Think you’ve got an original excuse to explain your speeding? Think again. A traffic unit from London, Canada released a list of the most common excuses for speeding with some amusing results.

Take a look through and see if you’ve used any of the following:

• “I’m running out of gas and need to get to the next gas station.”
• “I have to go to the bathroom.”
• “I’m late for work.”
• One speeder told the officer that it was a new car and he wasn’t used to it.
• Another told the officer that his father had passed away. It turned out to have happened — 6 weeks prior.
• One motorist said he was speeding to get home because his father was possibly dying. The officer led the way and called an ambulance only to find out it was all a lie.
• Another motorist sped past a police cruiser and when stopped his excuse was that he thought police didn’t like to be tailgated so he wanted to get in front.
• Recently a woman was ticketed for speeding on her own street. Police were conducting speed enforcement near her home. The fire department attended the area as well for an unrelated matter. When the woman saw the fire department she raced toward her home to see what was going on only to be given a ticket for speeding.

We imagine that these excuses aren’t specific to Canadians… what excuses have you ever tried to get out of a ticket? Have you tried one of these? Tell us in the comments, or better yet tweet us @AutoGuide.

If you buy a Dodge Dart and get the sneaking suspicion that it feels like someone was drinking when they put the thing together, you just might be right.

Brian Ahlert, 41, of Janesville, Wis., was returning from work at the Belvidere, Ill. plant responsible for manufacturing the Dart when he was arrested for drunk driving. The incident occurred last Saturday at 8:04 p.m. according to GazetteXtra.com.

He was pulled over after witnesses reported his 1995 Chevy Lumina was “all over the road.” When police caught up to him, Ahlert was driving 40 mph in a 55 mph zone.  He told police he had been drinking all day during his shift at the Chrysler plant.

This isn’t the first, or even second time in recent memory that we’ve reported on Chrysler employees being drunk on the job. Last summer, news cameras caught workers at a Detroit plant drinking and getting high while at work.

Apparently, this was Ahlert’s fifth drinking and driving offense, we’re just grateful nobody got hurt.

While it’s a huge stretch to assume that Alhert’s behavior is common where he works, we hope the others in charge of making Dodge’s new flagship economy car are of sounder mind.

[Source: Janesville Gazette]

Just last week we told you about Hollywood actor John Travolta’s classic Mercedes-Benz 280 SL getting stolen outside a Jaguar dealership in Santa Monica, CA.

Now the Santa Monica Police are seeking the public’s help in finding this rare car. The vehicle in question is a 1970 model, and while it was originally a light silver, it now has a custom brown paint job. It’s license plate is 3RBZ737.

The car was stolen off Berkley Street at 3:46 p.m. Police is asking if anyone has any security camera’s in the area that could have captured the crime. Travolta had left the car for just 10 minutes before he returned to find it missing. It is not known if the thief followed the car, or just happened upon it.

If you know anything about this vehicle, you can call Det. Steve Smetzer at (310) 458-8936 or Sgt. Henry Ramirez at (310) 458-8453. Investigators can also be reached through the 24-hour line (310) 458-8495 and those wishing to remain anonymous can call WeTip at (800) 782-7463 or visit their website at www.lacrimestoppers.org.

A $1000 reward is being offered to whoever provides information that leads to an arrest and conviction on this case. The car itself is valued at over $35,000.

[Source: LA Times]

Police have confirmed that a woman endangered her 6-year old niece by having the girl reverse out of a tight parking spot, which ended with two wrecked cars in the process. The aunt, fifty-five year old Rebecca Beatty, was charged by police in June after she picked up her niece from a dance program at Ambridge Area High School. Police said the girl hit a parked car, pushing it over a curb until it hit another car parked on the street. Ouch.

[Source: Wheels]

The North Carolina state government will implement the “Run and You’re Done” law beginning December 1 2011. Governor Bev Perdue signed the bill into law on June 23. This new law allows North Carolina to seize the vehicle of anyone convicted of felony speeding to elude.

The vehicle would then be auctioned off to the highest bidder, bringing revenue to the police agency responsible for the seizure. The entity responsible for selling the vehicle will keep seizure fees and sales fees. Then the remainder of the profit will be distributed to the county government like a normal fine.

Under the new law, the seized vehicle can be sold even if the actual owner of the vehicle is unaware of its use for speeding. Police will need to place a legal advertisement in the newspaper on two occasions and paste up three handbills near the place of seizure before selling the car. In total, the process can be done in 24 days. A provision has been put in place forbidding the sale of highly modified performance vehicles. The modified vehicles are to be “turned over to such governmental agency or public official within the territorial jurisdiction of the court as the court shall see fit, to be used in the performance of official duties only.”

[Source: The Truth About Cars]

The police force in Nova Scotia are confused as to why a motorist would decide to casually light a mariajuana joint a few metres away from a traffic checkpoint.

Last week, police were conducting a large checkpoint in Yarmouth, when officers noticed pot wafting through the air. Officers approached the car and inside, a man was causually smoking his joint with the windows down.

The driver was pulled over and officers spent an hour trying to determine if the man was impaired. He passed all the tests and was allowed to leave, although police officers seized his marijuana. “It appears that this was the one and only joint that was smoked,” said an RCMP officer, noting that they didn’t charge the man because it was a small quantity of marijuana.

[Source: Wheels]

When violence erupts in the streets, it’s always the innocent bystanders that have the most to lose. In this case, the only bystander (thankfully) was an Audi R8 and nobody else, but still…why?!

German police chased a man in his supercar after a domestic dispute between him and his wife. The man started opening fire, and police had no choice but to unload on the poor bastard—plugging his car with 37 bullet holes and dramatically lowering its resale value. The man was shot four times and still managed to live, proving something about the tenacity of stupidity, or whatever it is. Nobody else was injured otherwise.

Michael Bay could not be reached for comment.

[Source: Wrecked Exotics]

Fans of American sedans with comically large wheels would do well to avoid the Cincinnati, Ohio area, as police in the region are now seizing and impounding vehicles that fit the profile of a “donk” (a large American sedan with wheels 20″ or greater in diameter) due to allegedly being unsafe for the road.

Cincinnati police cited a vague public safety code that supposedly gives them the authority to impound the cars, and local motorists affected by the actions are outraged at what they see as excessive heavy-handedness by police. Local news stations have been covering the story, with city officials declining to comment on the matter. While the aesthetics of the donk movement are open to question, it’s hard to imagine the big rims have such a detrimental effect on performance to the point where the vehicles are no longer road-worthy.

[Source: Jalopnik]

Police in Seattle, Washington are using Twitter to help fight auto theft by making it easier to publicly broadcast stolen vehicle reports, and allowing citizens to keep an eye out for the cars in question.

The account, imaginatively titled “Get Your Car Back”, will allow 911 operators to enter the vehicles details and location into a twitter post, that will be immediately broadcast to the account’s followers. Stolen cars that have been recovered will not be tweeted, however.

“I believe that this program will integrate seamlessly into our strategy to prevent and reduce auto theft in Seattle,” said Police Chief John Diaz. “It will also serve to increase public awareness on the subject.”

[Source: Seattle PD via the New York Times]