A motorist has been found guilty of dangerous driving after he was caught driving at 62mph with both hands behind his head.
Richard Newton, 36, from Whitby, was filmed driving for about 30 seconds with both hands off the steering wheel, Scarborough Magistrates' Court heard.
He was caught by a police safety camera van on the A171 between Whitby and Guisborough on 9 August.
Mr Newton, who had denied the charge, argued he was in control of the car.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-york-north-yorkshire-25624978
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The court hearing must have been funny. Presumably the defence and the prosecution relied on the same film evidence.
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On empty stretches of road it is very easy to keep the steering under control with your thighs while peeling a boiled egg.
Where it becomes particularly dangerous on this video is where he goes up the hill and thus can't see far enough ahead to be able to react effectively.
Last edited by: Lygonos on Mon 6 Jan 14 at 16:12
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>> can't see far enough ahead to be able to react effectively.
... with a quick entrechat of those prehensile thighs...
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"He was given a 12-month ban and ordered to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work in the community.
He was also fined £625 and told he must pay a £60 victim surcharge".
Quite right too, 'king idiot!
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That penalty looks utterly ridiculous. You could commit a proper offence for a lot less than that.
Pour encourager les autres, Shirley.
Dangerous driving? "Failure to have proper control of vehicle or full view of the road and traffic ahead, or using a hand-held mobile phone when driving" would have done the job. The catch all sandwich eating, drink swigging charge.
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I can only assume he hadn't seen the camera van because anybody who had and was in their right mind wouldn't do that, might scratch an itch for a second or two with one hand, but both hands off the wheel for so long
Reading the articles first there was scope to think he had been unlucky, some momentary loss snapped by a stills camera and prosecuted by an over-zealous desk jockey, but the combination of (a) somebody who thinks he can do that (b) four or five oncoming vehicles in that 10 second clip (c) closing speeds of up to 120mph - I can't honestly see why anybody thought there was a chance of 'not guilty'
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I assume he may have been banned because he already had points on his licence. I fail to see how this is any more than a 6 point dangerous/careless driving offence.
Stupid yes, but I see people do a lot more dangerous things about every ten minutes on the road.
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A fair bit of the sentence must relate to lack of mitigation. Had he pleaded guilty sooner he might have done a bit better.
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Just think. If he'd had illegal drug dealer's mirror windows he'd never have been rumbled doing whatever it was he done, innit?
I mean Tchah!, bruv, knowImean?
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The number plate has been blanked out so that we cannot identify Mr Richard Newton, 36, of Whitby.
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Takes me back 20 or so years. I remember amusing myself by seeing how far I could drive on a quiet stretch of country road that I knew well without my hands touching the steering wheel.
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You might have seen me once or twice driving around Fulham, hands behind my head. You won't have seen the secretary sitting next to me though.
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>> more details here
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>> tinyurl.com/q638y9v
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He should be shot if only for the shirt and tie combination:-)
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Barbour International?
Even worse.
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Just looking at a Barbour Thornproof repair kit that I have found in the bowels of the garage. Bits used, but I don't recall it. Rusty tin. OFFERS. No part exchange please. Need cash to support habit:-)
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You should change your name to BiggerBadderMitty. :-)
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Cheap black dress shoes with jeans? Shirt and tie under a pullover?
Jeez the man needs serious guidance.
I've got a Barbour "Bushman" jacket for sale by the way. Too big for me ( XL) but I tried to wear it for dog walking over two jumpers.
Would suit someone of a more ahem, ample, build. Brown. Good nick. £100 secures. Might even deliver to anyone who can make a decent cup of tea.
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Not that ample, though, Humph. I tried a few Barbour jackets last year but couldn't get an XL round my modest 43-inch chest. And before anyone speculates, it was too tight under the arms, not lower down.
}:---)
Given some of the people you see wearing the things, I was amazed not to be able to get into one.
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>> Takes me back 20 or so years. I remember amusing myself by seeing how far
>> I could drive on a quiet stretch of country road that I knew well without
>> my hands touching the steering wheel.
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Done that. My daughter once anxiously pointed out a driver who wasn't holding the wheel. I said, "What, do you mean like this?" raising my hands momentarily to the roof. There was a satisfying scream of "Daddeeeee!"
I experimented yesterday to see if it really was possible to steer by thighs.
Not for me. I'd need several cushions to be able to reach the wheel. I can get my knees up jammed under the wheel, but my feet are then stuck under the dashboard so it's impossible to steer.
On reflection I'll stick to hands, or hand anyway. Or chin perhaps.
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Never tried steering with thighs but I've occasionally let go of the wheel in all my cars as a 'test of normal behaviour', and I repeat it after hitting a pothole, say, if I need reassurance that it hasn't affected the car.
Only ever on a straight, clear road, of course, and preferably a motorway. Interestingly, the Volvo and the Verso have always run on dead straight at speed (although the Verso would squirm and wander at low speeds), while the LEC eventually drifts gently to the left, as I believe MBs are designed to do. It even does this in France, so the effect is strong enough to overcome the camber of the road.
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>>the LEC eventually drifts gently to the left, as I believe MBs are designed to do.
Mine doesn't. Must be faulty. Tracks dead straight.
Erm, who told you that then?
;-)
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Look mum, no hands. - Manatee
