Driving while under the influence of banana!
A woman in the UK was peeling a banana at a traffic jam. Upon seeing this, a traffic officer decided this was dangerous driving and fined her £100 for it!
In terms of reckless driving or even driving distracted, this is pretty harsh. Especially since the UK motorist, Elsa Harris, was in the middle of a traffic jam! She however, was outraged and refused to pay the fine.
This was probably a bad decision as magistrates have upped the fine to £145, as well receiving three points on her driver’s license – leaving her with a criminal record.
Miss Harris’ insurance premiums have gone up by around 40% as a result of this, certainly making this the “to the most expensive banana of her life”.
She is angered by the severity of what she was found guilty for, ‘driving without due care and attention’, the same offence as those who knock pedestrians over.
“I thought the whole thing was completely outrageous which is why I decided to challenge it in court. But after speaking to a friend who is a solicitor she advised me to just plead guilty because she said I would never win. I just feel the whole thing’s a joke.”
Miss Harris said she had already half-peeled the banana at home before she got into her car to drive to work last June. After eating half of it, she had to unpeel it further to finish off the rest and she waited until she stopped in traffic to do so.
Moments later a police officer in an unmarked car pulled in front of her and told her she was a danger to other road users as she had both hands off the wheel, while eating the banana
After refusing to pay the on-the-spot fine of £100, the case was sent to court in Weymouth, where she received the additional fines and penalty points.
Although eating a banana while driving is not a specific offence, a motorist could be judged to be distracted or failing to operate their vehicle correctly because they are eating.
Miss Harris said:
“I was dumbfounded at the time. I was completely unaware I had done anything wrong.”
“The officer said I was driving without my hands on the wheel and that I was a danger to other drivers.”
“Understandably, it is illegal to take both hands off the wheel but I didn’t think I was a danger to anybody. I have never been in trouble with the police before and a warning should have sufficed.”
A Dorset Police statement said:
“The driver had been seen peeling a banana whilst driving with no hands on the steering wheel, risking the safety of other road users.”
Source: IOL