Really Illegal: Driver Laps Manhattan in 24 Minutes

Police commissioner is not impressed
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 4, 2013 9:16 AM CDT
Updated Sep 8, 2013 6:34 AM CDT

The NYPD is on the lookout after an anonymous driver posted a video that appears to show him (or her) driving all the way around Manhattan (a 26.5-mile loop) in 24 minutes, 7 seconds. That would be an unofficial record, MyFox New York reports; the previous mark was 26:03, set in 2010. The August 26 drive was made in a BMW Z3, and the driver had to stop at six red lights.

"We've seen this before. We've taken enforcement action," NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly says. "We now have license plate readers that will help in this investigation." Jalopnik writer Raphael Orlove calls the Manhattan speed laps "illegal," "reckless," and "dangerous," and notes that though the driver was going an average speed of 66mph, the driver was also "passing on the right, weaving across lanes, and cutting people off like a cabbie." Orlove managed to contact the driver, who insists, "Being a fast driver doesn't mean that you're inherently a bad or reckless driver. ... I'm in control." (More Manhattan stories.)

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