'But Officer, My Fish Needs Water'

Other Strange Tales in TheCarConnection's Third Annual Speeders Excuses Contest. Also: More Big Changes at Ford, Mercury Gets a Go, GM Boosts Quality, Cadillac XLR Spy Shots, Reviews of Honda Pilot, Merc Marauder DETROIT, May 20 -- Ever felt the need for speed, only to see a blue light flashing in your rearview mirror? Unless you were pulling into a Kmart parking lot, odds are you'd run afoul of the law.

Everyone's been pulled over. And if that includes you, perhaps you struggled for an excuse with the right ring of urgency and even some truth. "But officer, my fish needs water." That's one of the more unusual and unexpectedly effective excuses readers of TheCarConnection.com have used in their bid to talk their way out of a speeding ticket.

If you've got a good excuse of your own, it could win you a radar detector or one of an assortment of other prizes in TheCarConnection.com's Third Annual Speeders Excuses Contest. Make it real. Make it funny. And make it brief, please -- less than 200 words is best. Contest ends June 14 at 5 p.m.

There are plenty of other reasons to turn to TCC this week. Get your first glimpse of spy shots of the hot new Cadillac XLR. Then check what TheCarConnection's reviewers have to say about the tire-spinning Mercury Marauder, the rough-and-ready Jeep Wrangler Rubicon, and Honda's hip new Pilot. They call it an SUV, but it matches its go-anywhere versatility with the roomy interior of a minivan.

In business news: TheCarConnection will have the details on the latest shake-up at Ford. See why a retired Allan Gilmour is being tapped to bring some fresh ideas into the struggling carmaker. TCC also has the inside story on Ford's plans to team with suppliers when it relaunches operations at the old-is-new Chicago Assembly Plant. Forget the Japanese. Is GM heading for the top of the quality charts? And why are Canadian sales running at a record pace?

From TCC's Green Machine: a new California law could accomplish what years of debate have failed to do in the U.S. Congress: mandate a big increase in fuel economy. But will the law force the smog state's buyers to give up their cherished SUVs?

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