The man who started the Cannonball Run races from New York to California died at age 82 due to complications from Alzheimer’s disease; the racers sometimes streaked down roads like Highway 58 on the Mojave desert at speeds of up to 175 MPH.

Mr. Yates, an automotive writer angered at what he considered the bland and uninventive cars being produced in Detroit, came up with the idea for the coast-to-coast race in the early 1970s. In a 1971 test run, Mr. Yates and a friend drove a van from New York to California in under forty-one hours. A few months later, Mr. Yates announced the creation of the Cannonball Sea-to-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash. He named the race in honor of Erwin “Cannonball” Baker, who drove from coast to coast in under sixty hours in the 1920s. Mr. Yates participated in the first Cannonball Run himself; he later recalled that the only scary moment was when his Ferrari skidded over an icy bridge in Arizona at 125mph.

There were four other Cannonball Runs in the 1970s, and the race was featured in several Hollywood movies, including Cannonball Run, Cannonball Run II, andThe Gumball Rally; Mr. Yates wrote the screenplays for both Cannonball Runs.

100+mph Tickets

Cannonball Run racers accepted speeding tickets as part of the cost of doing business, because back in the 1970s, penalty assessments were almost nonexistent and out-of-state tickets might not show up on an insurance company’s report. Neither of those things are true now, because information about anything is just a few clicks away and a VC 22348(b) citation costs about $900 for a first offense. Additionally, there is a mandatory license suspension, two points on your license, and a tremendous insurance premium increase. The best approach in these cases is to get the charges reduced to regular speeding, because the penalties are substantially less.

Getting Legal Help

The aggressive attorneys at Bigger & Harman, APC, are committed to giving individuals a voice when dealing with speeding and traffic tickets. Call today at 661-349-9300 or email attorney@markbigger.com to receive the personal professional attention you deserve. En español, llame al 661-349-9755.