- Mere complete disregard for the law isn’t Florida Man enough. You have to go one step further.
A smashed car lies smoking in the ditch, possibly dozens of lives have been endangered, and the cops are swarming all over the place. In this kind of situation, de-escalating might be a good idea.
But that’s not the Florida man way.
Yair Rivera, a certified Florida man, recently gave the Sunshine State’s police officers a run for their money. His reckless driving led the cops on a chase that probably broke speed records even on Florida’s infamously rowdy roads.
At times, Rivera zoomed along at speeds exceeding 130 mph. Of course, he didn’t do so on an empty highway and dangerously zigzagged between other road users as he blasted down the road.
Although he kept it up for a long time (which is kind of impressive if I’m brutally honest), he eventually lost control of his car. As you’d expect from the speeds he was driving, the vehicle ended up utterly wrecked.
Miraculously, Rivera walked away from the crash more or less unharmed. And then, after his arrest, he had the gall to ask the cops if he should upgrade his car for next time.
I’m sure that comment won’t come back to bite him later.
Dangerous Driving
The high-speed chase began on May 16 on SR 82, near the intersection with Colonial Boulevard southeast of Fort Myers. Around 10:30 p.m., state troopers monitoring traffic on the notorious road spotted a white Lexus driving erratically, to put it mildly.
According to media reports, Rivera was behind the car’s wheel. At that time, he was traveling at slightly above 100 mph on a road where the speed limit sits at 60.
Not only was his speed dangerous, but so was his steering.
“He was swerving in and out of traffic, and people thought he was going to go across the median and hit them,” local resident Jessica Enamorado, who saw the car, said.
As if all that wasn’t bad enough, Rivera nearly rear-ended two other cars. The state troopers stepped in and attempted to stop him.
That’s when things really got out of hand.
Super Speeder
Seeing the cops, Rivera decided it was time to put the pedal to the metal. But first, he wanted to make it as difficult as possible for the police to follow him.
So, he turned off his lights. That meant that he was now driving without illumination on a dark road at night, relying on the beams of passing cars and the few streetlights along the road.
And drive Rivera did. He turned off SR 82 onto the southbound Daniels Parkway and began accelerating in an attempt to outrun the police cars that were now following him.
During his escape attempt, Rivera reached the highest speeds the cops recorded during the chase. On Daniels Parkway, with a 50-mph speed limit, he broke the 130-mph mark.
Of course, there were still plenty of cars on the road. Rivera dodged traffic (often barely) as he hung a right onto Commerce Lakes Drive.
Soon, though, his luck finally ran out. Rivera lost control of the Lexus, and the results were about what you’d expect.
The car slid off the road, gouging deep tracks into the roadside as it left the ground and rolled into the trees. The impact largely broke the car into pieces, scattering bumpers, exhaust components, and various other parts all over the place.
All in all, the chase only took a few minutes. Yet, Rivera’s recklessness must’ve made it feel like a lot longer to the cops.
‘Should I Get a Faster Car?’
By some miracle, Rivera crawled out of the wreckage of his Lexus nearly unharmed. In fact, as the police surrounded him to arrest him, the man seemed to be having the time of his life.
According to police reports, Rivera showed zero remorse as he was being arrested. He was allegedly laughing as he quipped to the police, “Should I get a faster car for next time?”
The cops took Rivera to a local hospital for a checkup before booking him in Lee County Jail. At the time of writing, however, he has been released on bond.
An investigation into the incident is ongoing, and it’s not currently clear what charges Rivera will face. However, he will likely face charges under Florida’s super speeding law, which kicks in when a driver breaks the posted speed limit by 30 mph.
Florida really is notorious for reckless driving. Have you read our story about the woman who sped through the Florida Keys chased by police before peeing herself?