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.
Winter tyre maximum is often lower. 100mph/160kmh is common.
I regularly reach speeds of 240kmh/150mph on the Autobahn. Bog standard VW. TBH it’s boring.
For those wondering, yes it can save time.
For example, if you maintain a high average speed driving from Brussels to Berlin, roughly 750km, you can make it under 6 hours. Add a short lunch break and that means you’re able to leave Brussels in the morning and arrive in Berlin before the rush hour begins. Perhaps still do something in Berlin after you’ve arrived.
If you maintain 80mph/130kmh, in theory it’d take 6-7 hours, but you’re far more likely to get stuck in rush hour traffic. That means you potentially end up DOUBLING journey time. At which point you arrive in the dark and too tired to go to an interview or whatever. Day after sucks too.
So driving fast makes the car a viable alternative to a plane or the ever unreliable Deutsche Bahn. And if you’re not alone in the car, it’s far more environmentally friendly than the plane, even if you’re driving fast.
This is all theoretical. IME nowadays Germany’s Autobahn is 50% road works.