UK motorist driver named Matthew Dummer has been convicted for transporting a strange item tied onto the roof of his convertible car after receiving police warning. He was disqualified from driving after loading a mattress and sofa on to the top of his Renault coupe.
Prior to driving on the A286 in Singleton the UK driver was warned by police. PC Tom Van Der Wee from the Roads Policing Unit had after spotting the car parked outside his home address in Stedham, West Sussex, issued a warning to Dummer not to drive with the items on the roof. But 34-year-old Dummer was spotted driving on the A286 in Singleton carrying the same load. Dummer who is unemployed, had been dispatched a notice of intended prosecution (NIP) for dangerous driving. He chose to go to trial at Portsmouth Crown Court where he was found guilty of the charge, and was disqualified from driving for one year at a sentencing hearing on July 6th.
He was also ordered by the court to complete 60 hours of unpaid work and pay court costs of £95. Speaking after the case PC Van Der Wee said that it should be obvious to any competent driver just how ridiculous it is carrying a load such as this on a soft top car. Dummer put other road users at significant risk by forgoing all common sense and ignoring his warning. PC Van Der Wee said that a vehicle and its load are subjected to several forces when in motion. Had this particular load come loose and struck a pedestrian, cyclist or indeed any other road user, they would almost certainly have been dealing with a fatality.
Dummer must as well as being disqualified from driving for 12 months, now re-do his driving test and will inevitably face higher insurance premiums as a result of this disqualification.
