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This is Bristol
An aircraft engineer from Bristol who drove at 145mph on the
M4 motorway to get to the aid of his sick child has been given
a suspended jail term.
Stephen Humby, was at work when his wife rang him to say the
youngster was having an asthma attack in August last year.
"embedded=true&config=http%3a%2f%2fmedia.ThisIsBristol.co.uk%2fTSPlayer%2fJSON.aspx%3fid%3d4776%26embedded%3dtrue" menu="false" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" quality="high" bgcolor="#000000" style="" src= "http://media.ThisIsBristol.co.uk/tsplayer/videoplayer.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"> Bristol Crown Court heard the 42-year-old got permission to leave work and hurried home at 5.20am, only to be clocked at more than twice the speed limit by police. Humby, of Hempton Lane, Almondsbury, admitted dangerous driving yesterday. His three-month jail sentence was suspended for a year and he was also fined £1,000, ordered to pay £700 costs and banned from driving for two years. He must pass an extended driving test before returning to the road. Richard Posner, prosecuting, told the court Humby was in his BMW 5 Series with a personalised registration on the M4 eastbound from the Second Severn Crossing. Humby told police he thought he was doing no more than 100mph. Robin Shellard, defending, told the court: “He was at work in the early hours when he received a call from his wife to say their child was having an asthma attack. “Mr Humby had the ability to calm the attack down. “He downed tools and got into his car. He did the journey he had been doing for the last six months but he was in a state of anxiety. He went far faster than he should have done.”
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Bristol Crown Court heard the 42-year-old got permission to
leave work and hurried home at 5.20am, only to be clocked at
more than twice the speed limit by police.
Humby, of Hempton Lane, Almondsbury, admitted dangerous
driving yesterday.
His three-month jail sentence was suspended for a year and
he was also fined £1,000, ordered to pay £700 costs and banned
from driving for two years. He must pass an extended driving
test before returning to the road.
Richard Posner, prosecuting, told the court Humby was in his
BMW 5 Series with a personalised registration on the M4
eastbound from the Second Severn Crossing. Humby told police he
thought he was doing no more than 100mph.
Robin Shellard, defending, told the court: “He was at work
in the early hours when he received a call from his wife to say
their child was having an asthma attack.
“Mr Humby had the ability to calm the attack down.
“He downed tools and got into his car. He did the journey he
had been doing for the last six months but he was in a state of
anxiety. He went far faster than he should have done.”
by Steve, Manchester
Thursday, August 14 2008, 7:22PM
“What makes you all think that driving at high speed has to be so very very dangerous? Its driving at high speed during the wrong circumstances, people quite happily drive road cars at much higher speeds than that, in much worse conditions (and legally!!), for prolonged periods and strangely they dont suddenly die. Most of the stupidly dangerous driving on the roads has nothing to do with speed, just poor driving. And he broke the law? Well lots of people brake the law repeatedly, harm innocent people repeatedly and get a lot less than this guy. He didnt harm anyone and wasnt likely to. Chance of a blow out or catastrophic accident? More chance of winning the lottery and a much higher chance of a bad driver killing someone, the kind of driver who is everywhere on our roads. And yes, I spend a lot of time driving at speeds higher than that, legally, and in an appropriate car. I'd be surprised if its not safer than 80mph than many of the cars on our roads today.”
by Mary Williams, Brake
Friday, August 01 2008, 8:08AM
“145mph - won't somebody think of the children! Yes...if your children are out on an empty motorway at 5am then you probably want locking up. When will people realise that a random number does not make it dangerous. If I have a 2% chance of crashing at 70mph...but a 3% chance of crashing at 140mph....where do I draw the line? 70mph? And if I have a 1% chance of crashing at 30mph...do I then drive at 30? How about if I could make that a 0% chance? That's right...no one crashes if they don't drive. Life is all about managing risk and you have to be reasonable about it. DD for 145mph on what appears a relatively clear motorway is not reasonable in my opinion, and a lot of other peoples. It's a shame those in charge do not recognise this.”
