When I’m not trawling the web for baby elephant photos, I occasionally catch up with the news and the creative ways people find to hurt themselves.
The story below about a sensible, kindly old gent captured my attention.
90-year-old loses licence for speed, drink-driving
March 1, 2010
VICTORIA has a new oldest hoon – a 90-year-old man has lost his licence after drink-driving at more than 20 km/h over the speed limit.
Police detected the man driving along Thompsons Road, Lower Templestowe, on Saturday just after 8.30pm at a speed of 83 km/h in a 60 km/h zone. The Craigieburn man blew more than double the blood-alcohol limit, with a reading of .112.
He told police he had been out with his son for celebratory drinks. He received two fines for excessive speed and drink-driving and immediately lost his licence.
An 80-year-old driver who had previously claimed the title as the state’s oldest hoon was blasted last month by a magistrate after saying he had dozed off when speeding at 150 km/h for more than 20 kilometres.
Farmer and former Sunday school teacher Ron Bell had originally blamed his lead foot on being late for an appointment but later said he had temporarily fallen asleep at the wheel.
AAP
Source: http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/90yearold-loses-licence-for-speed-drinkdriving-20100228-pb7l.html
I know police officers have seen everything and are hard to surprise after a few years of cleaning human debris, but wouldn’t you raise an eyebrow if you were on booze bus duty or driving the streets to attend a rowdy party when a nonagenarian fangs past at more than 20km/h over the speed limit? And is pissed as a newt to boot?
And the drunk, lead-footed old dickhead was celebrating something with his son, who it’s safe to assume is of retirement age – what the fuck was he thinking letting his dad drive home? Did father and son have a mature-age arm wrestle to fight over the car keys and the more senior idiot won?
Pensioners are given half-price taxi cards – use them! We the taxpayers would prefer to subsidise your nights on the shandies if you promise to stay off the roads.
Crank-o-meter: i worry for the future
I only read The Hun when I’m at my folks, and I actually read their story on the old fella who claimed he fell asleep while driving at a ton-and-a-half for oodles of k. It was hilarious.
The judge, the often miss-pronounced Mr Pithouse, said: “I reject your defence of going to sleep… It is one of the most ludicrous things I have ever heard.”
You worry about the future. I worry about the past!
I like the sound of Mr Pithouse! It’s easy to guess the origins of surnames like Cooper and Farmer, but Pithouse??? *laughs*
Why’s he still got his license if he’s 90? LOL!
Because he’s a good driver.
What was the son thinking?
Either the son is a bit stupid, like his dad, or the son is sick of waiting for pops to go gently…
He he he, I hadn’t considered the angle of *trying* to bring about pops’s downfall!