By Yoree Koh
Nobody likes a show off. A Ferrari driver in Fukuoka overlooked that playground thinking when he published a YouTube video of himself last year speeding through the city streets in his good-looking cherry-colored sports car at 84 kilometers over the speed limit.
Instead of eliciting awe, irked viewers called the police. Now, if convicted, the driver faces up to six months in jail or a maximum fine of Y100,000 for breaking the speed limit, according to the Fukuoka prefectural police. The case became public when it was sent to the local prosecutor on March 8.
The trouble began when a 50-year-old doctor posted his speeding exploits in his Ferrari 458 Italia on YouTube last April. The six-minute video shot from behind the seat shows the driver, his hands covered in gloves matching the car's red body, maneuvering the four-wheel road-rocket through city streets. He showcases his ease in swiftly passing cars traveling at a speed closer to the legal 40 kph limit. Police estimate the car reached a maximum 124 kph.
"I wanted to make a Ferrari promotional video," the doctor told investigators, according to local media reports.
But the video did little to promote the reputation of Ferrari drivers in Japan, already bruised by a 20-car pileup caused by a group of speeding exotic car fans last December. The accident counted eight Ferraris and one Lamborghini among the mangled mess.
The Fukuoka police began investigating the case of the speeding doctor after YouTube trawlers complained to the police about the driver's hazardous behavior. The police calculated the speed of the video based on the time it took to travel the mileage covered in video, according to local media reports.
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