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Exhibition of Speed?
A "friend" of mine recently encountered this experience in "The OC":
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He was driving his 335i in the right lane down a large street, preparing to turn onto a freeway onramp. The light immediately prior to the onramp turned red, so he and the econobox in front of him came to a stop.
When the light turned green, they both made the 90 degree turn at about 5 or 10 miles per hour to the onramp, at which point the econobox took the right lane and he took the left. There was a several hundred foot straight shot up to the merge point into the freeway, so he punched it reaching about 75mph as quickly as possible (w/o breaking traction or swerving) and prepared to merge in with the traffic *going the same speed*.
At this point, he noticed what appeared to be a rapidly approaching Christmas tree in the rearview mirror, which he failed to note previously unlit (it being night). The friendly tree made large noises, too, so he pulled over, turned off the car, opened the window, and put his hands on the steering wheel (Authority Etiquette 101). So, now a policeman walked up and said, "Tonight's your lucky night. If I wasn't on another call, I'd book you for Exhibition of Speed!"
My friend glumly apologized and they both went their separate ways.
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My question is could he have really been written up? Would it have likely stuck if fought in court?
I understand the policeman's desire to have everyone move about safely. But there was also no racing, lack of control, or excessive speed taking place.
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