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My wife claims I have a heavy foot when driving.

I’ll admit to exceeding the posted speed limit, but within reason….like 62 in a 55 or 50 in a 45….nothing too dangerous.

And if I’m on an interstate where the speed limit is 70, I’m typically at around 75 mph….that’s fast enough for me. There are some areas where you find yourself in a situation where you must “run” with the traffic or get “run” over.

But you’ll never see me reach triple digits on the speedometer…..that’s way too fast and way too dangerous to not only myself, but other motorists sharing the same stretch of highway.

I read a story last week about a 19-year-old man whose vehicle was clocked at 132 mph. It happened recently on an interstate in Connecticut.

The young driver said he was speeding because he was late for a job interview. But it needs to be mentioned that whatever his excuse, he didn’t immediately pull over upon a state trooper activating his blue lights and siren. The driver was witnessed making unsafe lane changes and weaving between traffic.

The man was arrested and charged with reckless driving, disobeying the signal of an officer, failure to maintain lane, passing on the right, improper turn, passing at an unsafe distance, engaging police in a pursuit, interfering with an officer and first-degree reckless endangerment.

According to a survey conducted by AAA (American Automobile Association), 52 percent of drivers acknowledge exceeding the speed limit by 5-10 mph, while 4 percent admit to driving 16 to 29 mph over the speed limit. Another 3 percent of people admit driving more than 30 mph over the limit.

When it comes to safe driving habits, it appears women reign supreme: 42 percent of women say they’ve never been stopped for speeding or haven’t in about 10 years, compared to just 15 percent of men.

AAA posed the question as to what is the reason behind speeding? Drivers offered various explanations: 17 percent said they speed to arrive on time, 10 percent said speed limits are generally too low, and 8 percent claimed it’s safe to speed as long as it’s less than 20 mph above the speed limit.

When they are pulled over, drivers will use all sorts of excuses to explain why they are speeding. Running behind schedule (late for work; late for an appointment) is the third most used excuse, according to a survey by AAA. The top two on their list are: (#1) they didn’t realize they were speeding; and (#2) they are or someone in their car is experiencing a medical emergency.

Other top excuses for exceeding the speed limit is they didn’t see the speed limit sign; they had to use the bathroom; and they thought they were going as fast as everyone else.

But then there are excuses that are downright funny. Here’s a sampling that I found at statesman.com:

“My pet hamster got loose in the car and I was trying to catch it.”

“There was a spider in my speedometer and I was chasing it with the needle.”

“I was trying to outrun a sneeze.”

“My GPS told me to speed up to avoid being abducted by aliens.”

“I was testing the aerodynamics of my new hat.”

“I’m rushing home because I forgot that I had biscuits in the oven.”

“I was trying to see how fast I would have to go for a grasshopper on my windshield to blow off.”

“There was so much unused road ahead of me; I didn’t want to be wasteful.”

These are driver excuses I found on www.police1.com:

“My car has a recall on it for unexplained acceleration and I’m on my way to get it fixed.”

“I have a cold and when I cough, my foot mashes the pedal.”

“I was trying to get to McDonald’s before the breakfast menu ended.”

“I put too much oil in the engine and had to drive really fast to burn it out.”

“I wasn’t speeding, I was qualifying.”

“Oh, I thought the sign I 95 meant the speed limit…glad you didn’t catch me over on SR 210 earlier.”

“I wasn’t speeding. I just got a haircut and it makes me look fast.”

Upon being clocked at 101 mph, a 17-year-old driver argued with the police, claiming he was only driving 85 mph. When the cop asked him why he thought he was only going 85, the driver responded: “My speedometer only goes to 85 and I had my gas pushed all the way to the floor.”

And even the cops have excuses of why they decide to not write a speeding ticket. Here they are, in their own words:

“I pulled over a Corvette doing 100 in 55 zone. Late at night on highway, no traffic. I told the driver, “You were flying, unless you have a pilot’s license, you are going to jail.” Yes, he handed me a pilot license. Yes, I let him go.”

“I stopped a lady who was crying when I walked up to her vehicle. I asked what the problem was. She said she had gone shopping for the first time after having a baby and nothing fit right. I handed her her license back and slowly backed away. Nothing good was coming from this!”

AAA says speeding significantly increases the likeliness and severity of a crash. According to the latest stats from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, speeding killed 11,775 people in 2023.

AAA implores all motorists to drive cautiously and within the speed limit. This is even more crucial when driving in hazardous conditions or past emergency vehicles.

Not only is speeding dangerous, it can also hurt your wallet. You’ll have to pay the fine, plus your car insurance will likely increase.

Cal Bryant is the Editor of Roanoke-Chowan Publications. Contact him at cal.bryant@r-cnews.com or 252-332-7207.