Danica Patrick Feels the Need for Speed

[Rex Monaco]

Some girls will do anything just to get mentioned in the tabloids.

TMZ is reporting that Patrick was busted earlier this month for speeding in Scottsdale, Arizona for driving 54 in a 35 mph zone.

http://www.okmagazine.com/news/view/11033

Cops confirm Patrick was busted earlier this month in Scottsdale, Ariz. for driving 54 in a 35 -- 19 over the speed limit -- which bested her last run-in with the fuzz where she was going 57 in a 40 -- only 17 over.

http://www.tmz.com/2008/12/29/speed-freak-danica-patrick-busted-again/

[Jag_Warrior]

If (when) The Danica doesn't win any races in 2009 or 2010, should we expect her to check herself into some sort of (make believe) rehab facility in 2011? Gotta keep that Q rating up!

Hey, it's worked for Britney, et al. :p :

[Damon]

Some girls will do anything just to get mentioned in the tabloids.


:rolleyes:

[Easy Drifter]

Where is Danica Fan when she needs him? :D

[Dr. Krogshöj]

:rolleyes:

I thought it was just a satirical remark. (If it is not, then it's plains stupid.)

I don't condemn her because I regurarly speed, too. In Hungary, it's part of the driving culture... Sometimes it feels safer if I adjust my speed to the others. :( When I was in the US, I was surprised that most people did obey the speed limit.

[DanicaFan]

Hey, innocent until proven guilty. I am supporting her.

I dont hold it against her. I go over the speed limit quite a bit myself.

She will be just fine.

I am suprised any cop would write her a ticket, thats just crazy. :confused:

[Chris R]

54 in a 35 seems like a possible "speed trap". The only way I would be willing to bash her over this is if it was a heavily populate residential area with a strong chance of children being in the road - a place where you should know better - otherwise there are lots of places with 35 mph limits that makes no sense....

now if she was driving 100 mph that would be another story......

[Rex Monaco]

I thought it was just a satirical remark.

It was. And there are more creative ways to get noticed by the tabloids than speeding, if that was truly her intent.

'Accidently' exposing your breasts in front of the papparazzi seems to work for the other attention craved starlets.

I'm slightly divided as to whether or not Danica should try that! :-)

[Jag_Warrior]

It was. And there are more creative ways to get noticed by the tabloids than speeding, if that was truly her intent.

'Accidently' exposing your breasts in front of the papparazzi seems to work for the other attention craved starlets.

I'm slightly divided as to whether or not Danica should try that! :-)

When you're a "sailor's dream", it's probably kinda hard to pull that off (no pun intended). The only one of that category who can successfully do that is Bai Ling... and it's apparently always 10 degrees below freezing in her world.

Anyway, The Danica is lucky the cop only wrote her up for 19 mph over the limit. Where I live, 20mph+ over the limit is a reckless driving charge. Good possibility that she was 20mph+ and he gave her as much of a break as he could.

Say, didn't The Danica do a commercial where she got pulled over, thought she was going to cutesy her way out of it... and it turned out to be a butch female cop? Maybe I'm thinking of Smokey and The Bandit (Mother Nature sure was good to Adrienne Barbeau :eek :) , but seems like I remember something along those lines. :confused:

To DanicaFan's point about being suprised that a cop would write The Danica up... if drivers the caliber of Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton can get written up for speeding this year, no cop should hesitate in writing up the likes of Danica Patrick.

[Easy Drifter]

19 over in Ontario means the offficer gave you a break. 20 over means a much higher fine, Demerit points and increased insurance premium.
50 over here means you lose your car on the spot for 7 days. Car is towed and after the 7 days you have to pay towing and impound fees. The fine, if convicted ranges from $2000 to $10000. If your insurance is not cancelled (Good chance depending on Co.) it goes up big time.
Although you get your time in Court eventually the cop who pulls you over is the prosecutor, jury and Judge as far as losing your car.
Our current Ontario Provincial Police Chief is after speeders big time along with what he calls stunt driving and racing on the street. He wants 30 over to be the loss of car line. He has also called for total liability (no insurance coverage) if the investigating officer feels it was incompetent driving (too fast for conditions) no matter what the road conditions. So far the Govt. has balked at that one.
As of tomorrow trucks operating in Ontario must have a speed restrictor limiting them to 105K. Not too bad on multi lane highways but on typical 2 lane roads it will make passing a slower vehicle very difficult when the posted limit is 90k in Northern Ont. and on many county roads in SW Ont.
It will also affect Ont. trucks in the US where the speed limit on Interstates is often more than 105K.
Sorry for going off topic.

