- Florida troopers arrested a 19 year old after clocking 154 mph.
- The stop happened on wet I 4 in Hillsborough County early Sunday.
- Teen now faces charges under Florida’s new Super Speeder law.
Florida’s highway layout might suggest it was sketched out by a drag racing fan, but that doesn’t make triple-digit speeds any more legal. One teenager just learned that the hard way after allegedly being clocked at 154 mph (248 km/h). Police ultimately caught him, stopped the car, and took him straight to jail.
According to the Florida Highway Patrol, troopers spotted a Ford Mustang traveling eastbound on I-4 in Hillsborough County around 1:30 a.m. The pony car was already moving at an estimated 95 mph, weaving through traffic and changing lanes without signaling. Things escalated quickly once a trooper got behind the car. Instead of slowing down, the driver reportedly floored it.
Triple-Digit Trouble
FHP says the Ford surged to 154 mph, which indicates just how willing the driver was to run. The S550 Mustang he was piloting has an electronically limited top speed of 155 mph. In other words, he was as flat out as he could get, but police caught him anyway, and no, it’s not because he crashed or the “radio was faster.”
More: First Florida Super Speeder Caught Minutes After Law Goes Into Effect
It was because the pursuing officer had a Mustang GT of their own. According to Fox 13, the alleged speeding driver, a 19-year-old, pulled over once the trooper flashed his lights.
Now, he’s facing charges of reckless driving and dangerous excessive speeding. Thanks to Florida’s Super Speeder law put into place last year, he’s facing up to 30 days in jail, a $500 fine, both, or potentially more if this isn’t his first offense.
Public Response
While this kind of speed is clearly something nobody wants on public roads, the reaction from folks to Florida Highway Patrol was nuanced. Some called out slow speed drivers as similarly dangerous.
“FHP needs to start pulling people over when they’re going 10-20 UNDER the speed limit. Statistics show that drivers going significantly under the speed limit cause just as many collisions as those going significantly over,” one commenter argued.
Another added, “Yall need to come out with the “Slow speeder” law and pull people over for impeding the flow of traffic by not moving over from the left lane… traffic is caused by human error most of the time.”
Others questioned the decision-making skills of the officer in the Mustang. “For that speed the chopper should have been used. If the cop did 160 to catch, take him out of the car. Don’t need two dummies running at that speed on the highway.”
Suffice it to say that while the case against the teen might be open and shut, public opinion around policing policies, is still very much up for debate.
