We’ve all been guilty of speeding at some point. Whether it be an unintentional slip-up or a purposeful pedal-to-the-metal moment in an attempt to get to work on time, we’re never short on excuses to break the law. However, there’s speeding, and then there’s speeding, the latter of which a Michigan man recently got caught doing behind the wheel of a Dodge Challenger Hellcat last week. How fast, you’re wondering? Oh, just 110 mph—over the 70 speed limit. So if our math serves us right, that’s 180 mph.
At around 11:45 p.m. on April 19, a Michigan State Police officer spotted a speeding “2016 black Dodge” on a stretch of the Detroit-Toledo Expressway in Monroe County. The officer’s radar clocked the car traveling at 180, as noted on the citation below, which the police department shared on Twitter after the incident.
Police have since removed the tweet with the image of the citation, likely because the partially-redacted photo still contained the driver’s name (which we’ve since blurred out). A bit of investigating revealed that the driver, who appears to be somewhat active in the local car (and criminal) community, had access to a black Challenger SRT Hellcat.
There were only two vehicles produced that year outside of the V10-powered Dodge Viper that were capable of reaching 180 mph: the Challenger SRT Hellcat and Charger SRT Hellcat. Based on our investigation, it was the former.
Michigan is just one of the many states that have seen a significant uptick in speeding since enacting stay-at-home orders during the coronavirus pandemic. State troopers want to use this example to remind people that just because other drivers are off the road, it doesn’t give anyone a free pass to break the law.
“MSP wants people to know, just because there is less traffic on the roads & warmer weather, there are no excuses for speeding.”
Update 2:35 p.m.: An Mlive.com reports that the moving violation, in this case, remains at $180 unless coupled with other charges, per Monroe County officials. In addition, the man “is only charged with speeding, not reckless driving, police said. Exceeding the speed limit by at least 16 mph means four points added to a driver’s license, according to the Michigan Secretary of State.”
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