Mrs Penny Farthing

[[email protected]]

On uk.rec.motorcycles - Elly said:-

> A curious court case involving a bicycle, a lady called Mrs Penny
> Farthing and flashing lights.
> http://comment.independent.co.uk/columnists_a_l/miles_kington/article2145109.ece
> Positively Pythonesque.

No, it's not April 1st ???? Is it?

If this newspaper story is not entirely fabricated could that be
the end of flashing lights on bicycles since it appears to
give any motorist a defense for any night time (and why not
day time too?) road crash?

Of course the article is simply appaling in that it provides very
little
information, not even whether is it a criminal or civil case.

 

[Jan]

[email protected] wrote:
> On uk.rec.motorcycles - Elly said:-
>
>> A curious court case involving a bicycle, a lady called Mrs Penny
>> Farthing and flashing lights.
>> http://comment.independent.co.uk/columnists_a_l/miles_kington/article2145109.ece
>> Positively Pythonesque.
>
> No, it's not April 1st ???? Is it?
>
> If this newspaper story is not entirely fabricated could that be
> the end of flashing lights on bicycles since it appears to
> give any motorist a defense for any night time (and why not
> day time too?) road crash?
>
> Of course the article is simply appaling in that it provides very
> little
> information, not even whether is it a criminal or civil case.Mr Saddim
> Hadiqi


Firstly I would query whether Mr Sadam Hadiqi had a valid driver licence.and
had any right to be driving a car. When a friend of mine was diagnosed as
epileptic, her driving licence was given up. ( I'm sure she had to give it
up rather than volunteer).

Jan

 

[wafflycat]

"Jan" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

>
>
> Firstly I would query whether Mr Sadam Hadiqi had a valid driver
> licence.and had any right to be driving a car. When a friend of mine was
> diagnosed as epileptic, her driving licence was given up. ( I'm sure she
> had to give it up rather than volunteer).
>
> Jan

When my sister was diagnosed has having epilespy she had to give up her
driving licence. She was not allowed to legally drive until she had a doctor
confirm she had been fit free for at least three years.

 

[Ian Smith]

On 14 Jan 2007 06:10:17 -0800, [email protected] <[email protected]> wrote:
> On uk.rec.motorcycles - Elly said:-
>
> > A curious court case involving a bicycle, a lady called Mrs Penny
> > Farthing and flashing lights.
> > http://comment.independent.co.uk/columnists_a_l/miles_kington/article2145109.ece
>
> No, it's not April 1st ???? Is it?

Miles Kington writes a humorous column,

> If this newspaper story is not entirely fabricated could that be
> the end of flashing lights on bicycles since it appears to
> give any motorist a defense for any night time (and why not
> day time too?) road crash?

I would observe:

1: Epileptic seizure is normally only triggered at frequencies higher
than bike lights flash (seizures at 10Hz or more).

2: Known epileptics should not be driving.

3: Motorists will come up with any old guff to try and evade
responsibility for their incompetence (such as the periodic humorous
insurance claim reports).

> Of course the article is simply appaling in that it provides very
> little information, not even whether is it a criminal or civil case.

Or, more likely, whether it exists at all - it's a comic column. It
is no more likely to have happened than the incidents recorded in
strip cartoons. It isn't a news item.

regards, Ian SMith
--
|\ /| no .sig
|o o|
|/ \|

 

[Tony Raven]

[email protected] wrote on 14/01/2007 14:10 +0100:
> On uk.rec.motorcycles - Elly said:-
>
>> A curious court case involving a bicycle, a lady called Mrs Penny
>> Farthing and flashing lights.
>> http://comment.independent.co.uk/columnists_a_l/miles_kington/article2145109.ece
>> Positively Pythonesque.
>
> No, it's not April 1st ???? Is it?
>

It is quite clearly humorous and not a real case. Quite what triggered
its writing and what its purpose is I cannot guess though.

--
Tony

"...has many omissions and contains much that is apocryphal, or at least
wildly inaccurate..."
Douglas Adams; The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

 

[Geraint Jones]

Tony Raven <[email protected]> wrote:
| Quite what triggered
| its writing and what its purpose is I cannot guess though.

Its purpose is presumably to amuse; what triggered it is perhaps the
story earlier this year, oh well in the last few weeks anyway, about
someone claiming to have a fit triggered by "active" cats eyes, and
the highways agency (or some other authority) perhaps thinking twice
about their use.

 

[dkahn400]

Ian Smith wrote:

> On 14 Jan 2007 06:10:17 -0800, [email protected] <[email protected]> wrote:
> > On uk.rec.motorcycles - Elly said:-

> > Of course the article is simply appaling in that it provides very
> > little information, not even whether is it a criminal or civil case.
>
> Or, more likely, whether it exists at all - it's a comic column. It
> is no more likely to have happened than the incidents recorded in
> strip cartoons. It isn't a news item.

This reminds me of A.P. Herbert's "Misleading Cases" which were
published in the form of law reports and, though absurd, were
occasionally mistaken for actual cases and reported on in newspapers.

--
Dave...

 

[Geraint Jones]

Tony Raven <[email protected]> wrote:
| Quite what triggered
| its writing and what its purpose is I cannot guess though.

Its purpose is presumably to amuse; what triggered it is perhaps the
story earlier this year, oh well in the last few weeks anyway, about
someone claiming to have a fit triggered by "active" cats eyes, and
the highways agency (or some other authority) perhaps thinking twice
about their use, see <http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/low/england/essex/6226285.stm>.