compared to real sports cars, and it is, but this is a family darling we’re talking about. The 3.0-liter V6 also happens to produce 267 pound-feet of torque, and the TRD’s chassis upgrades over the standard Camry give it a bit livelier driving experience.
Still, that’s no excuse to go full Need for Speed.
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