Motorist could be charged for puddle splashing

I was amused by this story. I can see the pros and cons of this especially since it wasn't an accident. (This happened in the UK.)

But anyways, it seems this guy was asked by the kids to splash them while he drove by a bus stop. He obliged, apparently doing a good job of it, recorded it and posted it on YouTube. Well, people complained and now he could be charged with careless or dangerous driving.

Apparently someone in the past there had been fined £150 and lost 3 points for splashing a workman.

www.independent.co.uk...

I personally feel there should be a modest fine for inconsiderate driving, which would include soaking kids before going to school. But here in the US, my state at least, a CNI (careless and imprudent) is treated the same as a DUI/DWI and I think that would be going too far. But maybe it's not so bad in the UK.

I can definitely see something like this happening in the US some time in the near future, if it hasn't happened already!

reply to post by willow1d


My younger brother once did the same thing. He splashed some kids while driving. This happened in the U.S. Well, there WAS a cop behind him, and yes, he had to go to court for wreckless driving.

It's already here, I'm afraid.

reply to post by willow1d






Thought you would like to see the video. It's not like they were trying to drown the kids or anything. They were just being jerks. That is of course unless the kids told them to do it and they just complied with the kids request.

Even if they *did* ask him to splash them, the car isn't a toy. I can see the logic of fining this driver. Not that what he did was so bad, but that it sets a bad example. Others, more careless, might try it and wind up killing someone. Not likely, but really cars are dangerous machines that need to be driven with respect.

I've been on the receiving end of this quiet a few times; the splashee, if you will. I'm glad this has happened and I'd like to see more of it to be honest.

More often than not, it's fairly obvious what's coming as the car will go out of their way to go for the large puddles and it's not as if you can always get out of the way or even have time to get out of the way. A couple of times I've been so angry I've actually ran after the car responsible and one of the times I actually caught up with the car as it was stuck at a set of lights. I didn't know who was in the car at the time I set off after it and, to be frank, I didn't really care I was that annoyed. That time it, it turned out to be two women in the front seats and a teenage lad in the back seat who had been giving me 'hand signals' as the car drove away. I banged on the windows on and had a right go at them through the wound-up windows. To say they shat themselves was an understatement and were practically wheel-spinning by the time the lights had changed.

I agree with chiron.

Would it be so funny if this driver (who by the videos posted was driving pretty fast) lost control and hit a kid?

There is a phenomenon called hydroplaning.

Hydroplaning or aquaplaning by the tires of a road vehicle occurs when a layer of water builds between the rubber tires of the vehicle and the road surface, leading to the loss of traction and thus preventing the vehicle from responding to control inputs such as steering, braking or accelerating.

en.wikipedia.org...(tires)

I say the guy deserves the fines.

[edit on 14-10-2009 by Nutter]

He wanted to splash them. They wanted to be splashed. Is it dangerous? yes, but so are most things that are fun. Are we gonna outlaw fun? And since when do you get fined for something that could have happened. I dont know what the speed limit is there but thats really the only thing I see violated, depending on the limit. seriously, you people need to stop being armchair legislators. Its unseemly.

Fair enough, but swerving to avoid a puddle because it might wet some pedestrians could also cause an accident.
Or, in the process, the driver may cross a solid line and then be cited for reckless driving.

In my experience, your excuse that "you were swerving to avoid a puddle" would be answered with "you broke the law. no excuses."

reply to post by Nutter


Obviously you don't understand hydroplaning. all the tires have to be going over the water, it doesn't work if one of the tires is firm on the pavement.

If it occurs at all wheels the vehicle becomes, in effect, an uncontrolled sled.

A single tire may hydroplane, the vehicle won't loose control. When all four wheels go into a hydroplane, then and only then will the vehicle loose control.

It's not like this is a video of people pulling drive by shooting. This is a splashing, I have been splashed before, it sucks but it's WATER. You will dry.

My God, I love the UK!!! Nowhere else on Earth could you have such a rash of pointless and downright stupid laws! From what you can put in wheeling bins, when they can go out and where to store them to this!?!? You'd think that they had nothing else better to do over there. Is there anything that you Brits ARE allowed to do over there? What's next, criminalizing farting in public? What a joke!!!

:shk:

I can't believe people think this is funny or that some of you are even actually arguing the physics of hydroplaning.

Water hazards may HIDE other hazards.

Moreover, the potential for hydroplaning had little to do with this scenario. The greater risk of losing control occurs when a sudden and uneven distribution of torque occurs on ANY of the wheels. In fact, I'd say it was a pretty damned dangerous thing to do at high speed near anyone, let alone children.

