Etc...

Life in the fast lane

The police in southern Norway have a retort for the traditional complaint that there's never a cop around when you need one. They've caught a 20-something with a hot car who didn't just exceed the speed limit; he obliterated it. This, despite the fact that no officer witnessed the violation, much less gave chase. Well, how then, you ask? Answer, through cyberspace. The driver was so pleased with himself for coaxing his Skoda Octavia up to 150 m.p.h. on a highway posted for 55 that he put a video of the speedometer on the website YouTube.com and titled it "Driving in Norway." His wild ride took place last month on the E-18, roughly 20 miles outside Oslo. "This is a little nice," he can be heard exulting on the tape. As word spread and the video became national news, however, he thought better of his decision and withdrew the tape to try to avoid detection. Unfortunately for him, the cops already were on the case. In a news release, they said they found him "by following the electronic trail he left on the Internet." He was cited for averaging 86 m.p.h. because that was all they could prove. But that's still 31 m.p.h. over the limit. Thus, those few minutes of fun will cost him a fine of $1,300.