The Story Behind Sammy Hagar’s “I Can’t Drive 55″

Q: Did Sammy Hagar do the song I CAN'T DRIVE 55 because he got stopped by the cops so many times?

A: The song was based on an incident that happened to Sammy while he was driving from Albany, New York to Lake Placid. According to Sammy himself, "I was in a rent-a-car that wouldn't go much faster than 55 miles an hour.....cop stopped me for doing 62 on a four lane road when there was no one else in sight. Then the guy gave me a ticket. And he said, 'We give tickets around here for over-60.' and I said, 'I can't drive 55.' I grabbed a paper and a pen, and I swear the guy was writing the ticket and I was writing the lyrics. I got to Lake Placid, I had a guitar set-up there. And I wrote that song there on the spot." When the video aired on MTV it ticked off law enforcement across the country and they demanded equal TV time to show the dangers of driving fast. There is also a rumor that Hagar's auto insurance was WAY high...$5,000 a month. I CAN'T DRIVE 55 peaked at #26 in the fall of 1984.