We’ve always been under the impression that everyone is subject to obeying the speed limits. Imagine our surprise then, when on Sunday, as we were taking a leisurely drive up the coast for Santa Barbara, we encountered a Highway Patrol officer who was holding back the northbound right lane of traffic on PCH to allow a procession of Ferraris coming from Mulholland Highway on to the PCH. As we merged into the left lane, we were passed by one Ferrari after the other until Highway 1 became one lane past Neptune’s Net. What we then witnessed was some of the most dangerous and reckless driving we’ve ever seen. These Ferraris apparently wanted to stay in “formation” without any other cars getting in their procession-even though other vehicles on the road had to merge into the highway’s one lane. We saw certain Ferraris dangerously tailgate other cars because they were not driving at “Ferrari speed.” When the road became two lanes again many of these Ferraris were traveling at extremely high rates of speed. The Highway Patrol was nowhere to be seen. If they had been anywhere around, they could have had a ticket-writing bonanza.
Once the PCH became two lanes again, the Ferraris became a blur as they cut in and out of traffic at excessively high speeds to continue their Ferrari parade until they all gathered at the exit for the Channel Islands National Guard base. There must have been 100 Ferraris, all lined up waiting to be cleared through the gates.
We asked around and, apparently, this was an odyssey organized by the Ferrari owners club and was billed as the “Summer Run.” There was a road rally on Mulholland Highway and then they all congregated at the airbase for lunch. We believe that this sort of expedition is fine in theory, if it is properly monitored, which it was not, and if speed limits are strictly obeyed, which they clearly were not. What is completely unacceptable is a group of Ferrari drivers hot-dogging and treating a public road as their own personal Grand Prix course. If they want to drive at high rates of speed, let them do it on a closed course, but not on Pacific Coast Highway, and not when the road is full of other drivers, many driving with children in the car, as we were.
Jonathan (and Marie) Wilbanks