R8-Driving YouTuber Nabbed for Speeding Using Google Earth and Math

Maybe drivers will finally stop driving like idiots for YouTube views after police find a novel way to catch a speeding R8 driver in England.

The R8 driver posted a video of himself flying along Snake Pass, a wonderfully twisty and hilly-looking road that winds through Derbyshire, England. Normally, the video would leave police helpless, but this time officers went to work to try and find driver Joe Achilles’ heel.

Road Safety Support unit technical manager Steve Callaghan said to the Examiner that “I examined the video file and was able to find the location of the incident, starting at the car park of the Snake Pass Inn, driving east towards Sheffield. The Facebook video showed road markings and traffic signs that were distinctive, and which were able to be identified in the video as well as the Google Earth Pro application. Distances between the signs were measured with the application and the timing of the journeys between the signs was calculated from the video file.”

That’s right, officers timed the car between road signs, found the road signs on Google Earth, did some math and whammo, you’re nicked.

He was calculated over 11 different gaps, with the speeds ranging from 58 mph to 93. Which lead to a summons and a guilty finding for speeding.

Derbyshire Constabulary’s Sergeant Adam Shipley said, “This type of driving is careless, reckless and selfish. On this occasion, thankfully nobody died, but all too often the outcome very different. For a man who drives for a profession I am appalled that he seemingly has so little value for the lives of other road users.”

The officer added that “strapping a Go Pro to the side of a car and driving in this manner – all in a bid to get viewers on social media – is quite frankly pathetic. I hope this case sends a message to others like Joe Achilles who think they can come to our county and put lives at risk.”

The total damage for Achilles: £1,235, or about $1,600, and six demerit points.

Examiner Live

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