Car rolled in puddle crash.

A car lost control and rolled over after hitting a puddle in Redbourn.

The accident happened at about 5.30am yesterday (Monday) in St Albans Road.

The vehicle hit the puddle and lost control, causing it to veer off the road ...

Policeman died after he lost control of his car

A POLICEMAN died after he lost control of his car in poor weather conditions and crashed down an embankment on a Cornish road, an inquest heard.

Pc Kevin Sparks, 45, a diversity officer, who lived in Plymouth, was pronounced dead at the scene on the A38.

Eyewitnesses told how Pc Sparks had hit a puddle of standing water before the car began to swerve out of control before flipping over and shooting down the embankment.

Doiron v. City of Riverside

...high school student, passenger in a 1967 volkswagen Bug, was traveling on a main roadway in Riverside at approximately 10:00 p.m. Vehicle hit puddle of water and lost control leaving the roadway and the rear of the volkswagen hit a palm tree.

Kingston teen’s motor vehicle homicide trial postponed

Erin Leith, 18, is charged with misdemeanor motor vehicle homicide and speeding stemming from an accident in May 2006 that killed Victoria Wightman, 16, of Hingham, and seriously injured two others.

...

Leith lost control of her Oldsmobile Cutlass on Route 106 in Plympton about 11 a.m. on May 16, 2006, after driving through a large puddle.

The vehicle swerved into the path of a minivan driven by Mary Hall of Halifax.

I could literally post hundreds of examples. Need I?

Finally, as a parent, I don't CARE what my children ask for if it is potentially dangerous to them. And I would hope other adults would assist me in exercising more sound judgment than was apparently possible by the children (and adults) in this example.

Good grief.



[edit on 14-10-2009 by loam]

Yeah, what a tool. It was so brilliant that he got a fine for it. Sweet, great job douchebag.

reply to post by kozmo


Seems we wont be able to much over here in the corporate US either. Man, if they make farting illegal im gonna have to put up a stink for sure...

They all had a bit of fun.

No one died, no one was injured, no one's rights were trampled. What's the big deal?

Could the driver have lost control and had an accident? Sure.

He could have also had a stroke while driving. Or been hit by a meteorite, or an earthquake could have occured, or lightning hit his vehicle, or one of the children had a heart attack, or an axle snap, or he could have been shot, etc etc etc.

*Anything* could have happened. But it didn't. Pathetic waste of the courts' time. We have ASBO kids in serious need of jailtime instead of worrying about someone splashing people with their vehicle. Sad, sad, sad...

Originally posted by kozmo
My God, I love the UK!!!

Nowhere else on Earth could you have such a rash of pointless and downright stupid laws! From what you can put in wheeling bins, when they can go out and where to store them to this!?!?

You'd think that they had nothing else better to do over there. Is there anything that you Brits ARE allowed to do over there? What's next, criminalizing farting in public? What a joke!!!

I take it you didn't read all the thread, kozmo? It's already happened in America.

reply to post by noonebutme

Originally posted by noonebutme
He could have also had a stroke while driving. Or been hit by a meteorite, or an earthquake could have occured, or lightning hit his vehicle, or one of the children had a heart attack, or an axle snap, or he could have been shot, etc etc etc.

Intentional acts are very different than 'acts of god'...

What's wrong with you people?

Go play Russian roulette with your own lives.



[edit on 14-10-2009 by loam]

Everyone's referring to the driver as 'he' The 'he' was a passenger, the driver was a she! (just to point that out).

I think it's quite funny - yhea the speed seemed to be a bit much, but I've been splashed really badly before! - sometimes I asked for it, another time I was tieing my shoelace and got a very deliberate splash - that one did piss me off actually cos I didn't see it coming and I ended up on my arse, it was cold and I was miles from home with no money.

Let's look at these screen captures I made of the video.







Look how close the vehicle and the one one child are to the curb!!!

Look at the amount of water involved-- let alone the speed!!!

Would any of you voluntarily stand there in that precise location and the same circumstances???

Would any of you voluntarily put your child in that precise location and under the same circumstances???

And some of you see this as amusing?????

:shk:

[edit on 14-10-2009 by loam]

Originally posted by Remixtup
He wanted to splash them. They wanted to be splashed. Is it dangerous? yes, but so are most things that are fun. Are we gonna outlaw fun?

Only if it's too dangerous. "Fun" is not a good reason for allowing dangerous things.

Originally posted by whatukno
It's not like this is a video of people pulling drive by shooting. This is a splashing, I have been splashed before, it sucks but it's WATER. You will dry.

And get dirty in the process. Water in poodles on the road is usually not very clean.