Obstruction of view

Please be careful out there I know at one time the Taxi Licensing were giving defects out for this, CD and air freshners hanging from rear view mirrors,

I saw this in the national press. Copied from an article in Taxi driver online!

A TAXI driver involved in a car crash in which a man died has been fined - for having two furry dice hanging from his rear view mirror.

Javaid Alam was devastated following the accident in which dad Wayne Kerrigan was killed.
Mr Kerrigan, 28, stepped in front of his taxi in a poorly lit stretch of Rochdale Road, Collyhurst, after a night out with friends, an inquest into his death heard.

The coroner said Mr Alam, from Levenshulme, was not to blame for the death and there was no evidence to suggest there was anything wrong with his driving or his car.

But the dad, a taxi driver for 11 years, he has now been ordered to pay a £45 fine after being taken to court for having the dice and two air fresheners hanging in the car {ndash} even though prosecutors said they did not contribute to the cause of the accident.

The Crown Prosecution Service said the dice, which had been in the car for two years, had the `potential' to obstruct his view and charged him with failing to have a full view of traffic.

Mr Alam, 38, who pleaded guilty to failing to have a full view of traffic and has no previous driving convictions, said: "To pursue the furry dice seems so trivial when you think what the young man's family are going through.

"I was heartbroken when I heard he had died, but it is nothing compared to what his family must feel. In 11 years I have never been involved in an incident in my taxi and when my car has been in for tests no one has ever told me the dice could be a problem.

"Paying a fine doesn't take away the fact that someone lost their life."
The inquest heard that Mr Kerrigan, of Burgin Walk, Collyhurst, who had a young daughter Poppy, had been at a party at The Swan pub last September when he stepped in front of the taxi as he waved goodbye to friends.

He suffered multiple injuries and was taken to North Manchester General Hospital where he died three days later.

Mr Kerrigan's father Joseph, 70, said: "I will never know who was at fault. I don't think this man deserves to go to prison but less than £50 because of some furry dice does not seem like justice for my son's life. He was a happy go lucky lad. That night was the first time he'd been out in a while."

A CPS spokesman said: "The size and position of the dice was such that the driver's vision had the potential to be obstructed.

"GMP indicated that their normal practice would have been to issue a fixed penalty notice."

vulcan wrote:Please be careful out there I know at one time the Taxi Licensing were giving defects out for this, CD and air freshners hanging from rear view mirrors,

Thankyou but

vulcan wrote:
The coroner said Mr Alam, from Levenshulme, was not to blame for the death and there was no evidence to suggest there was anything wrong with his driving or his car.

Why then is his father suggesting that the driver should pay for killing him? Clearly it was his son that stepped out infront of the taxi and clearly it was his own fault so why should the taxi driver be punnished?

vulcan wrote:

"Paying a fine doesn't take away the fact that someone lost their life."
The inquest heard that Mr Kerrigan, of Burgin Walk, Collyhurst, who had a young daughter Poppy, had been at a party at The Swan pub last September when he stepped in front of the taxi as he waved goodbye to friends.

He suffered multiple injuries and was taken to North Manchester General Hospital where he died three days later.

Mr Kerrigan's father Joseph, 70, said: "I will never know who was at fault. I don't think this man deserves to go to prison but less than £50 because of some furry dice does not seem like justice for my son's life. He was a happy go lucky lad. That night was the first time he'd been out in a while."

If it wasn't the driver's fault and the airfreshners were not a contributory factor then it doersn't take a genious to deduce who was at fault, and as tragic as it might be due to loss of life it seems a non story.

vulcan wrote:

A CPS spokesman said: "The size and position of the dice was such that the driver's vision had the potential to be obstructed.

"GMP indicated that their normal practice would have been to issue a fixed penalty notice."

It is a bit over the top and opportunistic of police to make some money out of a tragedy and imply blame when there isn't any.

The whole point is not to argue over detail but vulcan used this as an example that it is wrong and potentially dangerous to dangle stuff from the rear view mirror. Don't shoot the messenger. I agree the report has got discrepencies which imply more than it needs to, but that is not the point being made by vulcan here.