A Canadian driver unsuccessfully tried to talk his way out of a speeding ticket, blaming a Mötley Crüe song as the reason for his brush with the law.
Ask anyone who has been pulled over by the long arm of the law, and they’ll tell you that all forms of excuses came to their mind as the officer approached their vehicle. However, we’d wager that blaming the song on the radio for their decision to speed isn’t a very common one.
As it turns out though, that’s exactly what happened in Canada recently.
As the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reports, members of the RCMP pulled over a driver in the province of Manitoba for driving at 145km/h, receiving a $639 in the process.
While that in itself is rather surprising, the most surprising thing is that he blamed his need for speed on the fact he was listening to Mötley Crüe’s ‘Kickstart My Heart’ at the time.
As the RCMP Manitoba Twitter account shared on Monday, they were able to verify the driver’s story, noting their own officer had been listening to the track on the radio at the same time, albeit “at a slower & safer speed”.
This driver’s excuse for going 145kmh? Kickstart my Heart by Mötley Crüe was on the radio. Funny enough, our officer knew he was telling the truth, since he was also listening to it – just at a slower & safer speed. Fined $639. #noexcuses #rcmpmb #AlwaysGotTheCopsComingAfterMe pic.twitter.com/S4pDJUFRve
— RCMP Manitoba (@rcmpmb) January 7, 2019
Oddly, there might be some science behind the driver’s claim though. Over the years, there have been plenty of studies that attempt to find a correlation between high tempo music and fast-driving, with most researchers determining that listening to music while driving can be dangerous.
“Music that is noisy, upbeat and increases your heart rate is a deadly mix,” explained researcher Dr. Simon Moore in 2012. “Fast beats can cause excitement and arousal that can lead people to concentrate more on the music than on the road.”
Back in 2006, motoring website Autoblog published their list of ‘Songs to Listen to if You want a Speeding Ticket’. Funnily enough, Mötley Crüe’s ‘Kickstart My Heart’ was actually included on this list, alongside songs by Marilyn Manson, Stabbing Westward, and Limp Bizkit.
Despite this, the moral of this story is drive safely, and if you feel inclined to speed while listening to tunes, maybe turn off the radio for a few instead.
Check out Mötley Crüe’s ‘Kickstart My Heart’:
