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TOP TEN EXCUSES FOR BEING CAUGHT ON CAMERA (01/12/2004)
What does being abducted by aliens, good vibrations from a surfboard and mad cows all have in common? Strangely, they are all excuses given by drivers caught on a speed camera.
Staff working in fixed penalty units often have to deal with irate motorists who have been flashed, but occasionally they also receive letters from the public containing often-unbelievable reasons for breaking the limit.
“Some drivers seem to think that if they tell a good enough story then they will get off, which unfortunately rarely works,” said Northumbria Safety Camera Partnership manager Ray King. “But if there are genuine mitigating reasons, there is always the option of putting their case to a magistrate.
“It is quite amazing the lengths some drivers will go to to avoid £60 and three points, when really the alternative is extremely simple – keep within the speed limit,” he added.
Below is a list of the top ten most elaborate excuses given by drivers caught on camera in Northumbria over the past year:
1 I had passed out after seeing flashing lights, which I believed to be UFOs in the distance. The flash of the camera brought me round from my trance.
2 I was in the airport’s flight path and I believe the camera was triggered by a jet overhead, not my car
3 I had a severe bout of diarrhoea and had to speed to a public toilet
4 There was a strong wind behind my car which pushed me over the limit
5 My friend had just chopped his fingers off and I was rushing the fingers to hospital
6 The vibrations from the surfboard I had on the roof rack set off the camera
7 I had to rush my dying hamster to the vets
8 A violent sneeze caused a chain reaction where my foot pushed down harder on the accelerator
9 There was a suspected case of foot and mouth and I had to rush to see the cow concerned
10 The only way I could demonstrate my faulty clutch was to accelerate madly.
“This is a light-hearted look at excuses for speeding, but it is a serious issue – we’d rather not be getting any letters at all because no one is breaking the speed limit and no one is receiving a ticket,” said Mr King.
“That is the ultimate aim of the partnership, which of course would put me out of a job and could be considered rather an unusual Christmas wish.”
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