A lorry driver who ate a packet of crisps while negotiating a roundabout has been fined fined £250.
Andrew Kitch, 35, of Hullock Road, Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, was caught steering his removal lorry with his elbows as he munched on the snack.
A traffic officer spotted the driver as he negotiated a mini-roundabout on Benton Lane, North Tyneside, on December 14 last year.
North Tyneside Magistrates’ Court heard the driver held the packet in his left hand, while he fed himself with his right, and used his forearms and elbows to steer.
The same force was heavily criticised for prosecuting nursery nurse Sarah McCaffery for eating an apple while she made a left hand turn.
South Tyneside Magistrates fined the 23-year-old £60 and ordered her to pay £100 costs for not being in proper control of her Ford Ka.
Her defence team said the prosecution was “nonsensical” and highlighted the fact that the force used its helicopter and a patrol car to film her route as part of the case against her.
Northumbria Police insisted motorists would continue to be put before the courts for eating or drinking behind the wheel.
Mr Kitch, who represented himself at North Tyneside Magistrates Court, denied the offence, as well as a separate charge of failing to produce the previous day’s tachograph records.
Magistrates found him guilty and fined him £250 for failing to keep proper control of the lorry, plus £200 costs. There was no separate fine for the tachograph offence. He admitted a charge of failing to secure his fuel cap and allowing diesel to spill and was fined £50.
i was talking to an owner driver a few weeks ago and he was done 35 notes for eating a crisp behind the wheel.the police said he saw him put the crisp in his mouth as he past him on the other side of the carriageway.
Seems a little strange to me that the crisps incident attracted a fine of £250 but spilling diesel with all the dangers that poses for other road users, especially motorbike riders, was only £50
thats cause there is not a lot of tax on crisps.
if a driver spills diesel then that means the government gets the tax and the diesel isnt burnt. good for the government ,good for the enviroment, less pollution.
and the driver has to refill quicker if he spills it, instead of using it as it should.
the governments laughing all the way to the bank
i think it is ok when driver ate food during when they driving in motorway or dual carraigway but not in roundabout or village street make worse risk - caught up or accident ?
dave:
thats cause there is not a lot of tax on crisps.
if a driver spills diesel then that means the government gets the tax and the diesel isnt burnt. good for the government ,good for the enviroment, less pollution.
and the driver has to refill quicker if he spills it, instead of using it as it should.
the governments laughing all the way to the bank
I eat and drink all the time behind the wheel, be it a snack like a Mars bar or a pack of crisps or reaching behind the seat for my bait box and a sarnie. I also drive and pick my map up to have a quick double check of where i’m going. Northumbria police are total bankers anyway because this region is crime free they have nothing better to.
I came through the roadworks at Wetherby on a Simpson Bros trunk on Tuesday at 3.00 a.m ish and i would normally go at 56 mph but for some reason i was doing the 50 and i knew i didnt have a number plate on the trailer. I had a car up my back end all the way and out of the road works I spotted it was a police car. Did it stop me, No.
The moral of the story is they will stop you if they feel like it and find something wrong if they feel like it. Rollocks to the lot of them.
Newbie:
I eat and drink all the time behind the wheel, be it a snack like a Mars bar or a pack of crisps or reaching behind the seat for my bait box and a sarnie. I also drive and pick my map up to have a quick double check of where i’m going. Northumbria police are total bankers anyway because this region is crime free they have nothing better to.
I came through the roadworks at Wetherby on a Simpson Bros trunk on Tuesday at 3.00 a.m ish and i would normally go at 56 mph but for some reason i was doing the 50 and i knew i didnt have a number plate on the trailer. I had a car up my back end all the way and out of the road works I spotted it was a police car. Did it stop me, No.
The moral of the story is they will stop you if they feel like it and find something wrong if they feel like it. Rollocks to the lot of them.
I know what you mean about stopping you when they feel like it, a couple of times I’ve been speeding whilst driving my car (not excessively) and suddenly noticed them behind me and have not been stopped. Just out of interest why did you not have a plate on the trailer?
I did have a plate and did try to fit it to the trailer but Simpson Bros have plates that are fixed to a big metal plate and then get fixed on to the trailer with a clip and this one wouldn’t go in at all. It was raining stair rods and there were no bars on the back doors to wedge the plate in and I wanted to get home. If stopped that was my story anyway. They could have tried it then for themselves.
I’ve eaten behind the wheel many times. In the western states, traffic volumes are low and distances are great. I’ve even eaten a full meal with a fork behind the wheel. The flat top of old cobover engine covers made it easy to put your dinner down and eat whilst driving.
There’s something wrong with chugging from a 2l of Mountain dew on I495? Been there, seen it, done it. I usually wait for a dual carriageway or the like to eat, as I feel safer there, less traffic making dives for exits without warning.
Serial cab muncher! (Old bits of corn everywhere!) Eating next to nothing when i stop. I find food tastes better this way. For pudding, hard sweets with super glued sticky wrappers, can be a little hard to negotiate. So i have given them up. Well, it was the toothache!
He should have used his feet to steer. Thus keeping his arms free. That would have fooled 'em!
when are we supposed to eat or drink? how many of you drive with a map on the steering wheel? i do them all, sometimes with a ■■■ in my hand too. its life as a lorry driver. we cant do our jobs efficiently if we keep 2 hands on the wheel. personally, i never have both hands on the wheel anyway. its quicker to steer with one hand spinning the wheel than feeding the thing through both hands. how long would it take to negotiate a tight gateway by shunting a few feet at a time using 2 hands full lock to opposite lock would take all day if you had to do it many times with a short shunt between
Been there, seen it, done it. I usually wait for a dual carriageway or the like to eat, as I feel safer there, less traffic making dives for exits without warning.