Matthew Ouimet Fined $1069 for 145MPH

Gus Philpott
Woodstock Advocate
July 13, 2007

Last month I wrote about the mystery driver on Kishwaukee Valley Road who got nabbed for speeding last January. Well, not just “speeding.” How about failing to stop at a stop sign and failing to yield to an emergency vehicle? And a license plate violation?

And not just “speeding” a few miles an hour over the limit. How about 90MPH over the speed limit! Right! Ticketed for 145MPH in a 55MPH speed zone. Who was the mystery driver? That unnamed person who didn’t even make the news? And whom the Illinois State Police refused to identify, citing that it would be a “clearly unwarranted invasion of privacy”?

According to McHenry County Traffic Court records this week, Matthew Ouimet, 25, of Poplar Grove, was in court on June 29 and got socked with a $1,069 fine. The judge tacked on a few goodies, too, such as 30 hours of community service and eight hours of traffic school.

What was his speed? How about 145MPH (in a 55MPH zone)? The final charge was misdemeanor Reckless Driving. All the other charges got rolled into this one. I forgot to ask how much the court costs were. Maybe I’ll have to call back on Monday.

Now, get this. The judge added on one year of what a court clerk called “probation”; i.e., one year of Conditional Discharge.

What does this mean? If Ouimet keeps his noise clean for a year, the charge gets wiped off his record!

Outraged? A State trooper risks life and limb to grab a guy going 90MPH over the speed limit, and the judge is going to let him skate if he is lucky enough not to get caught again within a year?

Why would a judge ever allow Conditional Discharge in a case like this? This is serious enough to merit the charge sticking on Ouimet’s driving record for a long time.