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Welcome to the Driving Defences Blog

28/01/2012 09:00

Stuck on the Tracks
Laurie Foulke, 43, had a brush with death after an alleged drink driving episode left her stuck in her Volkswagon Jetta on the Long Island Rail Road tracks in New York recently. With the 4.06pm train from Long Island to Montauk fast approaching, two police officers raced to the scene whilst at the same time, and ultimately unsuccessfully trying to warn the MTA to stop the train. Officers Christopher Palazzo and Jereme Matthews of Suffolk County Police managed to clear people from the area and drag Ms Foulke from her car within seconds of the train impacting the vehicle and forcing it into the air. None of the approximate 300 passengers of the train, nor Ms Foulke were injured, though Laurie Foulke was arrested thereafter for drink driving.
26/01/2012 09:00

Driving with Uber Care and Attention
BMW have released an interesting video onto YouTube designed to inform about new assisted driving tchnology that they have been trying out on public autobahns. The BMW 5 series car that appears in the video is adapted to include radar, camera, laser scanner and ultrasonic technology which allows it to be put in automated driver mode and effectively drive itself. BMW also developed algorithms so that the car would be able to handle spontaneous events that occured on the road, safely. The technology means that in theory the car would never break the law, never speeding, undertaking, or completing dangerous manoevers. Unfortunately it is not so advanced that the driver can jump in the back and go to sleep, or pull out a laptop and catch up on emails, as the driver must apparently be ready at all times to take over control of the car. Still, the purpose of driving the automated car out on the autobahn was to test the technology, some of which may appear in new BMW's and could make them more road safe and user friendly.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rjh_5NnDvac
25/01/2012 09:00

Lindsay Lohan in Trouble Again
According to celebrity gossip website TMZ.com, one time child actor, now widely known for her dalliances with the law, Lindsay Lohan, is being sued for injuries and damages by a nanny, Nubia Del Carmen Preza, for a car accident which occured in September 2010. Preza alleges that she suffered injury after Lindsay failed to stop at a red light in her rented Maserati sports car in West Hollywood, hitting the nanny and the pram with her young charge inside. Apparently a witness to the incident claims 3 of the 4 wheels of the pram became airborne. This is not the first time Lindsay has been accused of committing a driving offence. She has previously been convicted of driving under the influence and also driving on a suspended license in addition to a string of other offences including theft.
24/01/2012 09:00

(Hard) Time is Money
Stephen Slevin, 58, was recently awarded the equivelant of £12 million after being largely forgotten about for two years in jail following an arrest for driving offences. An incident which iccured in August 2005 meant that Slevin was arrested and charged with a string of motoring offences including possession of a stolen vehicle, aggravated driving whilst under the influence and driving with a suspended license. His case was not resolved until June 2007 after Slevin had spent nearly two year in jail, to "decay" as his lawyer argued. The judge dismissed the case and allegedly said the defendant was, "not dangerous." The authorities in Donna Ana County blamed the then district attorney's office, the public defender's office and District Court. They intend to appeal against the award and pointed out Slevin's apparently colourful history with the law.
23/01/2012 09:00

Things to do in denver when your dead drunk
We have mentioned incidents in past blog entries of drink drivers caught driving the wrong way on busy roads. The latest incident to come to our attention was in Colorado Springs, Denver in the USA when Stephen Smith was arrested for drink driving after being caught driving at around 70 miles per hour on the Interstate 25 road early in the morning. He has been charged with various offences including driving while intoxicated.
22/01/2012 22:47

Energy Secretary in hot water after alleged speeding offence.
The government's Energy Secretary Chris Huhne may be in hot water over a speeding offence which he may have committed in 2003. It has been alleged that at the time of the offence Huhne had 9 points on his licence and should he have taken responsibility for speeding, he would have most likely received a driving ban. It has been claimed that his then wife Vicky Pryce, whom he divorced last year, may have been persuaded to take the points on his behalf, falsely claiming to be the driver at the time of the offence. Detectives for the Essex Police are expected to review emails shortly which relate to the incident. Instead of being prosecuted for speeding, now both Huhne and his former wife could face charges of perverting the course of justice which may carry a prison sentence. Nick Clegg also hinted that should Huhne be found guilty of the allegations his career may suffer as a result, commenting on a radio show '...we as a Government want the highest standards of probity to be in place in everything that is done by cabinet members.'
20/01/2012 22:44

