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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.”
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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.”