Safe Speed Forums

http://www.thenews.co.uk/ViewArticle2.a ... ID=1501535
Five days in jail for defiant cabbie

A cabbie was sentenced to five days in prison after refusing to pay a fine for leaving his fog lights on.

Brynley Potter had just dropped off a customer at Queen Alexandra Hospital when he was stopped by police on his way back into the city.
He told officers that it had been foggy up on Portsdown Hill where the hospital is located. However, he left the fog behind as he came back down but forgot to turn the lights off.
Mr Potter, 50, was then stunned when the police handed him a £30 penalty ticket, saying it was an offence to drive with the fog lights on when it is clear.
'I'd made about £25 that night and when he gave me a £30 ticket it wound me up. I said "you're having a laugh",' said Mr Potter.
'I refused to pay it because I didn't think it was fair. Why didn't they just tell me to turn off the lights?'
However, Mr Potter, of Jervis Road, Stamshaw, found himself in court after refusing to pay up. On Tuesday he was sentenced to five days in prison for non-payment of a fine.
And he was stunned to learn that he was to be sent to the category B Winchester Prison, where he would join people serving life for murder.
hief Superintendent John Campbell,defended the officers' actions, saying Mr Potter had been warned before about driving with his fog lights on.
He said: 'Advice had not been followed and there was little alternative but to issue a fixed-penalty notice.
'Whether the gentleman wishes to pay is a matter for him. He must take responsibility for the consequences of that decision.'
victoria.taylor@thenews.co.uk

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Speed limit sign radio interview. TV Snap Unhappy
“It has never been the rule in this country – I hope it never will be - that suspected criminal offences must automatically be the subject of prosecution” He added that there should be a prosecution: “wherever it appears that the offence or the circumstances of its commission is or are of such a character that a prosecution in respect thereof is required in the public interest”
This approach has been endorsed by Attorney General ever since 1951. CPS Code

That'll larn 'im.

You gotta be kidding, right?!

What's next - a night in the cells for dropping a crisp??!!

Oh, hang on....

He should have followed the correct procedure if he disagreed with the FPN in the first place,by pleading not guilty and going to court to give his reasons why it was unfair,not just ignore it hoping it would go away.

Thats the trouble with motorists of this country we whinge about certain categorys of law, then dont take the steps to prevent further escalation then when the justice system (use the term loosely) kicks in and a mountain out of a molehill is made then all hell breaks loose,when all he needed to do in the first place was either pay or plead hid neither so this is where he has got and now he expects people to give him sympathy.
Sorry, no disrespect to anyone but this is just my opinion.
Stephen

Another danger to society behind bars. I feel safer already.

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Carl Prescott

On the face of it the outcome does seem harsh, but I agree with Stephen.

I hate folk who drive with their fog lamps on unnecessarily (ie 99% of the time I ever see them) and it appears this chap had already been warned, so what could the copper who stopped him do other than issue a ticket?

And if he flatly refuses to pay a fine or attend court then what?

The only thing I did think was perhaps community service of some sort might have been a more appropriate measure.

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CSCP Latin for beginners...
Ticketo ergo sum : I scam therefore I am!

He wouldn't be allowed to plead not guilty, because he did actually do it.

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What makes you think I'm drunk officer, have I got a fat bird with me?

Pretty much agree here, I think driving around with your fog light on like this is a sign of inattentiveness and unawareness. Jail though is a bit OTT, perhaps an increased fine first, (and if he still refuses to pay then Community Service)

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Why can't we just use Common Sense?

Of course you can plead not guilty even though you are guilty, there may be a defence to his guilt thats why, we have courts, to let them decide.

Thats why the courts are clogged up with people pleading not guilty when the vast majority are in fact guilty,but there are hardship pleas and defence pleas which although they are guilty commands a different punishment if believed.
Stephen

Perhaps it's time to decriminalise most minor motoring offences?

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Paul Smith
Our scrap speed cameras petition got over 28,000 sigs
The Safe Speed campaign demands a return to intelligent road safety

I don't think I agree.

If it is a safety issue then it should be a criminal offence. Only if the issue solely affects goods or property should it be decriminalised into a civil offence.

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CSCP Latin for beginners...
Ticketo ergo sum : I scam therefore I am!

I agree with JT,

Ultimately a motoring offence is an offence against the crown or the wider population.

I do think that a jail sentence is a total waste of tax money for something which is quite petty on the grand scale of things.

Sure, the driver brought it on himself, and ignored the justice system, but I feel that Community Service would have at least been potentially useful to someone, whereas a prison sentence is nothin but a waste of my tax money.

IMO, prison should be used to punish people who are dangerous to the wider public. As I understand the above, the 5 day sentence wasnt for driving with foglights, it was for ignoring the justice system/court order.

Obviously, disregard for the courts cannot go unpunished or else the courts would instantly lose all power. I think that a largish fine and/or community service sentence would send the appropriate message without wasting money and space in our prisons.

Ignoring the court order/refusing to pay a fine isn't endangering anyone, so there's no reason to lock him away. He could have been effectively punished by infringing on his finances or personal time instead, at little/no cost to the country.

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I've been reading these forums for quite awhile and one item that crops up now and again is "Why don't the police do somthing about the morons who drive around with fog lights on all the time".

Well the police did do something this time, and quite rightly if its genuine that he was previously warned. I'm sure there may have been more approriate punishments but as Jamie pointed out he wasn't jailed for having a fog light on he was jailed for ignoring the fine.

Not necessarily. I once hired a Ford Escort and I couldn't undertsand why people kept flashing me from behind. The dashboard light showed the lights going on and off with the switch but when I stopped and checked the fog lamps were stuck on. I had to take the bulbs out to turn them off.

Yes true, I admit there are exceptions. I was thinking along the lines of those who leave their indicators flashing for miles after they've turned, completely oblivious to it. That seems to be an amazingly common event

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Why can't we just use Common Sense?

We've got that with some offences, but I'm not even sure what a 'decriminalised offence' really means: it's a contradiction. The only practical difference seems to be that with a decriminalised offence you don't get any kind of trial or hearing.

sunday mirror had it too...

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Speed limit sign radio interview. TV Snap Unhappy
“It has never been the rule in this country – I hope it never will be - that suspected criminal offences must automatically be the subject of prosecution” He added that there should be a prosecution: “wherever it appears that the offence or the circumstances of its commission is or are of such a character that a prosecution in respect thereof is required in the public interest”
This approach has been endorsed by Attorney General ever since 1951. CPS Code

Some vehicles a nightmare for leaving foggies on - No warning light on the dash, and tiny hidden away switch on the VW LT for example.

However, KNOWINGLY leaving fog lights on should command the death penalty.

If he WAS warned, then he deserved to be fined, and mishandled his protest.


It was probably meant to reassure him that he would get out SOON!
I suspect it was preferable to home - he doesn't look fit and well.... oh, that's just the pixels!

It's a shame that more is not done to educate drivers as to when and when NOT to have fog lights on, and I feel the manufacturers could help by better instrumentation on the dash, such as the time-out facility on the heated rear window - only triggering a beep 60 seconds before it turned off the fogs!

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Time to take responsibility for our actions.. and don't be afraid of speaking out!

It reads more like the cabbie has done this knowingly. He was warned before, and he does it again, and then he ignores a penalty ticket.

Possibly thought he was standing up for all those fog light users across the country?