We've all been stopped for speeding at some time in our lives, what excuse did you use? Here are some examples of excuses used by the famous, and not so famous. Some worked, some didn't. Here are some excuses from our friends overseas:
- Joy Rees panicked when she was caught doing 51 mph in a 40 mph area. She told officers that she was her sister, who lives in the USA. Unfortunately for Joy, police checked with her sister.
- Stewart and Cathryn Bromley were caught speeding twice in Hyde, Greater Manchester. They decided to invent a spurious Bulgarian to blame. They told police that they had lent their car to Konstantin Koscov who had since returned to Bulgaria. They went to great lengths to prove their innocence, Cathryn even flew to Bulgaria and mailed herself a postcard allegedly from Mr Koscov thanking them for the loan of their car. The scam was uncovered and the couple were convicted of perverting the course justice. They were fined £9,200 and ordered to pay £1,900 costs.
- Soccer star David Beckham was driving his Ferrari 550 Maranello and claimed that he had only broken the speed limit to escape photographers who were chasing him in a white Ford Fiesta. It worked and he avoided an eight month driving ban.
- A motorcyclist who was caught riding his Ducati at 108 mph in a 70 mph zone claimed that he had been stung by a bee and was feeling unwell. He got six points on his license and fined.
- 67-year-old Diana Stevens from East Sussex was caught doing 49 mph in a 40 zone. She said that she was hurrying home because she urgently needed the toilet and she was too scared to stop in the dark. The pensioner, who had an unblemished license and had been driving for more than 40 years, was given three penalty points.
- When Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson was collared for illegally driving on a motorway hard shoulder in October 1999, he said he had severe diarrhea and urgently needed to reach a toilet. He was cleared of the charge.
- Constable Alan Bothwell of Grampian Police obviously didn't know better when he was caught driving at 109 mph on the A9 near Stirling in Scotland. He claimed he had just had a row with his wife on the telephone and was feeling in an enraged mood. He escaped a ban, but was given a £600 fine and six penalty points at Stirling Crown Court. By that stage he'd got a divorce.
- The famous explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes, he thought he was going to have to pay the fine, until he got a letter from the court addressed to Mr Ran Fienns. Thanks to his legal team, he got off on a technicality.
- Matthew Cook was smoking a cigarette and gesticulating rudely at other motorists when he was observed driving erratically at 103 mph. He claimed he didn't know how fast he was going because he was dyslexic and couldn't read the speedometer. He was banned from driving for three years.
Do you have any excuses that worked?
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