The Alpharetta Department of Public Safety is urging motorists to slow down after a police officer clocked a motorcyclist going 178 mph on Ga. 400 on Sunday.
According to a post on the agency’s Facebook page, the officer did not attempt to stop the driver of the sportbike. Alpharetta police passed along a description of the motorcyclist to agencies farther south on Ga. 400.
“Hopefully, the driver of the sportbike matures a little before a tragedy happens,” the agency said.
With fewer people on the road due to the coronavirus pandemic, motorists have been putting the pedal to the metal.
The Georgia State Patrol said in late April that tickets for speeding at 100 mph or more were up nearly two-thirds statewide from last year. Troopers wrote 140 citations during one two-week period, and that didn’t include tickets issued by some local police.
That same month, a motorcyclist traveling 172 mph on Ga. 400 was too fast to catch, Sandy Springs police said.
In Georgia, speeding is a misdemeanor punishable by fines of up to $1,000. But, depending on how fast you’re going and where you get caught, fines vary. The state tacks on $200 for super speeders, those traveling 75 mph or more on a two-lane road or 85 mph and above on any road or highway.
Most jurisdictions want anyone traveling 100 mph or faster to go straight to jail. But the GSP said some jurisdictions have backed off arrests for fear of spreading the coronavirus in local jails.
— Staff writer David Wickert contributed to this article.
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