The ruling that cleared PC Milton of the charge of dangerous driving, following his now-infamous drive at 159mph on the M54, is being challenged by the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Mark Milton was acquitted after magistrates heard that he was familiarising himself with the car (see story link below). He was supported by West Mercia Police's senior driving instructor who, giving evidence for the prosecution, refused to describe the Milton's driving as 'dangerous'.
However, the Director of Public Prosecutions is asking the High Court to set aside the decision.
Comment
At the time, Paul Smith, founder of the Safe Speed road safety campaign, said: "Here's a clear and proper admission that in suitable circumstances even 159mph need not be dangerous. If 159mph can be safe enough not to endanger the public, then surely this is a clear official admission that driving a few miles per hour over the speed limit isn't necessarily dangerous either.
"There is so much more to safe driving than speed. Any speed at all can be deadly, and any speed at all can be adequately safe if conditions are suitable.
"Road safety depends on drivers selecting safe and appropriate speeds according to the conditions and the vast majority of us do it well and do it safely. But erroneous official messages have been undermining the process and deaths are going up. We have to get back to the policies that gave us the safest roads in the world in the first place, long before speed cameras and the pointless obsession with numerical speed."
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