Imagine getting pulled over for doing 107 mph in a 65 mph zone. The flashing lights appear in your rearview mirror, your stomach drops, and you start calculating how much your insurance premium is going to skyrocket. When the officer walks up to your window, you look them dead in the eye and say you are legally allowed to fly down the highway because your job is just too important for traffic laws.
Most people would end up in handcuffs or at least leave with a massive criminal speeding ticket. But if you are New Hampshire State Representative Ellen Read, you try to use the state constitution as a get-out-of-jail-free card. In similar developments, read about: Why The Iran Us Ceasefire Was Always Headed For A Crash.
The Boston Globe recently reported a story that perfectly captures the staggering disconnect between elected officials and the people they represent. Read was clocked by a Rockingham County sheriff’s deputy going a ridiculous 107 mph on Interstate 93. Instead of taking the L, paying the fine, and moving on, her legal team argued that she possesses "legislative privilege" that shields her from prosecution. Her lawyer even went so far as to compare her to a first responder.
Let's cut through the nonsense. Flying down a public highway at triple-digit speeds is dangerous, reckless, and entirely indefensible. Pretending the law does not apply to you because you hold a public office is an insult to every citizen who actually follows the rules. NPR has also covered this fascinating issue in great detail.
The Ridiculous Anatomy of a 107mph Traffic Stop
The facts of the case are jarring. In December 2024, a deputy stopped Read on I-93 in Windham. She was driving 42 miles per hour over the posted speed limit. For context, that is not just "keeping up with traffic." That is a speed where a single blown tire or a sudden lane change from an unsuspecting driver results in a fatal pileup.
It gets worse. This was not an isolated incident. Just a few months later, in June 2025, Read was stopped again on the very same interstate. That time, she was clocked at 92 mph in a 65 mph zone.
For the first incident, she was found guilty of negligent driving, which is a non-criminal violation. She received a $1,240 fine and a deferred license suspension. The second ticket is still hanging over her head as of mid-2026. Instead of taking responsibility for risking the lives of everyone on the road, Read fought the charges by claiming the traffic stops violated the New Hampshire Constitution.
Her argument hinges on a colonial-era rule meant to keep rogue governors from arresting political opponents to stop them from voting on laws. It was never intended to let politicians treat public highways like their own personal drag strips. Fortunately, a trial judge threw her argument out, and the New Hampshire Supreme Court declined to step in and save her.
What Politicians Get Completely Wrong About Legislative Immunity
We see this exact same script play out across the country. Lawmakers constantly try to stretch the concept of legislative immunity far past its breaking point. Look at Arizona. Over the past year, multiple state lawmakers, including State Senator Jake Hoffman, were caught driving way over the speed limit and avoided tickets on the spot because of "legislative immunity" rules.
The original intent behind these constitutional clauses is simple. They protect the balance of power. If a corrupt local sheriff wants to stop a lawmaker from voting on a controversial bill, they cannot just lock them up on a bogus charge on their way to the state capitol. It is a shield against political warfare, not a license to endanger the public.
Using this privilege to avoid a speeding ticket completely flips the principle of equal justice on its head. The laws created inside the state house must apply to the people who write them. If a lawmaker believes a 65 mph speed limit is too slow, they can introduce a bill to change it. They do not get to unilaterally exempt themselves while their constituents get slapped with heavy fines and suspended licenses for doing the exact same thing.
Comparing a speeding politician to an emergency vehicle or a first responder is particularly offensive. Firefighters, police officers, and paramedics undergo extensive training to operate vehicles at high speeds during life-or-death emergencies. They use sirens, flashing lights, and highly coordinated communication networks to clear the road. A state representative rushing to a committee meeting in a standard sedan possesses none of those safeguards.
The High Cost of Entitlement
This pattern of behavior often points to a larger trend of entitlement. In Read's case, the speeding tickets are just one piece of a highly scrutinized record. Reports show she claimed $18,961 in legislative mileage reimbursements during the 2025–2026 term. That happens to be the third-highest reimbursement total among all members of the New Hampshire House of Representatives. She claimed travel expenses for 279 days—more than any other state representative who does not hold a leadership position.
She defends the high mileage by saying she treats the State House as her full-time workplace. But when you pair massive mileage payouts with multiple high-speed traffic stops on the exact highway you are charging taxpayers to drive on, it looks terrible. It sends a clear message that the rules of normal society simply do not apply to the political class.
Public trust in government is already incredibly low. When voters see an elected official driving at speeds that would get any ordinary citizen arrested, and then watching that official use expensive lawyers to try and exploit constitutional loopholes, it breaks the system. It proves the cynical view that there are two tiers of justice: one for the people with power, and one for the rest of us.
How to Fix the Loophole and Hold Leaders Accountable
The solution to this nonsense is simple, but it requires public pressure. States need to clarify their rules to ensure public safety always comes before political privilege.
In Arizona, after widespread public fury over lawmakers dodging tickets, Governor Katie Hobbs noted that an executive order treats criminal speeding—defined as going more than 20 mph over the limit—as a "breach of the peace". Because constitutional immunity explicitly excludes breaches of the peace, troopers have the green light to cite speeding politicians. Every single state with a legislative immunity clause needs to adopt a similar ironclad rule. Traffic violations that put lives at risk should never be shielded by political office.
If you are tired of seeing politicians act like rules are only for the little people, you have options to force real change.
First, check your own state's constitution. Look up the specific wording of your state's legislative immunity clause. If it lacks an explicit exception for criminal traffic violations or reckless driving, email your local representatives and demand an amendment. Force them to put on the record whether they believe they should be allowed to speed without consequences.
Second, use your vote. When an official shows a complete lack of regard for public safety and tries to dodge accountability, they are telling you exactly who they are. Do not let them sweep it under the rug when election season rolls around.
Stop letting politicians hide behind archaic rules to justify reckless behavior. If they cannot follow the basic laws of the road, they have no business writing laws for the rest of us. Pay the ticket, follow the speed limit, or step down. It is really that simple.
