College Students Drive Recklessley On Way To Spring Break

“John" thought he and his college friends were going to have an uneventful drive out to Hilton Head. Little did he know that he and his buddies would be racing.

When I was a sophomore in college, back in the early 90s, some friends and I drove out to my grandmother’s summer house on Hilton Head for Spring Break.

There were six of us, all guys, in two cars. Three of my friends drove in a Mercedes, while I rode in my friend’s Camaro with another passenger. (We didn’t take my car because I drove a beat up Chevy station wagon.)

The drive to Hilton Head, which took about two and a half hours, should have been uneventful. Looking back, though, you had six guys heading off for Spring Break. There was no way something wouldn’t happen.

We headed out, and while I envisioned an easy two-hour journey, the drivers had other ideas. They, apparently, had decided to see who had the faster car. As soon as we got on the interstate, the Mercedes flew past us and disappeared around the bend.

Our driver, without saying a word, swerved into the high speed lane and gunned it: 75 … 85 … 95 … 125 … We were going faster than I’d ever been in my life.

We blew past the Mercedes. The Mercedes, not to be outdone, floored it. It caught the Camaro and the two cars went neck-and-neck for about a mile.

Traffic appeared up ahead. The Mercedes had to decelerate to avoid hitting the car in front of it.

Our car, the Camaro, occupied the far right lane and also had a Jeep in front of it. Instead of decelerating, though, our driver swerved into the breakdown lane – at about 120 MPH – and simply passed the Jeep as though it didn’t exist.

Our car crossed whatever finish line the two drivers had settled on. The Mercedes finished about 20 seconds behind us.

That would have been the end of the story, if it weren’t for a traffic jam on the interstate about five miles past the finish line.

Our little convoy pulled up to the last cars of the traffic jam and put the cars in idle. The car ahead of ours was a station wagon, and there was a woman sitting in the back with a bag of apples.

“You guys want an apple?” she yelled to us.

“Sure!” I replied. I got out of the car, ran up to her car, and grabbed a few apples.

As I was running back, I heard, “What the fuck are you doing!”

I turned and saw a South Carolina state trooper sitting on a motorcycle in the breakdown lane. He pointed at the driver of our car, and yelled, “Pull it over!”

After my friend pulled over, the cop came up to the driver’s side and reprimanded him.

“It’s illegal for vehicle occupants to walk on the interstate highway,” he barked. Before leaving, he gave my friend a summons to appear in court.

My friend had to appear twice in court and pay a $400 fine. What for? Not for speeding. Not for going 127 MPH. But for a violation that occurred while his car was in idle.

Poetic justice, perhaps.