The big catch: Motorcyclist clocked going 182 mph
BY KIM JANSSEN AND ART GOLAB Sun-Times Media June 24, 2011 9:08AM
Rodney Jones
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Updated: October 13, 2011 12:29AM
At 182 mph, Rodney Jones was covering almost the length of a football field every second on his Suzuki Hayabusa motorcycle.
If he hadn’t stopped for State Trooper Jason Heinzl at 11:30 a.m. on May 23 last year, he might have made it from Des Plaines to the Magnificent Mile in less than seven minutes.
More likely, he’d be dead, and pieces of his substantial 355 pound body would still be smeared along I-294.
As it stands, Jones, 39, has what officers believe is the fastest speeding ticket ever recorded in the Chicago area — and likely the state.
“When I looked at the radar and saw 182, I couldn’t believe it,” said Heinzl, who clocked Jones going more than three miles a minute in what he characterized as “moderate” traffic, before Jones surprised him by stopping.
“I asked him why he didn’t run and he said, ‘I wasn’t in the mood to run. If I’d wanted to run, I’d have run.’”
Jones was fined $375 and ordered to buy high-risk insurance, according to court records and the Illinois Secretary of State.
A pair of motorcyclists caught doing 150 mph on I-94 in 2009 are the next fastest speeders ever caught. Under a new law that took effect in January, anyone breaking the limit by more than 40 mph faces probation or jail time.
