I was tempted to start this by saying "hey, we've all had a speeding ticket at one time or another, right?" But, after asking around a little bit, it turns out that not everyone has.

I've gotten a grand total of...1 speeding ticket in all my years of driving, but the speed I was ticketed for driving has always been a sore spot with me. I was actually given a citation by an Illinois State Police trooper for driving 56mph in a 55mph zone. Maybe it was the red sportscar that I had at the time, but one mile over the posted limit? Really?

Some of the people you'll read about below were going significantly faster than that.

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I've gotta get home for Wheel of Fortune! (Getty Images)
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It looks like I'm gonna miss Wheel of Fortune. (Getty Images)
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The Fastest Illinois Speeding Ticket Ever Recorded Happened Back In 2011

After doing some digging on hall-of-fame speeding tickets in Illinois, I happened upon an online piece from The Davis Law Group, where they explain what went down:

Rodney Jones, 39, may have made it from Des Plaines to the Magnificent Mile on his motorcycle in seven minutes if he hadn’t been stopped by Illinois State Trooper Jason Heinzl.

Jones is the fastest speeding ticket ever recorded in the Chicago area and possibly in the State of Illinois. Jones received a citation for going 182 mph in 55 mph zone with “moderate” traffic. Heinzl was in dismay when he looked at the radar but even more surprised that Jones had stopped when he pulled him over.

The piece goes on to point out that Mr. Jones pulled over because he said he wasn't in the mood to run, otherwise he would have. In 2011, there was a news article in the Chicago Sun-Times that told how Illinois State Trooper Heinzl, at that time 12 years on the job, had written over 5,000 speeding tickets. That's more than any other Illinois trooper.

 

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"You can't give me a ticket! I pay your salary!" (Getty Images)
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"Dammit! That line never works!" (Getty Images)
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Check Out Some Other High-Speed, High-Ticket Numbers From The Midwest

Keep in mind that the fastest speeding ticket ever issued in the United States is actually rumored to be an urban legend; supposedly in 2003, a guy in Texas was stopped for doing 242mph in a 75mph zone.

As for our neighboring states, here's what I could find about other Midwestern speed-demons:

    • Indiana: 158mph in a 75mph zone
    • Missouri: 143mph in a 65mph zone
    • Minnesota: 153mph in a 70mph zone
    • Michigan: 180mph in a 75mph zone

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