by Aaron Jones, Glos/bristol
Thursday, July 31 2008, 9:36PM
“i would have done the very same thing, that could have been the last time he was to every see his child alive, i back the speeding man 100%. i wudnt have pulled over i'd have kept going! it was a medical emergency why the hell was he banned?”
by paul the techie, London
Thursday, July 31 2008, 4:32PM
“I'd have done exactly the same thing. Ambulance drivers are a joke. 6 weeks first aid training, and they're some kind of expert.”
by John, Bristol
Saturday, July 26 2008, 10:12AM
“Well Tony B if you are older then frankly you should know better. Jeremy Clarkson tacitly encourages the sort of stupid behaviour that we have seen here. Citroen Saxo driving Richard (I'll put money on it!) comments that the speed limits are ridiculous and again Jeremy Clarkson (and his ilk) make this stupid attitude almost acceptable. They can afford to drive on test tracks but your common or garden chav cannot and so take their reckless behaviour onto the roads.”
by Tony B, Bristol
Saturday, July 26 2008, 9:27AM
“'John' For the record I am a 50 something grandfather with 35 years of driving experience, having covering around 1,000,000 miles in many countries. I use judgement and experience over the need to be dictated to. Believe me I have seen dangerous driving and thisain't it! Sorry if my spelling falls short of expectations! (Judiciary) JC does actually talk a lot of sense if you listen!! Happy motoring.”
by Richard, bristol
Saturday, July 26 2008, 7:47AM
“Ladydriver & John, haha. Seriously, nobody sticks to the speed limit, they are ridiculous & people get away with speeding everyday. Unfortunatly this man was caught and will now be made an example of. Life goes on for us all and i for 1 will keep on speeding. Peace out.”
Friday, July 25 2008, 7:18PM
“Tony B you sound like a Jeremy Clarkson-loving idiot. When will chavs like you learn that the road network is for everyone, not just mindless, immature so-called 'boy racers'. I also hope your driving is better than your spelling!”
by Ladydriver, Bristol
Friday, July 25 2008, 6:58PM
“145 mph = bang out of order whatever time, whatever reason. He could so easily have killed himself or (more likely) some innocent road user. Don't care what the reason was - I have kids and would never drive like that! Good on the police for dealing with him.”
Friday, July 25 2008, 6:01PM
“There is no excuse for that speed, but in terms of dangerous driving, the road was obviously clear at the time of the offence so who, other than the velcro arses that were shocked out of their slumber, was put in danger? The car was operating well within it's design limits, as were it's tyres. The car was obviously under control as the police had caught up with and stopped the car within one minute and didn't have to exceed 110 from a standing start to achieve it. It could well be argued that the vehicle was safer and under better control than some of the boy racer Peugeot 106's occuping the outside lane at 90m.p.h. and certainly safer than the Austin A45s at 70 m.p.h. on the road when the arbituary limit was introduced. The offence is excess speed, not dangerous driving. Sometimes the lack of common sense and understanding of the judisary beggars belief!”
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by Steve, Manchester
Thursday, August 14 2008, 7:22PM
“What makes you all think that driving at high speed has to be so very very dangerous? Its driving at high speed during the wrong circumstances, people quite happily drive road cars at much higher speeds than that, in much worse conditions (and legally!!), for prolonged periods and strangely they dont suddenly die. Most of the stupidly dangerous driving on the roads has nothing to do with speed, just poor driving. And he broke the law? Well lots of people brake the law repeatedly, harm innocent people repeatedly and get a lot less than this guy. He didnt harm anyone and wasnt likely to. Chance of a blow out or catastrophic accident? More chance of winning the lottery and a much higher chance of a bad driver killing someone, the kind of driver who is everywhere on our roads. And yes, I spend a lot of time driving at speeds higher than that, legally, and in an appropriate car. I'd be surprised if its not safer than 80mph than many of the cars on our roads today.”
by Mary Williams, Brake
Friday, August 01 2008, 8:08AM
“145mph - won't somebody think of the children!
