Ever been drenched by a motorist speeding through a puddle when you’re walking by the side of the road?
It may be June, but we've been seeing more than our fair share of rainfall in recent days meaning many of the roads around Bristol are rather waterlogged.
If you've ever been drenched by a motorist speeding through a puddle when you’re walking by the side of the road, you might be pleased to learn it’s actually a criminal offence and could potentially result in a significant fine, Chronicle Live reports.
Admittedly it's a rare occurrence, but drivers who are found to have deliberately splashed pedestrians could be handed a £5,000 bill.
Under section three of the Road Traffic Act 1988, it is an offence to drive ‘without reasonable consideration for other persons’, and this includes any instance of ‘driving through a puddle causing pedestrians to be splashed’.
The maximum punishment is a level five fine of £5,000 in instances where driving ‘amounts to a clear act of incompetence, selfishness, impatience or aggressiveness’.
But the likelihood is that you’ll get a £100 fixed penalty notice and three penalty points if you are caught.
If you refuse to pay and take the matter to court, you could see a maximum fine of £5,000 imposed.
So police can, and sometimes do, take action.
In January, police in St Ives, Cambridgeshire, issued a public appeal to find the driver who splashed a mum and her two children after they had driven through a 20ft-long puddle.
The mum was pushing her pram with one of her children in the buggy while the other was walking alongside when they were splashed.
“The driver could well have waited to drive around the puddle or drive through it very slowly so as to not cause water to splash anyone on the footpath” a police spokesman told the Cambridge News at the time.
It is rare but motorists have ended up in court for splashing someone.
In 2014, a 22-year-old man was banned from the road and fined £500 after he drove through standing water, soaking a woman and her two children as they walked to school in Colchester, the Daily Mail reported.
The mum was said to be ‘very shocked’ at the punishment.
The incident had been spotted by a police officer in a following patrol car.
