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NASCAR points leader Kyle Busch has lost his driver's license for 45 days for driving 128 mph (205km/h) on a road close to a day-care centre and church in a car worth nearly US$400,000. His lawyer said his client was not treated "like any other citizen."
Busch, who doesn't need a license to compete in NASCAR, also was fined $1,000, sentenced to 30 hours of community service and put on one year of unsupervised probation. He pleaded guilty to speeding and no contest to reckless and careless driving in North Carolina District Court.
Busch addressed the court before his sentencing, apologising again for driving 128 mph in a 45 mph (72 km/h) zone in a bright yellow 2012 Lexus on May 24.
"I think you'll be different in the future," District Court Judge H. Thomas Church said.
"I sure will, your honour," Busch replied.
Busch and his wife, Samantha, were in the car when he was pulled over on a two-lane road in an area near a subdivision, a day-care centre and a church. The hand-built LFA sports car was on loan to Busch from Lexus for a 24-hour test drive.
Busch attorney Cliff Homesley argued that his client wasn't being treated the same as other people in similar circumstances, citing a July case of a 21-year-old convicted felon who was caught doing 128 mph and received a $300 fine and no loss of license.
"In 25 years of practising law I've never seen someone not being offered better than this," Homesley argued before the court. "All I am asking is to treat Kyle Busch like any other citizen that appears before the court."
Homesley, calling Busch one of the best drivers in the world, said: "He had full control of that vehicle at all times.
"That automobile in his hands was like a scalpel in the hands of a surgeon. Not a knife in the hands of a five-year-old."
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Busch, who doesn't need a license to compete in NASCAR, also was fined $1,000, sentenced to 30 hours of community service and put on one year of unsupervised probation. He pleaded guilty to speeding and no contest to reckless and careless driving in North Carolina District Court.
Busch addressed the court before his sentencing, apologising again for driving 128 mph in a 45 mph (72 km/h) zone in a bright yellow 2012 Lexus on May 24.
"I think you'll be different in the future," District Court Judge H. Thomas Church said.
"I sure will, your honour," Busch replied.
Busch and his wife, Samantha, were in the car when he was pulled over on a two-lane road in an area near a subdivision, a day-care centre and a church. The hand-built LFA sports car was on loan to Busch from Lexus for a 24-hour test drive.
Busch attorney Cliff Homesley argued that his client wasn't being treated the same as other people in similar circumstances, citing a July case of a 21-year-old convicted felon who was caught doing 128 mph and received a $300 fine and no loss of license.
"In 25 years of practising law I've never seen someone not being offered better than this," Homesley argued before the court. "All I am asking is to treat Kyle Busch like any other citizen that appears before the court."
Homesley, calling Busch one of the best drivers in the world, said: "He had full control of that vehicle at all times.
"That automobile in his hands was like a scalpel in the hands of a surgeon. Not a knife in the hands of a five-year-old."
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Sure, he may be able to drive a car, and he may or may not be pretty good at it. But can he control a small child running onto the road chasing a ball? No. Not even Massa could do that.
But this kind of begs the question, if you were caught speeding at such a speed as this over the speed limit, what would happen to you in your country? Afterall, are we not all just "normal people" like his lawyer was going on about?
In NZ, you'd have your licence automatically revoked for a year, be before the caught, i.e. arrested at the side of the road, your car would be impounded if no one else was able to drive it away, and the outcome would be a very large fine, plus most likely jail time of around 6-months minimum.
Edited by HandyNZL, 24 August 2011 - 09:19 AM.
