VIDEO: 142mph motorcyclist jailed
A MOTORCYCLING "menace" who reached speeds of up to 142 mph on a busy Devon road on his ramshackle bike has been jailed for 10 months.
Michael Robillard, 23, had no insurance, only a provisional licence and his Suzuki had parts held together with a bootlace, spare bolts and threads, Exeter Crown Court heard.
-
142mph motorcyclist jailed
Police video of speeding motorcyclist Michael Robillard
Scenes from a high-speed police chase after his bike was spotted in Teignbridge were shown to the court.
Recorder Martin Meeke QC said Robillard and a friend on another bike had reached speeds of around 90mph on a slip road as they passed Highways Agency staff who were waving at them in horror.
He said: "I have seen cases where Highways Agency staff have been killed by people driving dangerously and I am particularly conscious of the danger you posed to them."
Robillard was banned from driving for two years. He admitted driving dangerously, without insurance or MOT, and otherwise in accordance with his licence.
Prosecutor Ann Hampshire said the defendant, and another motorcyclist were spotted by officers in a marked police car parked by the A380 at Ideford near Newton Abbot around 3.40pm on September 8.
When the bike was later examined, there were bubbles on the tyres from the rubber heating up during the chase, a bootlace and mismatched bolts and threads held parts of the bike together, the seat was wobbly and other parts had cracked.
The court heard that the wheels could have locked, the engine oil had become dangerously low and the defendant had risked his hands becoming trapped in the faulty steering parts.
17 Comments
View all
by GAWker, Plymouth
Wednesday, January 12 2011, 8:21PM
“I'm not sure about your sums Fred of Guildford:
thisiscornwall.co.uk/news/Motorcyclist-blamed-A38-death-crash/article-841175-detail/article.html”
by Revrev, Teesside
Friday, April 17 2009, 10:34PM
“If you have to cross a double white line right in front of coppers' noses at least do it when there isn't a car coming the other way - 1/2 a second from death?”
by matthew, OHIO
Thursday, March 19 2009, 9:28PM
“ive done a 120 easy on a side street... yes driving fast is breaking a law, but driving in a safe and respectful manor to every other motorist on the road is what i try to follow. Im on a bike thats been build by me, its double my age, and i wouldnt trust anything else with my life at those speeds.
some people just like having there liberties un-infringed... talk about a country of freedom, lets count how many of those freedoms are stripped from us with every local and federal law passed...
we have a set of laws, its called the constitution, everything passed against it it just bureaucracy in action.”
by give some props, USA
Thursday, March 19 2009, 7:07PM
“The cop did some nice driving - quite a professional.”
by Joel, UK
Thursday, March 19 2009, 12:23PM
“@Klaste. This is England: Jail = Prison.
@Fred. True, but there's a hell of a lot less time to jump out of the way when a bike that's gone out of control slides towards you at 140mph, rather than a car at 40mph.”
by Fred, Guildford
Thursday, March 19 2009, 10:04AM
“The _approximate_ kinetic energy of the bike at 95mph, assuming a wet weight of about 200kg, was 180,360 joules. Quite a bit. A 1200kg car travelling at a legal 60mph, would give us a figure of 431,664 joules - more than twice as much.
To put this relationship another way, for the bike to reach the same energy level as the car at 60mph, it would have to be travelling at 147mph. To reach the same energy level as this howwible nasty man, the car in my example would only have to reach 40mph.
So which should the public be more worried about being hit by?”
by Jeff, Keswick
Wednesday, March 18 2009, 11:30PM
“What are the coppers driving? It hit and maintained 140+ pretty dang quickly. I'm guessing it ain't a Vauxhal Diesel;) Oh yeah, the biker's a wanker. (I ride a 1200Bandit.)”
by Klaste, Washington State
Wednesday, March 18 2009, 11:08PM
“He went to jail because he broke several laws, including not stopping when being chased by a cop. If you don't punish people for breaking laws, everybody breaks laws. "Rapists and violent thugs" will generally spend time in prisons, as opposed to jail.”
by Paul, Chicago USA
Wednesday, March 18 2009, 8:43PM
“Does anyone know what kind of bike this guy was riding? This was pretty foolish.”
by Enorme Nuez, Long Beach, CA
Wednesday, March 18 2009, 6:15PM
“From the footage it appears he was clocked at 95mph and the pursuing officer got upto speeds of 142mph.”