Not The Old Horse-And-Buggy Excuse Again...

from the let-him-go dept

Thu, Sep 25th 2003 3:52pm — Mike Masnick

Over in Melbourne, Australia they've got one of those "no driving while yakking" laws in place. So, police officers who felt compelled by the letter of the law, pulled over a horse and buggy (flashing lights and all) and even tested the driver for alcohol. He had been traveling at approximately 2 mph, so you could see how his use of the mobile phone made him a menace to everyone on (and off) the road around him. The judge has wisely thrown the case out, saying that the sooner the guy got back on the streets driving his horse and carriage, the better it was for tourism in Melbourne.

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4 Comments

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dorpus, 25 Sep 2003 @ 5:08pm

Speed is not the issue
A horse carriage travelling at 2 mph is just as capable of crushing an old lady or toddler as one that travels at 40 mph. But will it take a tragedy, like a horse buggy driver plowing into a group of schoolkids and putting 5 of them in wheelchairs for life, to get the message across?

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- Anonymous Coward, 26 Sep 2003 @ 8:52am
  
  Re: Speed is not the issue
  If someone is too stupid to get the hell out of the way of a 2 MPH horse and buggy they DESERVE to be run over and killed regardless of weather the driver was using a phone or not.
  
  Wrap yourself in cling wrap for protection, PLEASE.
  Make sure you cover your nose and mouth because a fly might fly in and you could possibly choke.
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  - dorpus, 26 Sep 2003 @ 7:20pm
    
    Re: Speed is not the issue
    Would you say that to an old lady in a walker? How about a blind person?
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not dorpus, 26 Sep 2003 @ 7:14am

silly horse & silly police
for those that havent visited mexicc aka melbourne recently, not only has the state govt sold all the freeways to private consortiums, they have put speed cameras on *every* crossover. ie cynical attempt to maximise revenue. obviously horse & buggy find it hard to exceed the speed limits hence find some other excuse for a fine....
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