An Albany County Sheriff’s deputy pulled over a dark-colored Nissan hatchback two years ago for going more than 110 mph in a 70 mph zone. The driver was ticketed and told to slow down. He didn’t. The next day, the same driver was reportedly pulled over again on U.S. Highway 30. This time the sheriff’s office clocked him going 116 mph. “Be safe, Laramie, getting to your destination a few minutes earlier is not more important than your life or the life of others,” the sheriff’s office posted on Facebook. The consecutive stops were an egregious case when it comes to speeding, but it turns out Wyomingites may share a need for speed, according to a recent study. MoneySuperMarket, a research firm that conducts reviews and analysis on consumer services such as car insurance, used data from Google Routes to determine the fastest drivers in the world. Specifically, the group looked to rank average driving speeds. The United States ranked first. The state with the fastest drivers? That would be Wyoming, where drivers travel 71.8 mph on average on long drives, according to the study. New Mexico was second at 71 mph. Idaho was third at 70.5 mph. New Hampshire, Vermont and Maryland ranked at the bottom with long-distance average driving speeds below 55 mph.
Green Lights
The reasons behind Wyoming becoming the nation’s racetrack vary. It helps to be the least populated state in the nation. Fewer people mean less traffic, the study found. “At (the) U.S. state-level, many of the less densely populated states rank among the fastest for long distance driving due to lower congestion and it being possible to maintain higher speeds for long distances,” the study said. The terrain also helps. Although Wyoming has some of the rockiest terrain in places, it’s also home to the High Plains in southeastern Wyoming. “Open roads, long, straight flat roads,” said Dallas Tyrrell, sales manager of Tyrrell Chevrolet in Cheyenne. “More antelope on the road than people.” Undeveloped stretches of Interstate 25 and Interstate 80 go on for miles without cell service. With speed limits of up to 80 mph in the state, all there is to do is, well, drive, car enthusiasts said. “We’re far in distance in between places,” Tyrrell said. “People like to get to A and B fast.” Other factors may contribute, as well. Wyoming ranks second in states with the highest elevation, and its thin air helps with gas mileage, Tyrrell said. If it wasn’t for winter, the state’s welcome signs might as well be painted green. Just last week, Tyrrell said nearly 50 Wyoming Corvette owners met in Tyrrell Chevy’s showroom for one of their biannual car club meetings. Tyrrell said his Chevrolet dealership even has trouble keeping sports cars on the lot. Right now, the Cheyenne store has just one — a $128,000, 6.2-liter, nearly 500 horsepower V-8 Corvette E-Ray that can reach 200 mph. “I don’t recommend it,” he said of testing the limits of the speedometer. Others clearly don’t take that advice. Two years ago, Insurify, a company that matches motorists to car insurance, ranked states with the most street racers. Wyoming finished second. While drag racing is illegal in the Cowboy State, Insurify said lenient penalties contributed to its prevalence. “The laxest penalty is in Wyoming, where a street racer may face a fine as low as $10 but no more than $100,” the company said. “However, Wyoming street racers may also face up to 10 days in jail.”
Safe Streets
Jail time is what got Brian Davidson to slow down. Davidson, a board member of the Sheridan Motorsports Association, was just 21 years old when he said he got caught going 121 mph in a 75 mph zone. He was given a speeding ticket and a court summons. When he showed up, a judge sentenced him to 60 days in jail with all but five days suspended. Those five days “slowed me down quite a bit,” he said. “I pretty much go the speed limit now.” But Davidson understands the attraction to punch the gas pedal in Wyoming. “Our state has so much open space,” he said. “The fact that we’re the fastest is probably because we have the furthest to go.” Davidson helps run the Sheridan Speedway, one of at least six racetracks or speedways in the state. Every Sunday, the speedway holds races of different classifications, some with big prize money like a $10,000 purse for races coming up later this month. He urged more people to join race clubs and tracks. On the oval, he pointed out, there are no speed traps, radar guns or state troopers looking to slow your roll. “I can go to the speed track and get my speed kicks there, Davidson said.