[call_me_andrew]

19 over in Ontario means the offficer gave you a break. 20 over means a much higher fine, Demerit points and increased insurance premium.


19-20 kilometers over, or 19-20 miles over?

[Easy Drifter]

Sorry K. Wish it was still MPH! :D
Got loose in a BMW Z8 a few years ago. I say I went 143 and nobody really blinks until I say MPH. With the new laws wouldn't dare do that even on an almost deserted 400 highway (4 lane).
Bmw would have been upset to lose their car too!

[Damon]

Lewis did 123 in a 85, nice. :D

http://jalopnik.com/cars/racing-news/lewis-hamilton-banned-from-driving-in-france-should-rent-schumachers-taxi-335149.php

[Mifune]

Lewis did 123 in a 85, nice. :D

http://jalopnik.com/cars/racing-news/lewis-hamilton-banned-from-driving-in-france-should-rent-schumachers-taxi-335149.php


yeah some boys will do anything just to get mentioned in the tabloids.

[Mark in Oshawa]

I heard in Scottsdale they have enough radar traps to fry small animals with all the microwaves bouncing around. Danica I think would be better to show some skin if she wants attention. Hearing she had a speeding ticket just makes her one of us poor oppressed slobs.

Drifter....my truck only does 105km/h now....or actually 104.5 now. I think the highways are going to be one long line of trucks...and people will complain we are blocking ramps...and to this I say....TOUGH. No one outside of us poor schmucks driving the big rigs said squat about how stupid this law will be.....so y'all can just suffer...

[Easy Drifter]

Mark: I agree. Another dumb law pushed by Fantino and passed by McGuinty. I used to like Fantino but no more. Yet the public seem to agree mostly.
If you don't read it you should look at the CASC-OR Board. Under 'General Discussion' there several threads re Ont. traffic laws.
I do not belong but know several who do. Almost everybody who posts is active in motorsport including several Ont. Region Championship winning drivers.
The driver of the vintage ex Group 44 Jaguar Trans Am car is a Toronto cop.

[Jag_Warrior]

yeah some boys will do anything just to get mentioned in the tabloids.

You got it. But unlike Danica, I'd say Lewis had at least a couple of (darn yummy) reasons to be speeding to get from one place to another.

http://www.livenews.com.au/static/articles/71695/F_0_lewisHamilton_compo_320.jpg

Danica might have had an important engagement too: signing some t-shirts to be sold on Speedgear possibly? :D

[Jag_Warrior]

The driver of the vintage ex Group 44 Jaguar Trans Am car is a Toronto cop.

The XJS. Is he the owner? That car was down at VIR several years ago and I was hounding after it in the paddock. But I never got a chance to speak to the owner.

[Easy Drifter]

Yes he (or his wife) is. Name is Steve Moore. He will be at Road Atlanta for the Group 44 reunion and at Amelia Island Concours. Also at Mosport for the Vintage Festival in June.
Hopes to get an invite to Goodwood.
Details of his plans are on the CASC-OR site www.casc.on.ca/forums (http://www.casc.on.ca/forums)
I do not know him but from his posts seems like an ok guy. Pretty quick too but figures car too valuable to run in the rain or really push it. I have seen him run at Mosport.

[BobGarage]

I am suprised any cop would write her a ticket, thats just crazy. :confused:


why??? if she was over the speed limit and caught why should the cop not write her a ticket?

the world is completly ed up, everyone seems to think these days that because someone is a "celebrity" they can get away with breaking the law.

it doesn't matter who the she is... member of the public or z-list celebrity/racing driver. if she was caught she should recieve the appropriate punishment.

