The same day officials released a dramatic video of Sacramento Kings star Tyreke Evans and another driver topping 100 mph on Interstate 80, a police plane spied two more drivers hitting triple digit speeds — this time on Highway 50.
One drove a Ford Mustang, the other a motorcycle. Officers gave chase. The motorcyclist slipped away. The Mustang driver was corraled after exiting Highway 50 on Sunrise Boulevard.
It prompts the question: How often do drivers on Sacramento-area freeways top 100 mph, willfully turning their vehicles into deadly missiles?
A review of arrests by the California Highway Patrol's Valley Division in the month before and after Evans' wild ride offers a disquieting answer.
CHP officers, focusing mainly on Sacramento and Stockton freeways, caught 83 drivers doing more than 100 mph in May and June. It's probably only a fraction of the real number of drivers who hit triple digits, officials said.
"That's even shocking to us," said local California Highway Patrol spokesman Adrian Quintero after seeing the numbers. He had expected the monthly arrest number to be in the teens. "With all the education and awareness we talk about we have definite issues."
The high-speed drivers were cited under a special Vehicle Code section for people who exceed 100. The fine and penalties are listed in Sacramento County as just under $1,000.
This group does not include 13 additional drivers — including Evans — who were arrested by the CHP's Valley Division for reckless driving during those two months.
Most of those drivers likely were going faster than 100 as well, officials said, but were hit with the more-serious reckless-driving charge because they also were driving erratically. That charge carries a fine of at least $1,100 on first offense.
Triple-digit speeders are people of any age, male and female, officers say. But the fastest drivers often are young men who want to see what their cars can do, and don't seem to believe their actions could mean death for them or others, Quintero said.
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