Court clears hairbrush motorist
Discussion
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/beds/bucks/herts/4295603.stm
A bank manager penalised for brushing his hair while driving his car has had his fine overturned by magistrates.
Stephen Lynch, 36, Barley, Herts, was given a £30 fixed penalty after he was seen using a hairbrush as he approached a roundabout in Peterborough last July.
At Peterborough Magistrates Court on Thursday Mr Lynch said he had been fully in control of his vehicle in stationary traffic on the A1(M).
He was cleared of driving while in a position not to have proper control.
Traffic officer Karl Pedder told magistrates he had spotted the HSBC business banking manager comb his hair for "20 to 30 seconds" but later accepted that it could have been a shorter time.
Magistrate Tracey Sortwell, clearing Mr Lynch, said they did not feel the prosecution had proved the case beyond reasonable doubt.
A bank manager penalised for brushing his hair while driving his car has had his fine overturned by magistrates.
Stephen Lynch, 36, Barley, Herts, was given a £30 fixed penalty after he was seen using a hairbrush as he approached a roundabout in Peterborough last July.
At Peterborough Magistrates Court on Thursday Mr Lynch said he had been fully in control of his vehicle in stationary traffic on the A1(M).
He was cleared of driving while in a position not to have proper control.
Traffic officer Karl Pedder told magistrates he had spotted the HSBC business banking manager comb his hair for "20 to 30 seconds" but later accepted that it could have been a shorter time.
Magistrate Tracey Sortwell, clearing Mr Lynch, said they did not feel the prosecution had proved the case beyond reasonable doubt.
This ist getting ridiculous! First the apple guzzler, (arguable), then the chap who played "Riverdance" too loudly (
- why Riverdance?), then the alleged chap who was done for playing his air guitar whilst stopped at traffic lights. (Apparently the hand brake was on, und gear in neutral .. und he got carried away... story ist on C+ - but cannot find any media report beyond the thread (Star und Express carried this story - according to C+ poster) . Und now this story? This ist getting sillier than scams...
- why Riverdance?), then the alleged chap who was done for playing his air guitar whilst stopped at traffic lights. (Apparently the hand brake was on, und gear in neutral .. und he got carried away... story ist on C+ - but cannot find any media report beyond the thread (Star und Express carried this story - according to C+ poster) . Und now this story? This ist getting sillier than scams...
WildCat said:
This ist getting ridiculous! First the apple guzzler, (arguable), then the chap who played "Riverdance" too loudly (
i suggest we just pull over onto the hard shoulder and attend to our apples/drinks/air guitar/phones/paperwork/knitting, etc - as discussed in the driving in snow thread, it seems the BiB are happily ignoring east european hgv's parked on our motorway hard shoulders. now then, isn't this supposed to be illegal? seems not under the st tony bliar regime.
so, if it's good enough for them it's good enough for us - i won't bother with service stations in future when needing to do calls, use laptop, have a pee, etc - just stop on the m25 hard shoulder. have a kip also, if you want. they do.
re: "riverdance" on his car stereo. boy, that is scary. i'd have nicked him for playing that!
re: "bank manager combing scandal". what the hell is he doing having hair AND being a bank manager!? shurely shome mishtake!?
;-)
For all of the "ridiculous" cases taken to court I'll bet there are hundreds of cases where the driver was spotted being an a**e.
We've all seen them:
Drinking coffee.
Fiddling with the stereo.
Retrieving the mars bar from the passenger footwell.
etc etc
Whilst tootling along..in a 30...by a school.
And 99.99999999% of the time no-one is harmed.
And 99.9999% of the time no-one is looking.
So they get into the habit. One day that habit will kill someone - yes quite possibly a youngster outside a school.
OK so the cops sometimes get it wrong. Sometimes although they've seen it they can't prove the vehicle was not in proper control. This does NOT mean what they are doing isn't valuable.
I'd rather a thousand people were taken to court for munching on snacks whilst driving in town in preference to a single speeding case - it will do more good.
Jeez.
We've all seen them:
Drinking coffee.
Fiddling with the stereo.
Retrieving the mars bar from the passenger footwell.
etc etc
Whilst tootling along..in a 30...by a school.
And 99.99999999% of the time no-one is harmed.
And 99.9999% of the time no-one is looking.
So they get into the habit. One day that habit will kill someone - yes quite possibly a youngster outside a school.
OK so the cops sometimes get it wrong. Sometimes although they've seen it they can't prove the vehicle was not in proper control. This does NOT mean what they are doing isn't valuable.
I'd rather a thousand people were taken to court for munching on snacks whilst driving in town in preference to a single speeding case - it will do more good.
Jeez.
