Driver uses sick snake as speeding excuse

ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - Speeding? No excusesss. Even if it involves your pet snake.

What sounds like an April Fool's joke actually happened on April 1 when a Minnesota State Patrol trooper pulled over a vehicle for speeding on I-494.

While talking to the driver, the trooper noticed movement on the passenger floor. That's when the driver picked up her pet, a 3-foot-long white king snake. She explained it was feeling ill and she was rushing her beloved reptile to the vet.

But even a reptilian emergency is no reason to speed. The trooper cited her for speeding.

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Minnesota State Patrol has seen a "disturbing" trend of extreme speeding on the roads. Officials say that while traffic has been down, the amount of traffic deaths this year is up compared to the last few years.