[Rex Monaco]

it doesn't matter who the she is...

And the likely hood of anybody but racing fans knowing who she without her uniform, would be very miniscule.

[Mark in Oshawa]

Rex....they just might think...WOW...she ever hot but boy is she ever a B!tch!

[Easy Drifter]

Mark: You wouldn't think that the sweet innocent 'Princess' might have potty mouthed off to the officer, would you? :D

[ShiftingGears]

I am suprised any cop would write her a ticket, thats just crazy. :confused:

...Are you kidding?

[Alexamateo]

...

Say, didn't The Danica do a commercial where she got pulled over, thought she was going to cutesy her way out of it... and it turned out to be a butch female cop? Maybe I'm thinking of Smokey and The Bandit (Mother Nature sure was good to Adrienne Barbeau :eek :) , but seems like I remember something along those lines. :confused:

.

You're confusing your Burt Reynolds movies, Cannonball Run is the one you're thinking of.

Anyway, AJ Foyt supposedly got out of a ticket that way once. Linda Vaughn was riding in the car with him when he was pulled over. He told the officer that he was speeding because she made him an offer he couldn't refuse at which point Linda showed what she had, so to speak, and the officer let him go. :p :

[harvick#1]

HAH!! What part of the US were you in? There is no place in this country I've ever been where the normal flow of traffic, excepting for the heart of rush hour, wasn't at least 5 mph over the limit.


might've drove through an amish community :p :

but there is too many comically things for this so I'll just keep my mouth shut on this one :laugh:

[Jag_Warrior]

You're absolutely right, Alex. I should be able to remember that one. I'm still cheesed that Adrienne Barbeau didn't receive an Oscar nomination for her role as... uh... well, I don't remember her character's name (or if her character even had a name). But I think she should have been called on stage and received a statue for this (er... these):
http://www.bazima.com/images/tn-AdrienneBarbeau_CannonballRun.jpg

But jokes aside, I wonder if Danica isn't in danger of putting her racing license in danger. I'm reasonably sure that she doesn't have an FIA super license. But in F1, if you lose your road license, I don't believe that you can maintain your racing license. Maybe in the IRL it's different, as I heard something about some drivers who got DUI's and were still able to race. Is that correct? This, acording to AP, is Danica's current situation:


SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP)—Danica Patrick paid a $196 fine to settle a speeding ticket after the star race car driver was caught going 54 mph in a 35 mph zone last month.
Patrick, the first woman to win an IndyCar race, was due in traffic court Monday, but a Scottsdale City Court clerk says she paid the fine Wednesday.
The 26-year-old driver was pulled over by Scottsdale police Dec. 9 in her hometown while driving a 2007 Mercedes. A year ago, she was ticketed for driving 57 mph in a 40 mph zone in Scottsdale and was ordered to attend traffic school.
Scottsdale court records show the recent tickets are among several she has received in the past three years.
A call to Patrick’s racing team wasn’t immediately returned.

Several in the past three years? And she's already used the free pass of driving school (which I used to use in my state back in my wilder days: once every 5 years here). Maybe The Danica needs to learn how to obey the rules of the road, lest the judge ask her what I was once asked: "do you prefer driving or walking?"

But in F1, if you lose your road license, I don't believe that you can maintain your racing license.

That's bollocks.

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/story/2001/04/23/schumacher010423.html

Ralf was caught doing 170mph and suspended from the roads for two weeks.

The FIA didn't revoke his superlicence.

[markabilly]

AJ Foyt had problems in Texas in the sixties and seventies, getting speeding tickets......knew a highway patrolman who had kept the original ticket he was suppose to give to AJ one day, would pull it out, and say "AJ put his foot on the gas and I put his foot on the brake...."

