80-Year-Old Subaru WRX Driver Busted Doing Double The Speed Limit

Aug. 21, 2021 1:44 PM ET by Jay Traugott Offbeat / 11 Comments

Youth is too often wasted on the young.

Police don't like speeders of any age, but we're willing to bet this patrol officer was shocked to discover who was behind the wheel of a speeding Subaru WRX. It wasn't some young gearhead out for a joyride but rather someone's grandfather. Hey, once a gearhead always a gearhead.

Australia's Drive reports that the South Australia Police have issued a six-month license suspension plus a $1,814 AUD fine for the WRX's 80-year-old driver. He was caught speeding at 113 mph in a 62 mph zone. The guy was out having fun on a country road close to Alma, about an hour north of Adelaide, when he was spotted and quickly pulled over.

South Australia Police

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"Given the high number of serious and fatal crashes recently in the Barossa and Mid North Area, this type of driving is of significant concern," police said. So far this year, local police have reported 64 road fatalities, a shocking and very troubling 12 percent increase over the same time in 2020. Joyriding like this has become more common over the past year or so due to pandemic-related lockdowns.

Australia is currently under lockdown as the Delta variant continues to rapidly spread. Empty roads make it quite tempting for those with lead feet to go for, shall we say, a little spin.

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It's happening in the US, too. Since late 2019, there have been at least three successful Cannonball Run record attempts, one of which was for the EV record. Low-traffic conditions are very convenient when blasting your way cross-country.

As for this WRX driver, it doesn't seem he had any desire to travel the length of Australia, something that's extremely dangerous because of the Outback. The guy just wanted to go for a ride and have some fun, but going at that rate of speed could have ended tragically for himself or others. Wanna drive fast? No problem. Just go to your nearest track.