Drink driver in Tampa, Florida to sue victims.
A drink driver who ran into the back of a parked vehicle at around 70-90mph killing 3 of the 4 people inside is suing the estate of one of the victims who died as a result of the accident. David Belniak pleaded guilty to driving under the influence manslaughter following the incident on Christmas Day in 2007 in Tampa, Florida. Belniak, currently serving 12 years for the offence is allegedly suing the estate of Ray McWilliams who died shortly after the accident, for $15,000 to compensate Belniak for his medical bills, with the help of his attorney Debra A.Tuomey, who also happens to be his sister. Belniak's attorney is claiming that her brother only accepted a plea deal to avoid life imprisonment and he is now allegedly claiming that Ray McWilliams had switched lanes shortly before the accident. The lawsuit has left some flumoxed because in addition to Belniak initially pleading guilty, six eyewitnesses claim McWilliams was stopped at a red light when the other car 'rear-ended' him, the event data recorder in McWilliams' car proved it wasn't moving at the time of the accident, and local police had been called shortly before the accident to be informed Belniak had been seen driving out of control. Belniak's attorney wants their law suit to be heard in April at the same time as a suit is being brought against Belniak by the victims. Maureen M. Deskins, the attorney representing the estate of Ray McWilliams, commented in a recent interview that the tactic could have negative consequences for Belniak as the jury may turn against him.
18/01/2012 09:00

Stroke victim arrested for suspected drink driving.
Mother of three grown up children Julie Hawkins, 55, of Llanharan, died of a stroke on October 14 2011, shortly after being arrested for suspected drink driving. Ms Hawkins had a minor car accident in her Peugeot 107 after swerving onto the wrong side of Llanharry Road in Pontyclun on the way home from a 50th birthday party. Two police officers arrived at the scene of the accident and found Ms Hawkins to be slurring her words. When asked whether she'd had a drink the officers allege that she admitted to having drunk some Stella beer, and being unable to get an accurate reading on a breatalyser, decided to arrest her. Despite collapsing after walking a short distance from her car the police officers continued with the arrest apparently believing she had merely fallen asleep. In Cardiff Coroners Court a driver who had stopped to help after spotting the accident, Johnathan Sharpe, claims he saw that Ms Hawkins mouth was drooping on one side, a classic symptom of stroke. Although Sharpe claims that he told the police this on their arrival, they went ahead with the arrest and they allege that they were only given said information much later on. Ms Hawkins was arrested at around 10.30pm but by 3.30am of the next day, after being admitted to the University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff, she had died. The jury at the Coroner's Court cited the cause of death as a hemorrhagic cerebral infarction. Toxicology tests completed following her death found no alcohol in her blood or urine. Further information on how to spot the symptoms of a stroke can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpR5_LQCyzk
17/01/2012 09:00

Car accident burns out flower shop.
An investigation is underway in San Bruna, California, in the USA following a serious car accident. A car was seen speeding through the streets colliding with several parked cars before careering through the window of a flower shop ultimately causing a serious fire which burnt out the interior. A witness suggested that the fire was caused when the driver of the vehicle kept trying to accelerate causing the tires to burn and creating a spark. Further details and a picture showing the extent of the damage can be seen by following this link:
http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/local/peninsula&id=8505014
16/01/2012 09:00

Linford Christie loses driving ban appeal.
Former Olympics champion Linford Christie lost a challenge recently at the Court of Appeal in London to have a 15 month driving ban for careless driving reduced. The case related to an accident which occured last May on the A413 Amersham Road in Buckinghamshire, and saw Christie, 51, have a head on collision after he drove the wrong way down a main road. The people in the other car included a newly married couple and the bride's uncle who was driving them to a hotel. Christie, originally accused of dangerous driving which he denied, was eventually charged with careless driving and in addition to the 15 month driving ban was also fined £5,000 which, as part of the recent appeal was reduced to £3,000. Christie is currently around 6 months into the driving ban which he allegedy claimed was affecting his ability to coach around 12 athletes for the Olympics as they are having to complete a large amount of driving whilst he is unable.
14/01/2012 09:00

