For the first time in my life I have to thank Dorset Police. The forces of law and order in the South of England released details of daft excuses given by motorists they had stopped a while ago. I just came across it and some of the excuses are so bad that they are almost believable.
The Prawn Cracker
Photo credit: See-ming Lee
Police stopped a lady driver in Purbeck and accused her of driving while using her mobile phone. Her rather bizarre reply was that she wasn’t speaking on the phone. She claimed that she had been eating a prawn cracker which the cops had mistaken for a phone. In fact, she said that her phone was at home. When an official asked for her number she gave him the right one and when he phoned it rung inside her car. The prawn cracker stayed silent.
The Eyesight Test
A chap was caught doing 50 mph in a 40 mph area in Poole. His excuse was that he was on his way to have an eye test and that until then he couldn’t make out the speed limit sign.
The Forgetful Motorist
A driver who was stopped for not wearing his seatbelt pointed out that he kept forgetting about this new law. The police had to gently point out to his that the seatbelt law had been in force for almost 30 years.
The Downhill Racer
Not only car drivers were caught out by the long arm of the law in Dorset. A biker was caught speeding by cops but claimed that it wasn’t a fair cop after all. Why? Because they were waiting at the bottom of the hill and that is where his bike goes fastest. Another devious police plan catches a hapless victim.
The Criminal Police Tactics
In Bournemouth a female driver said that the tactics of police in using laser to catch speeding drivers were “criminal”. I think I know what she means.