Driver fined over puddle splash
Discussion
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/somerset/4392092.stm
[quote=bbc]A motorist was fined £150 and given three penalty points - for driving through a puddle and soaking a workman.
Jason Evans, 34, from Yeovil, splashed the man's jeans as he drove through 2ins-deep flood water near Charlton Mackrell in Somerset.
A policeman driving behind Mr Evans snapped a photo of the incident before pulling him over.
Mr Evans pleaded guilty to driving without due consideration for road users at Yeovil Magistrates' Court.
'Less speed'
He told a national newspaper: "I wanted to apologise but I did not want to stop the traffic."
The workmen were clearing drainage ditches after the road had partly flooded.
A spokeswoman for Avon and Somerset Police said the offence was considered serious enough by the court and the Crown Prosecution Service to impose a fine.
"This was clearly an act which was inconsiderate to other road users and if the driver had shown a little more care or a little less speed he would not have found himself in court," she added. [/quote]
[quote=bbc]A motorist was fined £150 and given three penalty points - for driving through a puddle and soaking a workman.
Jason Evans, 34, from Yeovil, splashed the man's jeans as he drove through 2ins-deep flood water near Charlton Mackrell in Somerset.
A policeman driving behind Mr Evans snapped a photo of the incident before pulling him over.
Mr Evans pleaded guilty to driving without due consideration for road users at Yeovil Magistrates' Court.
'Less speed'
He told a national newspaper: "I wanted to apologise but I did not want to stop the traffic."
The workmen were clearing drainage ditches after the road had partly flooded.
A spokeswoman for Avon and Somerset Police said the offence was considered serious enough by the court and the Crown Prosecution Service to impose a fine.
"This was clearly an act which was inconsiderate to other road users and if the driver had shown a little more care or a little less speed he would not have found himself in court," she added. [/quote]
Eeerrrrmmm, how fast was he going?
If he was going that fast then surely he would have skidded over the puddle and crashed, but he wouldn't have soaked the workman so job well done I think!!!
I love the comment '...and a little less speed'
I am all for courteous driving because it is bloody annoying when cars hit puddles and soak you on the path (has happened to me before), but to bring a comment on speed into this??
Why doesn't it say how fast he was going??
Also, how did the policeman get the photo?
Edited to add the above question.
>> Edited by funkyrobot on Monday 31st October 10:19
If he was going that fast then surely he would have skidded over the puddle and crashed, but he wouldn't have soaked the workman so job well done I think!!!
I love the comment '...and a little less speed'
I am all for courteous driving because it is bloody annoying when cars hit puddles and soak you on the path (has happened to me before), but to bring a comment on speed into this??
Why doesn't it say how fast he was going??
Also, how did the policeman get the photo?
Edited to add the above question.
>> Edited by funkyrobot on Monday 31st October 10:19
HSE, we've got another one for you!
pdV6 said:The point of the post was to pass some news to PH and get a discussion going.
What was the point of this post - this is how its worked forever as far as I'm aware. The usual problem is (lack of) evidence. Not so in this instance, so the driver got fined. Fair enough.
I think it worked
Surely it's the councils fault for not cleaning drains or maintaining roads to a high standard that puddles can build up anyway?
Why was the drain cleaner bothered anyway? Does he/she have a problem with water? Why wearing jeans too?
Fair enough if it had have been a pedestrian on a path, but the bloody drain cleaner will have been piss wet through anyway!
This fecking country is so fooked up!
We need a good famine/disease/war to get people's lives into perspective I think!
Dave
Why was the drain cleaner bothered anyway? Does he/she have a problem with water? Why wearing jeans too?
Fair enough if it had have been a pedestrian on a path, but the bloody drain cleaner will have been piss wet through anyway!
This fecking country is so fooked up!
We need a good famine/disease/war to get people's lives into perspective I think!
Dave
puggit said:
What was the point of this post - this is how its worked forever as far as I'm aware. The usual problem is (lack of) evidence. Not so in this instance, so the driver got fined. Fair enough.
The point of the post was to pass some news to PH and get a discussion going.
I think it worked
No offence intended; I just couldn't work out what you were getting at as you hadn't offered any opinion - just quoted a news item. For the record, what is your stance on the issue?
pdV6 said:No offence taken
pdV6 said:
What was the point of this post - this is how its worked forever as far as I'm aware. The usual problem is (lack of) evidence. Not so in this instance, so the driver got fined. Fair enough.
The point of the post was to pass some news to PH and get a discussion going.
I think it worked
No offence intended; I just couldn't work out what you were getting at as you hadn't offered any opinion - just quoted a news item. For the record, what is your stance on the issue?
Actually I posted and stood back because there isn't enough information in the story to gather an opinion.
The driver may have been driving badly, he may have aimed for the puddle or the policeman really should be chasing burglars
If I'm in the Pug I'll often aim for puddles for a bit of fun, but only when there's no pedestrians around, in the S2000 I'll steer well clear.
The final 2 paras of the BBC report:
Obviously you have to slow down further when approaching puddles, just in case a pedestrian appears from nowhere and you wet them. I presume the roadworker will now be able to sue the driver for loss of clothes, stress, loss of earnings, etc, etc.
I will be watching the police come down the road near me from now on. It often has puddles, parents and children walk to school along it, but I don't see the police slowing down or avoiding the puddles. We have to avoid them. I should take my camera along.
BBC said:
Edmund King, executive director of the RAC Foundation, said: "I think we've all seen and we all know motorists who do this kind of thing on purpose and I think if someone does do it on purpose they should be prosecuted.
"But in this case he had slowed down and was only doing 15mph. He hadn't realised how deep the puddle was. It was unintentional."
Obviously you have to slow down further when approaching puddles, just in case a pedestrian appears from nowhere and you wet them. I presume the roadworker will now be able to sue the driver for loss of clothes, stress, loss of earnings, etc, etc.
I will be watching the police come down the road near me from now on. It often has puddles, parents and children walk to school along it, but I don't see the police slowing down or avoiding the puddles. We have to avoid them. I should take my camera along.
Surely if it was deliberate, and who hasn't been tempted, then an offence has been committed. Otherwise, it's an accident in my book. Obviously there are middle ways where avoiding action could have been taken but through laziness or lack of consideration the offence is reduced. We're all pedestrians sometimes.
lambo cop said:
If you, as I have posted swerve to go into a puddle with "intent" then you should be reported. However if you are just driving and you splash someone as an accident then that is a different matter!
But the "driving without due consideration" suggests to me that the driver has a duty to avoid splashing a pedestrian rather than just not getting them on purpose.
Say you're driving along a road with puddle covering the nearside half of your lane. There's a pedestrian walking on the pavement beside it. Would the law expect you to slow down or stop for the pedestrian to pass or drive around the puddle?
lambo cop said:
If it was unintentional then why plead guilty ?
Before (as per the reply below) we all rush out and take pics of Bib going through puddles, lets establish as per in all law the "mens rea" of this incident. If you, as I have posted swerve to go into a puddle with "intent" then you should be reported. However if you are just driving and you splash someone as an accident then that is a different matter!
Again if it was unintentional why plead guilty ?
If it was his intent to splash the victim, then the charge should be assault, not careless driving.
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