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[Martin_1962]

how useful is a sign in a car doing 10mph for someone travelling at 60+ passing her???

i have no sympathy at all for her if i'm honest mainly because I am a b*st*rd believe she could have gone to a different shop for the ink cartridge!

if she'd been in such a panic as she said, she could have just stopped on the hard shoulder and waited for assistance, surely she's old enough to have a bit of common sense!! they're right to make her re-take her test, everyone who does something so dangerous should be ordered to retake their test

The retake is a life ban for her, if she doesn't pass no licence

[Crazydad]

There is a minimum of 60kmh here on the Autobahn

[sir moanalot]

the sign in my car says "if i cause any accidents on the road don't blame me i was busy looking the other way its your fault for not seeing that".
do you reckon that will suffice?

[Craig_R]

What is the min speed on a motorway its about 40 odd is it not ?

Just ask my mate who is a motorway copper and he said

There's no legal min as such (unless there are signs telling you that for some reason (blue circular ones)), but some speeds are classed as dangerous

i have seen the problems with people driving slow on a motorway and it was not nice A car was doing the same about 10 MPH and a truck went into the back of it at about 60 guess the lorry driver was not paying attention or mis judged the speed of the car, well there was not much left of the car i can tell you

[STMO123]

There are examples of horrendous driving, both on motorways and other roads, all day and every day. Trouble is, there are no traffic cops to see them, so they go largely unnoticed. In the past month, I have nearly been hit twice by people who refuse to stop just as the lights change to red and come steaming through. Even if the lights have cameras on them, £60 and three points is not sufficent punishment for an action that is bound to cause a serious accident sooner or later.

[Andy B]

There are examples of horrendous driving, both on motorways and other roads, all day and every day......

D*** head just came out on me yesterday at a round-a-bout. I went through the round-a-bout trying to sort out the locked up wheels (no ABS on the shed ) at I headed for the side of his Galaxy/what-ever. I stopped as he half waved his appologies!!!!!!!!!  
I was in half a mind to turn around & catch him back up ...... and breathe :-?

[amigov6]

I sympathize with this lady's illness, it's something thet could affect any one of us in years to come but sadly her driving days are done & for safetys sake they should be.
  I've read your post Craig & yes truck drivers make a mess if they're not paying attention & the worst happens. I try to leave a gap between me & the car in front only to have some knobhead car driver dive into it & brake hard because he wants to get off @ the next exit then come to a halt when he can'nt get in to the left through leaving it too late.
   At 44t I have to "stand" on the brake while blocks a lane with his left indicator flashing. The contents of my cab where i live some nights go all over the 45ft trailer takes on a mind of it's own & i've got the worry of another 44t behind me in the same panic. This why this lady should not even take retest. I invite anyone whose not convinced to spend a day or two riding shotgun. You'll come away with a different perspective.
    Sorry, that was nearly a rant. I'll be nice for the rest of the evening!!

[Baron Von Spongebob]

I sympathize with this lady's illness, it's something thet could affect any one of us in years to come but sadly her driving days are done & for safetys sake they should be.
  I've read your post Craig & yes truck drivers make a mess if they're not paying attention & the worst happens. I try to leave a gap between me & the car in front only to have some knobhead car driver dive into it & brake hard because he wants to get off @ the next exit then come to a halt when he can'nt get in to the left through leaving it too late.
   At 44t I have to "stand" on the brake while blocks a lane with his left indicator flashing. The contents of my cab where i live some nights go all over the 45ft trailer takes on a mind of it's own & i've got the worry of another 44t behind me in the same panic. This why this lady should not even take retest. I invite anyone whose not convinced to spend a day or two riding shotgun. You'll come away with a different perspective.
    Sorry, that was nearly a rant. I'll be nice for the rest of the evening!!

I will second that  

[hotel21]

Incident could well have been dealt with by way of a warning or an alternate but, in the opinion of those dealing (both Police and CPS) a court appearance was the preferred option.  As a result, a conviction ensued as described.  Such is the way things unfold.

Think on the following, similar but different....

Dealt with scenario where very nice elderly lady of extended years drove the wrong way along the busiest dual carriageway in the area at the back of 5pm on a Friday evening at her normal cruising speed of 30.  She was in what was to her, the slow lane but was, unfortunately for those travelling in the correct direction, lane 2 or the 'fast' lane or 100 mph plus of a closing speed into a brick wall....

Fortunately we managed to stop/advise those entering the road of the approaching disaster and managed to remove the nice old dear without further incident - she passed two exits in the process of getting to the end of the road - but when asked why she did not leave when she realised her mistake, the answer was 'ye canny go up slip roads the wrong way, son!'.

She was in her 80's, not as sharp at the wheel as she once was and that a recurrence (at her own admission) a distinct possibility.    

I dealt with the matter by way of notification to the Fiscal (Scots version of CPS) advising that voluntary surrender of her licence may be an accepted alternate to prosecution as she had otherwise been completely law abiding up to this time.  

It was offered to the lady and accepted.  Matter resolved without any recourse to a criminal conviction and probability of recurrence of endangerment removed.

Some may argue at curtailment of liberty etc but, in my own mind, was the preferred option to save tears in the future....

  

[MutantCav]

As said this disease doesnt affect your mind...she doesnt like driving then DONT DRIVE! Get a taxi...if buying an ink cartridge is somehow more important than the lives she could have cost (or the loss of her own life) then she needs to be shown the error of her ways...look up a way to go that doesnt involve the motorway, get a taxi, get a friend to give you a lift...but dont drive on the motorway...

I have had close calls with idiots in the inside lane doing 30, its not at all expected and hard to judge when your doing 70mph, you dont have time to react and if you get it wrong people generally die...so 10 must have been a total nightmare for the other traffic, and from the sounds she was barely able to stay on the road even at that speed.

[cem_devecioglu]

At least she has some excuse..There many of them on the roads

making me older and finish my life waiting behind them

[markey mark]

should have taken her car and made it into a coffee table and banned her for life !!   sorry if that sounds harsh but what if you or one of your family were killed or badly hurt by someone not realising how slow she was going and swevered to miss and hit another car having you or one of your loved ones in !!  

[CaptainZok]

At first glance this does sound a rather harsh treatment of a disabled driver, but we don't know if an approach similar to that of H21 hadn't been tried and rejected. Maybe the offer to drop charges on surrender of the driving licence was refused leaving no course open but to prosecute.
My father was in a similar situation a few years ago where he was summonsed following an accident caused by his having suffered a mild stroke. When the case came to court it was agreed by the bench and CPS that on surrendering his licence as advised by his doctor it would be "not in the public interest" to proceed and the case was subsequently dropped.

[amigov6]

I don't think she should be prosecuted as she meant no harm & can't help her illness but no more driving, simple as.

[Entwood]

Judging by her comments in other reports

http://www.guardian.co.uk/transport/Story/0,,2235645,00.html#article_continue

 "No driving licence for me means I will have no life. I live alone and I am fiercely independent. Losing my licence will leave me with no social life."  

..if she was offered a deal to surrender her licence for no prosecution .. she probably turned it down leaving the CPS no choice.