A “frustrated” teenager drove his car at more than 140mph (225km/h) on his way to the gym before crashing into a taxi.
Max Dangerfield, now 20, was driving in the early hours of 25 January 2025 on the A48 near the Cross Hands roundabout in Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, when he ploughed into the back of a taxi that was taking two women home after a night out.
The taxi driver suffered broken ribs, bleeds on the brain, a punctured lung and a lacerated liver in the crash.
Dangerfield, who was uninsured, was banned from driving for 50 months at Swansea Crown Court on 13 August, and must serve 28 months detention in a young offenders institution.
He must pass an extended test before he can get a licence.
German car, Autobahn. But most modern cars can go similarly fast. Petrol/gas usually faster than comparable diesel.
The high top speed is a by-product of the amount of power cars now have, power they need to accelerate from 0-60 fast enough for modern traffic, get up a hill, tow a caravan or whatever, and to comfortably and safely maintain motorway speeds.
Cars which can’t reach higher speeds are really slow to accelerate and aren’t comfortable, reliable, or safe at motorway speeds.
Eg. depending on the model a Lada Niva will have a top speed of only 120kph/75mph, but you really wouldn’t want to drive over 100kmh/60mph for extended periods. It’s not reliable, comfortable, safe, and I suspect it isn’t efficient either.
Now obviously, you could limit the top speed but that’s a matter of regulation, and relatively easy to bypass.
Luckily this will soon largely be a thing of the past, electric cars are different. AFAIK you can achieve acceptable levels of acceleration with lower top speeds.