It was for like going 75 where the limit was 70 on the interstate highway in an area where 120 mph would have been safe or some such minor violation

Apprently it was popular in that district which included where AJ lived, to try to catch him for an "autograph" but then they seldom actually filed the ticket, keeping the original for their own glorification to prove that AJ could not out-drive or out-run them!!!

[Jag_Warrior]

That's bollocks.

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/story/2001/04/23/schumacher010423.html

Ralf was caught doing 170mph and suspended from the roads for two weeks.

The FIA didn't revoke his superlicence.

So you can have a super license while having lost the road license?

Edit: I found that the answer depends on the country in question, as it is the national racing license which could be an issue.

[beachgirl]

Most ramifications regarding these and other kinds of issues are between the driver and his/her team, and are dependent on the wording of the contract re professional/personal behaviour. Personally, I can't see speeding as a big no-no contractually.

[Mark in Oshawa]

I just think Danica getting caught for speeding over and over again says something about her attitude. It comes out over and over in that she thinks she has a divine right to what she wants. The spoiled brat attitude is evident when someone crosses her on the track and by looking at the fact she keeps getting nicked for speeding it says she isnt' much different on the street.

If you keep pissing people off, people get tired of your act. Danica to me wore my tolerence out for her when she was still in Atlantics and was pulling the princess act. It hasn't changed and the constant trip to court for speeding violations says a lot too. You have to work hard to get speeding tickets like she does....

[Mark in Oshawa]

Exactly Starter. I have slowed down a lot in the last few years but there are occasions where I have my foot into it and would be ripe for the picking. To get tickets over and over in the space of a few years, you really have to be a jerk on the road. Speeding is pretty much tolerated up to a point.

Danica is getting nailed for 57 in a 40 zone and stuff like that. How fast is she driving when they are NOT catching her? I get that she is aggressive on the race track but you would think at some point she would smarten up on the highways...but then again the Princess has never been one to admit her faults has she?

[Easy Drifter]

I too have toned it down in the last few years. In the country in good conditions up to 20k over seems to be normally tolerated.
In towns I rarely speed more than 5k over and try to never go over in School zones.
My last ticket was about 3 years ago on a very good lightly travelled county road. I crested a hill at 106k in an 80 zone just as the cop also crested the hill with radar on. Wrote me for 98. He was polite and so was I.
Be a jerk or make stupid excuses and they will get nasty.

So you can have a super license while having lost the road license?


Well, technically, you can have a super licence, or indeed a national licence, without having passed your driving test.

[markabilly]

Maybe it says more about her awareness of what's happening around her. Sometimes it seems she brings that attitude to the racetrack. I speed all the time and haven't gotten a ticket in over 15 years. I do pay attention to my environment and that (along with my V1 :p ) makes all the difference.

For those about to jump on me for the third sentence, I'm polite to other drivers, don't weave in and out of traffic and don't tailgate. All of which probably assists in the no ticket part.


Actually there was the time when I drove an old, balck beat up ford escort for three years and got NOT one ticket, and drove it the max everywhere...never even looked at my environment.....once passed a red camaro on the interstate as we topped the hill, going about 85** or more in a 55 mph zone and there the police be, my heart went opps......he turned on those red lights and siren, :eek: I slowed and waited for the "up to the bumper, pull it over" move, but he never came close.

Instead he pulled over the red camaro that was now way behind me...and I bet he tried without success, to make that cop believe the 89 mph on the radar gun was that old beat up escort :p :D !!

"yeah sure boy, you want to go explain it NOW to the judge or sign the ticket...."


switched to a blue hond prelude, and had two in two weeks, and for two years, i was always one ticket from having my license pulled (no more than 3 tickets for every 352 days)......weren't even red and I was quickly driving as slow as possible, or so i thought....probably that red camaro put a voodoo curse on me....payback is hell... :(

** 85 was the max on the speedometer by law at the time, and I had passed long ago by going flat out and then some.....

[pits4me]

So you can have a super license while having lost the road license?

Edit: I found that the answer depends on the country in question, as it is the national racing license which could be an issue.

Some drivers that race professionally do not have a drivers license permitting them to drive on a public highway. Especially in the development ladder.