Top Gear draws fire for 'glorifying' 210 MPH ticket. Only it's a fake. [w/VIDEO]
Top Gear talks Bugatti speeding ticket – click above to watch video after the jump
ESPN sports columnist Bill Simmons proposed a 72-hour reportage moratorium for the web – that way, news could be vetted before was broadcast to the entire universe. Had that been in effect, the story of Orange County resident Philip Robert Odegard might not have ended up on Top Gear and then upsetting Scottish authorities.
Odegard posted an image of a speeding ticket on his Flickr page. The ticket claimed he was busted doing 210 mph in a Bugatti Veyron in a "65 mph max" zone. Odegard's epic tale made it into the latest episode of Top Gear, where the hosts excitedly talked about the speeding ticket in their news section. Scottish Councillor Mike Raeburn then lambasted Top Gear for refusing "to see the effect this continual reinforcement of the 'speed is good' message has on viewers, particularly younger ones." The head of the Scottish Campaign Against Irresponsible Drivers also had harsh words for Top Gear.
The issue here, however, isn't speeding – it's speciousness. Odegard wasn't busted in a Veyron doing 210. According to some digging done by the O.C. Register, Odegard wasn't busted by the California Highway Patrol at that speeds in any car, let alone a Bugatti. He was clipped in a 2004 Infiniti doing 100. Which is a tale that probably wouldn't have ended up on Top Gear. Somewhere, at the bottom of this, though, it's still all Jeremy Clarkson's fault. You can watch the footage in question after the jump (talk of the ticket comes at around 4:15).
[Sources: Scotsman; O.C. Register; YouTube]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Dude 3:38PM (7/21/2009)
odorguard or whatever that dude's name is doesn't live Orange County. He lives in San Marcos - inland San Diego. They don't let 5-year-old infinitis in the OC.
He is pretty impressed with himself however...
http://philip-odegard.blogspot.com/
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larry a 4:22PM (7/21/2009)
-1 for making stereotypical comment on "the OC"
5 year old cars out number new ones in Orange County, I'd imagine its like that across the country as well
Dude 4:28PM (7/21/2009)
larry_a
-1000000 for being a moron. it was a joke.
seriously, more 5-year-old cars in the oc than new ones? you must be rolling around the 714 dude.
James 5:23PM (7/21/2009)
I think you guys are missing the point. The guy is obviously full of it, but he probably accomplished what he set out to do: Draw a lot of attention to himself and his "Social Media/Marketing" blog. I'm pretty sure it was a marketing stunt sort of like a viral ad...
HotRodzNKustoms 3:38PM (7/21/2009)
You could probably do 100 on that section of road in an old 240D diesel Mercedes.
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Rob 3:52PM (7/21/2009)
I got a ticket for doing 172 in a 55 with my 92 Subaru SVX.
No wait, really. See, I was doing 72mph, but the officer wrote 172mph. I went to court and had it thrown out. There's no way my SVX could hit 170mph. It could do 150 though. :D
dukeisduke 3:45PM (7/21/2009)
Clarkson? Pwned.
Anyway, if Odegard had been busted for doing 210 in a 65, he wouldn't have just been ticketed - they would have hauled him off to jail for reckless driving. Looking at his blog, he sure is in love with himself. He just needs to add "BS Artist" to his "About Philip" bio.
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N 4:43PM (7/21/2009)
"Mr. Odourguard's" blog gives more that a hint towards the level of imbecile that man has reached... I am willing to bet he is the sort of person who would install a mirror on the ceiling in his bedroom!
What a douchebag... who would lie about owning a Veyron, and then post a faked picture of a speeding ticket in said Veyron?!
Rocketboy 5:37PM (7/21/2009)
Don't forget, the mirror is for himself. He wouldn't bother looking if there was some icky girl getting in the way of the image.
Scott 4:03PM (7/21/2009)
72 hours would be useless as I saw this thing several days before the Top Gear episode aired. It's a fantastic bit of graphic editing, but regardless, I watch Top Gear to be entertained and don't find it deeply worrying that Clarkson whipped this out. He isn't getting paid to do investigative journalism.
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Franz 5:59PM (7/21/2009)
My thoughts exactly... this isn't Dateline NBC or 60 Minutes. There's probably more fact in an episode of Family Guy than there is in a Top Gear episode... I thought everyone already knew that. Doesn't stop me from sitting at my computer every Sunday afternoon waiting for Final Gear to drop the newest episode though... Top Gear rules.
bmwMontreal 8:41PM (7/21/2009)
The 72 hour time limit mentioned in this article has nothing to do with the article Bill Simmons wrote. In the article, http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/090710, Simmons proposes a "proof of life concept" for any hypothetical situation in sports news. I.e. Farve going to the Vikings; the original idea comes up and you have 72 hours to discuss it/what might happen/all of that, then until Farve actually shows up at training camp you cannot discuss it.
pmalik 3:50PM (7/21/2009)
I could've told you that ... oh wait I did. The tool that made it tries to make living with all the social media garbage. He's made fake paparazzi videos of himself in the hopes of becoming some sort of manufactured celebirty.
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Venom 3:56PM (7/21/2009)
How sad is your life that you have to make up stories about speeding in a Veyron?
I am pretty sure if that had really happened they would have beat him mercilessly before hauling him off to jail.
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jv2k 3:57PM (7/21/2009)
I figured it was wrong or that something was missing.
Going double the speed limit can constitute jail time(and going 210 definitely might) and california is notorious for crushing cars for the hell of it.
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Xedous 4:08PM (7/21/2009)
How is a cop ever going to catch a guy doing 210+ anyhow? By the time the cop reacted and got up to 100+ the guy would have already been 2 miles down the road.
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CB 4:20PM (7/21/2009)
I am remember by dad telling me something as a kid. He would say, "You can't out run a radio."
I think a cop radar'ing someone doing 210 mph would have some help out looking for the car. And Veyron's are fairly rare.
But, if it was nightime.................... ;)
Coolio 4:22PM (7/21/2009)
It's called a police radio.
Greg 7:32PM (7/21/2009)
"the guy would have already been 2 miles down the road."
... in the breakdown lane, out of gas.
The car drinks a tank of gas in 12 minutes at full speed.
Xedous 8:38PM (7/21/2009)
You people and you logical responses.... So annoying! ;)