DRIVING TIPS
Flip flop fines and other ways to get caught out behind the wheel
There are all sorts of things that can cause you to incur fines when you’re behind the wheel.
From using your mobile phone to speeding and parking in the wrong place, to driving in restricted areas, you can be caught out for a wide variety of reasons.
Today, we’re taking a look at some of the more unusual ways you can end up in hot water when you’re behind the wheel.
Driving in flip flops
Although they’re great for keeping your feet cool in hot weather and quickly slipping on as you dash out the door, flip flops don’t provide your feet with a lot of stability when you’re behind the wheel.
They can easily get caught in the pedals or slip off when you’re driving, causing you to lose concentration and possibly have an accident.
To try and avoid the complications caused by this casual footwear, the Government is enforcing fines to discourage drivers from wearing flip flops behind the wheel.
Although the footwear itself isn’t illegal, you can be charged with dangerous driving if your footwear doesn’t allow you to control the vehicle in a safe manner.
With fines of up to £5,000 being handed down for the offence, it’s well worth changing your shoes before you get into the car.
Eating behind the wheel.
Again, although eating behind the wheel isn’t necessarily illegal, you can be charged with various offences in some situations.
If the police think you’re not in proper control of your vehicle while you’re chomping away on your sandwiches, they can issue you with a fine there and then.
In fact, even taking your hands off the wheel to blow your nose can be considered ‘not being in proper control of a vehicle’ and result in you getting a financial penalty.
Is urinating by your car allowed.?
While you may not have heard of these offences, you may have heard about some strange laws, and wondered if they are true.
One driving related ‘law’ suggests it is acceptable for a man to urinate in public, as long as he is relieving himself on the rear wheel of his car and his right hand is on the vehicle.
This was said to come from a time when services were few and far between, and drivers needed some relief when caught short on the roads, and also for the benefit of taxi drivers.
Alas, urinating in public, even if you are touching your car, could land you with a fine under local by-laws. Having said that, if seen by a police officer, a pregnant woman unable to make it to a toilet in time is likely to be treated with more leniency.
Other offences that are more myth than reality include that it is illegal to hail a taxi if you have the plague and that black cabs in London must carry a bale of hay and a sack of oats!
