Lamborghini driver nabbed for speeding more than 150 mph on 2-lane California highway

Janene Scully
·3 min read
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The driver of a Lamborghini was nabbed for traveling 152 mph on Highway 154 in the Santa Ynez Valley on Sunday — well above the 55 mph speed limit — and landed a ticket for reckless driving and a lot of attention on social media.

California Highway Patrol officers noted the excessive speeder in a social media post on Facebook.

“SLOW DOWN!!! 154 is the State Route NOT the speed limit,” the post said.

Officer Joel Asmussen encountered the high-end sports car driving 152 mph in a 55-mph speed zone.

“We know how tempting it can be to “open it up” when your car is fast and the weather is beautiful, but save it for the track!” the CHP wrote in the Facebook post.

Deemed a scenic highway, 154 is a two-lane roadway with some passing lanes, and has generated safety concerns due to multiple deadly crashes in recent years.

A Los Angeles man driving a Lamborghini was nabbed for traveling 152 mph — well above the 55 mph speed limit — on Highway 154 in the Santa Ynez Valley on Sunday, Nov. 20, 2022.
A Los Angeles man driving a Lamborghini was nabbed for traveling 152 mph — well above the 55 mph speed limit — on Highway 154 in the Santa Ynez Valley on Sunday, Nov. 20, 2022.

Some have blamed the road’s design and others place fault on drivers.

The far-from-routine traffic stop occurred on a stretch of Highway 154, west of the roundabout at Highway 246 and near Meadowvale Road, Officer Michael Griffith told Noozhawk on Monday.

‘To be honest with you, I think this is the highest one that I’ve seen,” Griffith said, adding that “152 is pretty darn fast.”

A few years ago, Griffith conducted a traffic stop in Santa Barbara where a man test driving a Tesla was logged at 127 mph on Highway 217.

Radar detectors can pick up high speeds, including those of airplanes flying overhead.

Social media posters wondered if the vehicle was impounded or why it wasn’t.

Griffith said extremely low staffing levels for the Buellton area officers and the lengthy time it takes for an officer to arrange to impound and tow the vehicle led to a decision to let the Los Angeles area man in his 50s to leave with the citation.

“It was just to be able to provide more coverage for the area,” Griffith said.

Additionally, the driver immediately pulled over and appeared very remorseful about his fast speed.

“That’s no excuse for those kinds of speed,” Griffith added.

CHP officers based in Buellton handle the Santa Ynez and Lompoc valleys so tying up one officer for at least 30 minutes can leave the area’s busy highways with limited CHP patrols.

“Going into the holiday season people need to slow down. People need to drive safe, especially on the 154, which is prone to horrible accidents like we’ve seen in the last couple months,” Griffith said. “At 152 miles per hour, if you blow a tire, it’s not going to be good. Somebody pulls out in front not expecting those speeds, it’s not going to be good, so people need to slow down.”

Motorists should slow down, remove distractions, don’t drink and drive and wear seatbelts, the CHP said.

CHP officers will be beefing up patrols during the holidays and have a zero tolerance enforcement, he added.

The CHP’s Buellton Area recently announced a 12-month, joint regional enforcement and educational campaign to save lives and remove unsafe drivers from highways 1, 154 and 101 thanks to a federal grant. The Safe on All Roads campaign began Oct. 1 and will end on Sept. 30, 2023.

Noozhawk North County editor Janene Scully can be reached at jscully@noozhawk.com . Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk , @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz . Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook .