For a second I was with the police officers. Until he said the car was out of gear with the handbrake on. That strikes me as overkill on the officers part.
Out of gear with the handbrake on = Parked, even in traffic. Case closed. The copper should apologise for being a bleedin' useless jobsworth, and all charges should be dropped.
Don't they really have ANYTHING better to do than fine a man for blowing his nose on a stationary car? This really makes me mad... There are SO much people driving through red lights, talking on cell phones and doing all sorts of actually dangerous/distracting stuff, and then the poor guy gets fined for this..
According to the newspapers the officer that done this bull$hit charge also fined a guy £50 last year for littering when he dropped a £10 note. I think his superiors should give him a good kick up the arse.
That, ladies and gentlemen, is called a "money accumulator", it's a pointless fine that should never have happened, the guy selling the story is probably getting money, the people who published it are getting money and the coppers will probably get diddly squat. You watch, next it'll be illegal to cover your mouth while a vehicle's in motion On a sidenote: one of my favourite hobbies is knocking on people's car windows if they're on their mobile and asking if they like their driving license and suggesting they stop before 1) I hang up for them or 2)I ram the phone down their throat (but only if they have kids in the car)
This is the natural conclusion of a target/stat-based culture. For the police, recording the most minor of potential crimes leads to much better stats than any difficult to solve ones, meaning that they get far more benefit from *solving* non-problems than actual ones... Ideally you'd want them to balance the two, targets mean you emphasize going after minor things at any cost and actively ignoring difficult problems. Which is what you'd want to avoid if you're sensible... I lost my last job due to trying to help fix the bigger problems instead of what my stats said i did... The whole concept can die in a fire in my opinion, it's incredibly destructive and encourages the total opposite behaviour than you'd actually want... But at the end of the day, who cares if you're actually good at your job as long as the stats say you're good at your job...
What's really sad is that I know a couple of people who are being ignored by the Police when they REALLY need them (complicated) yet they have enough resources to fine some guy for doing nothing wrong. I can see why people have a real disposition to these ******s.
I think it's sick... companies and buisnesses focus too much on stats and figures. But no one should get into trouble for blowing there nose... it's like arresting someone for sneezing. Not their fault, I'm sure it's fairly irritating for them to be sneezing away at the wheel. It's safer that he did blow his nose, as he wouldn't have been able to concentrate as well driving whilst sneezing.
he would have been better off sneezing. Sneezing is an involuntary action, they can't fine you for that.
The Police are told to dish out fines and make cash. This is amusing : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bE8rfefPQ24 Not saying I support his view though.
I bet there was someone smoking in a moving car near the policeman when this happened. Smoking in a car is far more dangerous than blowing your nose in a stationary vehicle!
