Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT
Here's an example of a woman being prosecuted for drinking from a bottle of water while her car was stopped at traffic lights:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/774655.stm
I'm unable to discover what the outcome of the court case was, but this goes to show that you can indeed be fined for drinking water in a stationary vehicle. |
Quote:
Originally Posted by Witty Username
She had her day in court, was found guilty and it cost her a total of £90. As expected, she wasn't ticketed for drinking while stationary at a red traffic light.
telegraph newspaper report.
The presiding magistrate said: |
I've been reading this side-discussion with some interest. I usually make two to six (sometimes more) trips per month to New England -- amounting to eight hours on the road. All but ten minutes is on the Interstate highway. I always have two (or three) coffees on the road.
True, sipping from a travel mug of coffee could be considered a distraction, but it's a very minor distraction, and easily controlled. On the other hand, someone driving for eight hours on a high speed, limited access highway without
any source of distraction is just begging for a dangerous case of highway hypnosis, IMHO.
For what it's worth, I haven't gotten a ticket for a driving violation of any kind since 1976. I was in collisions in 1997 (other driver failed to stop at a stop sign) and 2003 (passed by a driver on my right side -- the wrong side here in the States -- and the driver apparently missed the sign warning him he was in an exit lane).
I'm sticking with the coffee.