traffic offence

[tobosomalley]

a sneezing fit caused me to go through a red light ,do i have a case under the special circumstances provision

[samuel23]

Have you acutally been charged with an offence yet?
You need to be careful or you may be charged with driving without due care and attention, dangerous driving or failing to be in control of a motor vehicle.
It will depend on the mood the person trying you is in on the day

[JudgeJ]

You would still be guilty of an offence but would have strong mitigating circumstances. This might persuade the magistrates to award a lesser penalty.

[tobosomalley]

yes got fixed penalty notice today,how can i be charged with dangerous driving etc when sneezing is involuntary , and murial simmons of the allergy foundation says if you sneeze at 70mph you travel 300metres with your eyes shut, so multible sneezes at 30mph should be relitive

[ugly_bob]

to be honest, I wouldn't fight it.
I was always taught that you should pull over when you're about to sneeze. I know this isn't always possible, but most of the time it is.
Plus, you may annoy the judge if you try taking it to court - you can't prove you sneezed and he/she may just think you're trying it on.
If you went through a red light because you were sneezing, you weren't going to stop anyway were you?

[tobosomalley]

ok i think i shall just send it off,could end up with worse than 3 points and 60 pound fine.Thanks for feedback.

[ummmm1]

It's worth a try!

[Grunty]

There is a defence to a criminal charge, which is known as automatism. It means that an involuntary action caused the accused to lose control of his/her actions. Cases defended in this way have included an unexpected epileptic fit and a sudden attack by a swarm of bees. Intoxication and falling asleep at the wheel are not included because they are voluntary. I do not know of a precedent involving sneezing, but you could get a legal opinion if you consider it worthwhile. The opinion and the subsequent court case could be expensive, with no guarantee of success.

[joko]

when you started to sneeze you should have stopped your car - not slam on, but come to a stop...not just continued blindly - its better than just sailing out into traffic!
what if it had been a crossing and you killed someone?
or a car in front of you had stopped for the lights? would you have just rear ended them?

i know sneezing is involuntary but you know its coming and you didn't take precautions - you are guilty.

the fact that you presumably didn't hit anything coming across your path, makes me think that the road was empty and you thought you'd risk it and this is just an excuse to try to get away with running a red light