Don,
My first PH post
You are a gentleman Sir. Nice to see that reasoned attitude. As the Police we do get it wrong from time to time. Unfortunately you will only ever read about it when we do. Thousands of selfless brave acts are carried out by BiB every day, never to be recorded or rewarded. Police are like any other job, you get your good people (99.9%) and you get the prats. I've been fortunate enough to work with good one's, but know of plenty of idiots!
But a 'Bank Manager' combing his hair with a brush?!
I'd have stuck him on for sure!! 
Hollywood Wheels said:
Don,
My first PH post
Thousands of selfless brave acts are carried out by BiB every day, never to be recorded or rewarded. Police are like any other job, you get your good people (99.9%) and you get the prats. I've been fortunate enough to work with good one's, but know of plenty of idiots!
But a 'Bank Manager' combing his hair with a brush?!
Welcome to Pistonheads Hollywood Wheels.
Great to see another BiB posting on here.
Look forward to hearing from you again.
But pleeeeeease, don't try to beat Streetcops record numbers of postings. He is the undisputed heavyweight champ of Pistonheads
The problem is not so much the aim of what is trying to be achieved, but the way in which it is executed.
There is a “probability” that performing certain acts whilst driving will cause lack of control (of the vehicle) and so laws are introduced to stop the behaviour.
The problem arises when the vehicle is in proper control (even stationary) and yet the law is still enforced.
The BiB do a superb job, but sometimes perhaps the rules are enforced without seeing the bigger picture? – This is discretion is what makes an excellent BiB (and what, incidentally GATSO will never deliver)
Nanny state once again – too many rules and regulations when “driving without due care” could be used to cover all of the examples where lack of control is evident.
There is a “probability” that performing certain acts whilst driving will cause lack of control (of the vehicle)
and so laws are introduced to stop the behaviour. The problem arises when the vehicle is in proper control (even stationary) and yet the law is still enforced.
The BiB do a superb job, but sometimes perhaps the rules are enforced without seeing the bigger picture? – This is discretion is what makes an excellent BiB (and what, incidentally GATSO will never deliver)
Nanny state once again – too many rules and regulations when “driving without due care” could be used to cover all of the examples where lack of control is evident.
james_j said:
Don't drive with a cold or itchy nose, you might sneeze.
What do we bang on about on here? Get rid of GATSOs, we say, bring back Trafpol, we say. Here they are doing it - and we're still complaining!
Pah.
Yes they get it wrong sometimes. Don't show "enough" discretion, sometimes. But what the hell - I'd still rather have them than twenty thousand yellow boxes peppering the flippin' country...
Don said:
For all of the "ridiculous" cases taken to court I'll bet there are hundreds of cases where the driver was spotted being an a**e.
We've all seen them:
Drinking coffee.
Fiddling with the stereo.
Retrieving the mars bar from the passenger footwell.
etc etc
Whilst tootling along..in a 30...by a school.
And 99.99999999% of the time no-one is harmed.
And 99.9999% of the time no-one is looking.
So they get into the habit. One day that habit will kill someone - yes quite possibly a youngster outside a school.
OK so the cops sometimes get it wrong. Sometimes although they've seen it they can't prove the vehicle was not in proper control. This does NOT mean what they are doing isn't valuable.
I'd rather a thousand people were taken to court for munching on snacks whilst driving in town in preference to a single speeding case - it will do more good.
Jeez.
It's not so much the action of the cop who nailed this bloke that bothers me. It's the action of his seniors, the CPS and so on that thought this worth bringing to the court.
[quote=ledfootTraffic officer Karl Pedder told magistrates he had spotted the HSBC business banking manager comb his hair for "20 to 30 seconds" but later accepted that it could have been a shorter time. [/quote]
Silly boy....
don't be 'accepting' things later at court...you might as well throw the towel in, in the first minute..
Silly boy....
don't be 'accepting' things later at court...you might as well throw the towel in, in the first minute..Streetcop said:
Silly boy....
Anything you do say may be given in evidence works both ways
I bet the defending solicitor demonstrated how ridiculous it was for someone to brush their hair for 30secs and the BiB had to admit that maybe it hadn't been quite that long.
Can't believe the CPS pursued it through the courts!
Don said:
Don't drive with a cold or itchy nose, you might sneeze.
What do we bang on about on here? Get rid of GATSOs, we say, bring back Trafpol, we say. Here they are doing it - and we're still complaining!
Pah.
Yes they get it wrong sometimes. Don't show "enough" discretion, sometimes. But what the hell - I'd still rather have them than twenty thousand yellow boxes peppering the flippin' country...
Don,
Your post is spot on.........as you've highlighted how the public played right into the goverments hands with the increase in cameras and decrease in trafpol numbers....
Bottom line is this; the vast majority of the public want neither cameras OR trafpol, but the freedom to do what they want, WHEN they want; without the fear of getting caught.
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