English Senior Caught Speeding By Camera, Politely Accused Of Being A Man

Caught by speeding cameras doing 52mph in a 40mph zone, 59 year-old Kent native Pauline Synnott was dismayed when she received a traffic citation in the mail. Photographic evidence had clearly recorded her violating traffic laws, however, and Synnott reluctantly admitted to police in a responding letter that she was indeed guilty as charged. Prepared to pay the $100 fine and accept the three penalty points that would be assigned to her driving record, Synnott was shocked when she received a second letter from the police suggesting that she was misrepresenting herself as a woman.

According to an excerpt of the letter, published in The Sun, Kent Police, “From the copy of the photograph, it appears that the driver was male. I have therefore enclosed herewith a further set of forms and would ask you to complete them again with name of the driver.” [Pictures of Synnott in original article at TheSun.com]

Apparently, the vehicle Synnott was driving at the time she committed the infraction was registered to her partner, 65-year-old Roy Watkins, and her admission of guilt to the police didn’t jive with the driver information they had on file. Understandably, both Watkins and Synnott are outraged over the indignity, and Synnott especially is downright embarrassed over being mistaken for a man. Although the police apologized for the mistake, the couple is currently seeking “compensation”, and Kent officials have admitted they are “Working with the couple to resolve this matter.”

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Toyota Concept Pick Up-Truck A-BAT’s For Both Teams

Toyota A-Bat Concept

Introduced in 2007 at the Detroit auto show, the Toyota A-Bat pick-up truck/sedan synergy is now creeping slowly, hesitantly towards production. Although nothing has been green-lighted, Toyota executives have confirmed for Auto News that they’ve begun accepting supplier bids for the A-Bat’s construction components. So does this mean the freaky little A-Bat is destined for U.S. roadways? Not necessarily.

According to Toyota, the process of accepting supplier bids is a common industry practice used to evaluate the approximate cost of production, and doesn’t necessarily indicate Toyota’s future plans. Although preliminary design plans for the Toyota A-Bat indicate a vehicle that would lean heavily on body parts/design cues from both the Toyota Camry and 2010 Toyota Prius, the overall architecture of the A-Bat is expected to cost more to build than the Toyota Tacoma’s platform. As a result, the A-Bat’s future as a production model currently hangs in the balance. Despite it’s promising future as what could prove to be an engineering breakthrough for Toyota, if the final estimate of the Toyota A-Bat’s production costs exceed Toyota’s projected budget, the A-Bat project will be shelved.

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Motorist Caught In British Parking Lot Encouraged To “Get A Room”

Spoiler Alert: it’s not as dirty as it sounds. In London, private parking lot security company Parking Eye has come under fire for issuing non-criminal parking tickets to motorists who have overstayed there welcome. While such conduct is usually simply operating procedure, Parking Eye has faced a torrent of criticism because they give no public indication that the lots are under a time restriction - or that they’re being monitored. According to the Daily Express, Londoner Emma Faulkner was downright outraged when she received her ticket from Private Eye in the mail.

Apparently, while making a late-night trip from London to Presten, Lancaster, Emma found herself nodding off behind the wheel. Hoping to catch a quick nap and prevent a fatal disaster, Emma pulled into a nearby parking lot and caught a few hours sleep. About a week later, she received a $100 ticket in the mail for overstaying the 2-hour parking limit. “I didn’t see any sign saying only two hours,” explained Emma, “I’m genuinely horrified. They are always on about safe driving and having a break if you are feeling tired. They surely can’t expect you to book into a hotel room for four-and-a-half hours?” Apparently, they do, and if you can’t afford one, you better be prepared for a ticket. Fortunately, Private Eye and many other private security firms like it are dispensing their own brand of justice, which doesn’t hold the same weight as official government regulations. Motorist rights protection group roadsidelawyer.com stresses this to its members, warning that any document demanding the payment of fees is not legally binding unless issued by the government. The private companies are aware of this too, and threaten civil action if the balance is not paid in full. Dismissive of the bullying tactics, a spokesperson from roadsidelawyer.com explained, “The standard procedure is for them to huff and puff a lot and churn out an endless stream of letters talking of imminent legal proceedings. The reality is that letters are cheap and taking you to court?is expensive.”

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Shia LaBeouf Grants First Interview Since Accident, Says Fault Was Even Steven Between Him & Other Driver

Back in July, Transformer star Shia LaBeouf totaled his Ford F-150 after being involved in a collision in West Hollywood. According to Shia’s interview with People magazine though, the accident wasn’t his fault and the driver of the other vehicle involved is just as much to blame. Apparently, the vehicle Shia collided with was traveling close to 70 mph and completely took him by surprise.

Shia went on to admit that he considers himself very lucky to be alive, and views the accident as a real “eye opener.” Although no serious injuries were reported, Shia was taken to the hospital to be treated for injuries to his head, neck, and knee. At some point during the evening, police determined that LaBeouf was showing signs of intoxication and charged him with a misdemeanor DUI. LaBeouf has yet to be issued any criminal charges, however, and noticeably absent from his People mag tell-all was any reference to the suspected alcohol-involvement.

View The Story As Reported by E!

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The Insurance Institute For Highway Safety, Not Happy This “Insuring” Business Is Costing So Much Money

The opportunistic Insurance Institute for Highway Safety [Motto: “We Now Accept Your Soul In Lieu of Payment”] has joined the flock of vultures circling SUV’s with a petition they’re resubmitting to the federal government essentially pinning billions of dollars worth of claims on those evil, sacrilegious SUVs.

 According to statistics published in the petition, SUVs are in violation of federal bumper-height regulations and are costing the insurance industry billions of dollars a year. The specific regulation the extremely tight-laced IIHS is referring to is the 16-20” rule the government currently places on all sedans. Apparently, those bumper regulations do not apply to utility vehicles.

In its argument, the IIHS explains that bumpers are designed to absorb the impact and prevent damage to the vehicle’s “soft” parts, like grills and taillights. To maximize and this safety feature, the federal government requires that all bumpers be constructed to ride anywhere between 16 to 20 inches off the ground. Due to engineering differences however, many utility vehicles sit well above the maximum 20”. As a result of the height incongruities, small-on-large vehicle incidents [sounds hotter than it is] are often costlier then small-on-small incidents [doesn’t really sound hot at all].

Not a new theme for the IIHS, the petition to require large vehicles to comply with bumper regulations is one of several the IIHS has tried to muscle through the government in the past. On their official website, the exasperated National Highway Traffic Safety Administration patiently explains that bumper regulations do not apply to larger vehicles because of the “potential compromise to the vehicle utility in operating on loading ramps and off-road situations.”

[Source: MSNBC]

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