Yes...if your children are out on an empty motorway at 5am then you probably want locking up.
When will people realise that a random number does not make it dangerous. If I have a 2% chance of crashing at 70mph...but a 3% chance of crashing at 140mph....where do I draw the line? 70mph? And if I have a 1% chance of crashing at 30mph...do I then drive at 30? How about if I could make that a 0% chance? That's right...no one crashes if they don't drive. Life is all about managing risk and you have to be reasonable about it. DD for 145mph on what appears a relatively clear motorway is not reasonable in my opinion, and a lot of other peoples. It's a shame those in charge do not recognise this.”
by Aaron Jones, Glos/bristol
Thursday, July 31 2008, 9:36PM
“i would have done the very same thing, that could have been the last time he was to every see his child alive, i back the speeding man 100%. i wudnt have pulled over i'd have kept going! it was a medical emergency why the hell was he banned?”
by paul the techie, London
Thursday, July 31 2008, 4:32PM
“I'd have done exactly the same thing.
Ambulance drivers are a joke.
6 weeks first aid training, and they're some kind of expert.”
by John, Bristol
Saturday, July 26 2008, 10:12AM
“Well Tony B if you are older then frankly you should know better. Jeremy Clarkson tacitly encourages the sort of stupid behaviour that we have seen here. Citroen Saxo driving Richard (I'll put money on it!) comments that the speed limits are ridiculous and again Jeremy Clarkson (and his ilk) make this stupid attitude almost acceptable. They can afford to drive on test tracks but your common or garden chav cannot and so take their reckless behaviour onto the roads.”
by Tony B, Bristol
Saturday, July 26 2008, 9:27AM
“'John' For the record I am a 50 something grandfather with 35 years of driving experience, having covering around 1,000,000 miles in many countries. I use judgement and experience over the need to be dictated to. Believe me I have seen dangerous driving and thisain't it! Sorry if my spelling falls short of expectations! (Judiciary) JC does actually talk a lot of sense if you listen!! Happy motoring.”
by Richard, bristol
Saturday, July 26 2008, 7:47AM
“Ladydriver & John, haha. Seriously, nobody sticks to the speed limit, they are ridiculous & people get away with speeding everyday. Unfortunatly this man was caught and will now be made an example of. Life goes on for us all and i for 1 will keep on speeding. Peace out.”
by John, Bristol
Friday, July 25 2008, 7:18PM
“Tony B you sound like a Jeremy Clarkson-loving idiot. When will chavs like you learn that the road network is for everyone, not just mindless, immature so-called 'boy racers'. I also hope your driving is better than your spelling!”
by Ladydriver, Bristol
Friday, July 25 2008, 6:58PM
“145 mph = bang out of order whatever time, whatever reason. He could so easily have killed himself or (more likely) some innocent road user.
Don't care what the reason was - I have kids and would never drive like that!
Good on the police for dealing with him.”
by Tony B, Bristol
Friday, July 25 2008, 6:01PM
“There is no excuse for that speed, but in terms of dangerous driving, the road was obviously clear at the time of the offence so who, other than the velcro arses that were shocked out of their slumber, was put in danger? The car was operating well within it's design limits, as were it's tyres. The car was obviously under control as the police had caught up with and stopped the car within one minute and didn't have to exceed 110 from a standing start to achieve it. It could well be argued that the vehicle was safer and under better control than some of the boy racer Peugeot 106's occuping the outside lane at 90m.p.h. and certainly safer than the Austin A45s at 70 m.p.h. on the road when the arbituary limit was introduced. The offence is excess speed, not dangerous driving. Sometimes the lack of common sense and understanding of the judisary beggars belief!”