Motorist pulled over and quizzed... for LAUGHING at the wheel

Oh my what are we becoming?

Link to Mail Online

Mr Sanders had been talking on a hands-free kit and was chuckling at what his friend had said.
But the officer who ordered him to stop at the exit to the Mersey Tunnel told him: ‘Laughing while driving a car can be an offence.’

If that had been the end of the matter then Mr Sanders, 47, would probably have laughed the whole thing off.
But he subjected him to a 35-minute grilling, with questions about everything from his ethnic group to details of distinguishing scars on his body.
And despite not being charged with an offence, he still had to waste a further 90 minutes of his time producing his driving licence and other documents at a police station.

This is just another example of how britain is a police state and the cops certainly don't have a sense of humour what so ever!! What next, smiling too much, chewing gum, looking at other drivers whilst at the wheel of a moving vehicle come on!!!! Give us a break!!

Brian Gregory from the Association of British Drivers said: 'This is a shocking example of the police harassing innocent motorists simply because they are an easy target. To suggest that a driver could be prosecuted for laughing is ludicrous beyond belief.


'What next? Can we expect to hear of people being stopped for sneezing or coughing while they are at the wheel? What about the risk of listening to the radio... they might broadcast something that makes a driver laugh. Drivers have to be credited with some common sense.


'It is a fact that drivers who are happy and smiling are far safer on the roads than anyone uptight and stressed.

Link

I think that is a good point. There is so much stress and violence in the modern world, and road rage as I am sure has affected all of us at once. And here we have police doing their best to wipe laughing from the drivers list of things to destress.

I also have been detained for being happy!
The more I tried to calm the gards, the more they got nervous, they both were overweight with high blood pressure that I could see in their faces and obviously insane. It is, to this day, one of my scariest real live nightmares, even though I got out of there, it is a reality, that the insane are given that kind of power over others.

anyone remember in Grades school? When you were getting in trouble (catholic school) you couldn't be laughing or smiling while yu were getting in trouble, must have been disrespect. ridiculous


live love be

You're right HulaAnglers , it is power that makes them like that.

Today, the police are more likely to stop you for a driving offence then a violent crime. The stats do the talking. There are more speed cameras about and today around my way there were around 40 high viz officers and the tax agents blocking all traffic at a major junction near me. All that man power for tax evasion, yet every night just a few miles away you have teenagers stealing cars and 'joy riding'. Underage drinking and fights, but yes, laughing at the wheel is up there among the worst!

what a jerk.

sounds like hes a member of the FUN police

defintely a jerk

When I was a paramedic, I had a mall security guard stop me when I was on foot, in uniform, heading to a fall call at AM. Eagle outfitters. He stepped in front of me and told me to stop, I thought something was wrong.

He said "turn your hat around." I chuckled. "Why?" He said. "Mall policy." I chuckled and stepped around him. He stepped in front of me a put his hand up in that "halt" position.

I said, "Look we're heading to a call! There's a man down unknown status." Thinking maybe he did not know we had a call in the mall.

He said. "I know and that don't change the rules! You aren't special!"

So, I turned my hat around and started to walk off. He yells, "And I'd appreciate it if you quit smacking that GD gum!"

So my partner, the firefirghter first responder that was leading us to the call, and I just walked on. None of us thought anything else about it so we head onto the call.

So, we get to the man down, it's an elderly man that has fallen. His blood pressure got a little low. He doesn't want to go to the hospital. So we check him out and are about to leave when here comes Paul Bart and two other 'security officers'.

The firefighter with us, says, "Oh ----, that guy used to be a deputy and got fired, he's real high strung. Everybody stay cool." Then he calls for a supervisor on his radio.

They come up to us. The deputy guy identifies himself as Paul Bart's supervisor. I id myself since technically I'm in charge. My partner does the same as does the firefighter.

He asks us why we aren't transporting the elderly man. I very calmly explain that he's refusing treatment. He's alert and oriented. And he has a family member present and doesn't want to go the hospital. The security sup. tells me, "take him." I say, "I can't." He orders me to. This is when I lost my cool and I shouldn't have.

I said, "Look. You aren't my boss. You aren't in charge (wrong thing to say to this guy.) of this scene, I am."

Next thing I know, he's nose to chest with me, telling me that "I will take him or else."

So, now the firefighter is annoyed too. He says, "Or what, you gonna drag us to the mall jail."

A nearby girl working at AEO laughs. Well, lets just say it all went to hell from there. There was some shoving and some insults. By the time the FD supervisor got there it was a full fledged shouting match about to come to blows.

When the guard that initiated all this asked what started all of this, he said, "That ambulance driver laughed at me!"

Laughing seems to provoke a--hats with an authority complex. The morale of the story, careful how you laugh, I suppose?

Let's not forget that unemployment is through the roof. The more cops afraid of "not" doing their jobs - the more of us are going to get into "trouble." The more anxiety they feel from the meltdown - the more anxiety we can expect to feel from them.
The domino effect is taking place. A bunch of unhappy people on the same planet -
is a dangerous situation.

Hasn't Britain outlawed talking on a cell phone while driving? I don't care if it's hands-free, it's still distracting. If you're so into a call that you're all-out laughing, then you aren't paying 100% of your attention to the road. THAT is the offense.

Speaking on a hands free isnt outlawed while driving.

But, If you want to go down the line of 'distraction' have you ever watched a car with two (lets just say women eeeek, sue me) having a chat while driving. You can see their heads bobbing back and forth and they aren't paying the slightest bit of attention to the road, not using indicators, slowing down way too early veering into other lanes. Its actually quite dangerous.

Should we ban conversations with the driver now too? What about dangly things hanging from the mirror, surely they are a distraction? Where does it end?

[edit on 16-3-2009 by BigC2012]