How not to avoid a speeding ticket.
There have been recent reports the world over about vigilantes vandalising, torching and even shooting at speed cameras. In the USA Baltimore Police are searching for a vandal who poured petrol over, then set fire to a mobile speed detector device which was placed on a stand. Closer to home in France there have been reports of vandals spray painting two speed cameras on either side of the RN88 road in Lescure-d'Albigeoius. In Cerans-Foulletourte a man took the rather more extreme action of blasting a speed camera twice with a shotgun, disabling the machine which was located on the RD323 road near Le Mans. The anti speed camera sentiment has also reached Terni, Italy where one of the most productive speed cameras (and most profitable, clocking up a vast amount of speeding tickets since its installation on November 5th last year) was smashed up recently. Whether the culprits of the recent incidents were disgruntled motorists who had received speeding tickets thanks to the machines they attacked remains to be seen, but these stories certainly prove that speed cameras divide opinions and can cause extreme reactions all over the world, as they do here in Great Britain.
12/01/2012 09:00

O Brother Where Art Thou?
A driver who implicated his brother in a speeding offence which took place in April last year was jailed recently for perverting the course of justice after being identified as the driver of the car by fingerprints taken at the time. Rizwan Bashir, 24, of Blackburn, Lancashire was caught driving at speeds of around 100mph on motorways around Preston. When he was pulled over ad the police officer tried to issue him with a fixed penalty notice, Bashir gave the name and address of his brother as his own. The offence went undetected for several months until Bashir's brother received a court summons for the unpaid penalty. Fingerprint evidence taken at the time linked Bashir to the crime and his story began to unfurl. Bashir's lawyer offered the mitigation that Bashir was speeding in an attempt to reach his father who had been suffering from an illness and suddenly had a relapse, but given the high speeds, the fact that Bashir was uninsured to drive the car and that he admitted to perverting the course of justice it was unsurprising that Bashir received a custodial sentence.
11/01/2012 09:00

Neighbourhood (speed) watch
Residents in Prestbury, Gloucestershire are expected to take up the national Community Speed Watch scheme in the fight against speeding. The scheme involves community minded individuals being trained up to use radar speed detection guns and report persistant speeders to police who, after several incidents, will take action against the speeders. The scheme can be set up in any village or small town with a speed limit of 30mph or 40mph and is aimed at helping to drive down speeding incidences in problem areas.
10/01/2012 09:00

Nurse caught drink driving on the way to Christmas party
A well regarded nurse, Jalna Yarwood 48, of Knutsford, Cheshire received a fine of £750, was ordered to pay £85 costs and a £15 victim surcharge in addition to receiving a 28 month ban from driving recently after being caught drink driving. Yarwood was allegedly caught on route to her work Christmas party in Handforth, more than three times over the drink drive limit, following a minor collision with another vehicle. Yarwood, who alleged she had suffered some domestic issues and did not want to attend the Christmas party which is why she drank several gin and tonics before leaving, showed remorse for her actions and due to having completed charity work in the past managed to avoid having to complete community service due to the crime.
09/01/2012 09:00

Motoring drama on the cobbles
'Coronation Street' fans may have seen a recent episode where cobbles favourite 'Rita' was arrested for driving without a valid licence. Normally law abiding, Rita was mortified to get in trouble with the police. Like many other motorists Rita was unaware that as a driver over 70 years old, she would have had to of renewed her driving license to avoid it expiring on her 70th birthday. The DVLA usually send out a D46P 'application for renewal of a driving license' form 90 days prior to a motorist's 70th birthday which needs to be completed and returned in order to avoid a Corrie style drama at the roadside.

The opinions expressed on this site are solely that of the author and do not necessarily represent the opinions of Driving Defences.