A confession from Steve Wozniak, the latest big-name Prius speed demon

[jkash]

A confession from Steve Wozniak, the latest big-name Prius speed demon

Alright Al Gore III, you're still the tops when it comes to speeding in a Prius - but not by much. Steve Wozniak is right behind you.

And when I say speeding, man o' man, do I mean speeding.

You probably remember when the son of the former vice president was nailed for going 105 mph in Southern California last month. Well, a mention of that in a recent Roadshow column led a buddy of Wozniak's to check in, claiming that the co-founder of Apple Computer was ticketed for going 105 mph on Interstate 5 earlier this year.

Whoa. Mr. Roadshow knows a good story when it plops into his lap. If true.

"Not true," Wozniak replied: "104 mph."

OK, squash that image of the Prius being wimpy, as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger had quipped this year. First, 105 mph, and then 104!

"I pleaded guilty, with an explanation," Wozniak said in one of several e-mails exchanged during the past few days. "I said that I was really scientific, and in the last year had been in Athens, Moscow, Berlin, Frankfurt, Munich (twice), Zurich, Canada (three times), Columbia, Singapore, Japan, London, etc. and had gotten used to kilometer speeds."

The judge smiled. But he didn't buy it. The fine was about $700.
Read more.

[Tech_Guy]

I can understand and have a considerable amount of sympathy for Steve Wozniak about being confused where he was driving and which system is being used to measure rate of travel. Here in the Silicon Valley, we have so many people from so many different places that driving anywhere is truly an international experience...

Keith

[ruaqt]

He must have been late for something. I can't imagine why someone would drive a Prius if they were planning to drive fast. Especially the Woz, he must have other cars.

[mr_zorg]

I too feel sympathy, but not for being confused about where you are. If you've spent any amount of time driving on the autobahns overseas, going a measly 65-75 seems just plain archaic... In my case, my father was stationed over in Germany when I was ages 10 - 17, so I actually LEARNED how to drive on the autobahn (which at that time didn't generally have a speed limit). Going 100+ routinely was no big deal. Imagine my shock when we returned to the USA only to find I couldn't go any faster than 55 (again, before the lifted the federal limit). Sacrilege.

P.S. In time I came to discover that it's just as well because the quality of neither our roads nor our average drivers are up to it. It would be just plain dangerous to do in any amount of traffic around here.

[madler]

Not a good excuse, since there is a button on the dash that, with a single push, would put his speedometer in km/h mode. Someone like Wozniak could then easily convert the mph signs to km/h in his head. (5's go to 8's, so 55 -> 88, 65 -> 88 + 8 + 8 = 104. Whoa -- 104! He should have mentioned to the judge that 104 km/h is about 65 mph.)

By the way, I can't figure out why a dash button is devoted to that function. That's something that you do once for the life of the car! It might as well be buried in some third-level submenu.

[donee]

Hi All,

Well I doubt Woz was confused, this does remind me of computer engineer fellow ham radio operator. He flunked his first driving license test, when he proceeded through a three way stop. His reason "I though it was a typo"! Anyway, this guy went on to head a super computer developement lab, as well as scale Mount Everest...

[Topgas]

That's it. If Steve can do 104 mph, I can do 106. Speed is so much fun, even in a hybrid!

[Rangerdavid]

Yeah, sure, its a very wise thing to do, if you don't know where you are, and you don't know where you're going, you might as well floor it!! and get there faster!! No need to slow down and look at the street signs, your GPA, or take time to figure out which exit to take, just endanger your life, and those around you!! That's the way to go!!

[catgic]

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[Rest]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jkash @ Aug 20 2007, 05:48 PM) [snapback]499473[/snapback]</div>

OK, squash that image of the Prius being wimpy, as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger had quipped this year. First, 105 mph, and then 104![/b]

Any vehicle can have a high top speed and still be wimpy. It is all a matter of gearing. Top speed means nothing, it is acceleration and horsepower that determines if a vehicle is a monster.