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Flip flop flap


Jonzjob
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They can , and do! I once had to take a taxi down to the Pyrenees to pick up our van (husband had a skiing accident, in hospital.) Halfway there the driver answered a phone call, not realising he was being followed by an unmarked police car. Stopped and fined on the spot. I think you lose 3 points too.

I felt sorry for him, he was very helpful because when we eventually found our van the battery was flat and he managed to borrow some leads to get it going.

.

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Pat, I wonder who you would have felt sorry for if you had had a driving accident? Then both of you would have been out of the picture. If the hand held phone rings then the only things to do is either pull off the road and answer it or ignore it.

Anyone who sticks a phone to their ear whilst driving deserves all they get. Modern cars mainly have systems where you can answer the phone without taking your hands off the wheel.

Sorry to come over hard but these conditions cause a lot of accidents.

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[quote user="Jonzjob"]Pat, I wonder who you would have felt sorry for if you had had a driving accident? Then both of you would have been out of the picture. If the hand held phone rings then the only things to do is either pull off the road and answer it or ignore it.

Anyone who sticks a phone to their ear whilst driving deserves all they get. Modern cars mainly have systems where you can answer the phone without taking your hands off the wheel.

Sorry to come over hard but these conditions cause a lot of accidents.
[/quote]Perhaps drivers should nt be allowed to smoke either.
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[quote user="Rabbie"]Perhaps drivers should nt be allowed to smoke either.[/quote]

The other day, whilst I was going round a roundabout on the inside, a male driver in the outer lane 'overtook' me - in his left hand he had his mobile clapped to his ear, in the other, resting lightly on the steering wheel, his cigarette. Whilst I glanced at him he took his right hand off the wheel, gesticulated in the air and then flicked the ash off his cigarette out of the open window. What he was using to steer the car round the roundabout at that moment I do not know, and don't want to think about.

He didn't signal when he left the roundabout either !!!

On the other hand I have no idea what footwear he had on.

Sue [:-))]

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Oh Sue, you have to understand that if you are on the phone and in danger of yer fag ash despoiling yer motors interior then you have yer knees to hold the wheel with and steer. Perfectly safe to do that lass [8-|]

It's like you lasses. When you are putting yer face on on the way to work you have to concentrate on the paint job and it's up to everyone else to be careful and not let you bump into them init [:-))]

Well, there are priorities already init?

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[quote user="Jonzjob"]

It's like you lasses. When you are putting yer face on on the way to work you have to concentrate on the paint job and it's up to everyone else to be careful and not let you bump into them init [:-))[/quote]

Make-up ? Gosh, I haven't worn any for years and years ! Living by the sea with the wind and the sun I have a permanently bronzed face, why would I want to spoil that ?

Sue [:)]

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'Flip flops' makes for a good headline although I doubt that's what were actually being worn and I'm absolutely certain that whomever came up with this rule was working on pure supposition, I'd like to see the statistics on accidents allegedly caused by driving in backless foot wear because that's what they are really saying.

I have lived and driven in Birkenstock sandals for more than 20 years and never wear anything else unless there really is no option (son's wedding was one such rare exception !) but I've never once had one slip off  or in any way interfere with my use of the pedals or my control of the vehicle.

I won't be changing.

[img]http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41lqSWolz%2BL._SY395_.jpg[/img]

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[quote user="AnOther"]

I have lived and driven in Birkenstock sandals for more than 20 years and never wear anything else unless there really is no option (son's wedding was one such rare exception !) but I've never once had one slip off  or in any way interfere with my use of the pedals or my control of the vehicle.

I won't be changing.

[img]http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41lqSWolz%2BL._SY395_.jpg[/img]

[/quote]

Do you wear socks with them?[:)]

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For the 18 years I was on the road as an IBM mainframe service engineer I wore clogs with no problems other than my boss asking me when I was going to get some 'proper' shoes. My reply was that when he paid me enough to buy shoes with backs on I would think about it [6]

I had no problems with driving like that.. 20.000 miles a year.

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What does the existance of this code mean to the validation of your insurance if its accepted by Judges that wearing such footwear is a contributing factor to the accident ? I imagine the motor insurance company's will shout " yipeee " if at the time of the claim their insured was in flip flops !
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Unless you were found unconscious in the wreckage of a crash with a 'flip flop' jammed in the pedals I cannot conceive of any way that it could be proved that such footwear caused, or even remotely contributed, to whatever had happened.

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If I were the woman who was fined then I would seriously think of contesting the fine, for all the reasons given here. Nowhere does it seem to be specified that flip-flops are banned.

What about those people who drive barefoot ?

Do we know if the person-in-question was living here, on holiday or what ?

Sue

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The charge, if there is one, is not being in proper control of the vehicle but without an accident occurring I fail to see how that can possibly be substantiated.

Certainly just observing a driver wearing footwear without a back as part of a routine stop cannot logically be grounds for that accusation.

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[quote user="AnOther"]The charge, if there is one, is not being in proper control of the vehicle but without an accident occurring I fail to see how that can possibly be substantiated.

Certainly just observing a driver wearing footwear without a back as part of a routine stop cannot logically be grounds for that accusation.

[/quote]

As I wear substantially similar footwear to you AnO, again without socks/tights, for the most part of the year anyway ... and have done since forever - I find it v hard to take this situation seriously.

My footwear - like yours - is not cheap, floppy stuff, but substantially made, so I find myself  in a state of incredulity; finding it hard to believe that I have, apparently, been driving illegally for years and years.

Edit : I am tempted to utter : only in France. But, gosh, I am now not so sure.

Sue

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Similar wording exists in the highway code. When I learned to drive I do remember my instructor telling me I should always keep a pair of flat shoes in the car and never to drive wearing high heels. I do drive in sandals but they are firmly fixed to my feet! Although also illegal, if I had a choice between flip flops or bare foot I would feel safer doing the latter.
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[quote user="suein56"]I find myself  in a state of incredulity; finding it hard to believe that I have, apparently, been driving illegally for years and years.[/quote]And dangerously - not !

A similar rule applies in Spain.

When they ban lighting up fags in cars maybe then I'll believe they're really interested in safety.

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If I remember the wording it said that there was a possibility of the 'offending' footware fouling the brake pedal and bare footed that can't possibly occur.

But as we know, the gendamerie are a law unto themselves and translate the law so very differently from person to person. They have been known to tell a pool owner who had a perfectly good conforming security pool cover that the only legal thing is a conforming fence! But that's a very different story.

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[quote user="Chancer"]

Not really, all they could do is "try" to reduce the payout to the insured which in an accident corporel is but a drop in the ocean to what they will have to pay out to the third parties.

Accepted by what judges and when? 

[/quote]

From the OP link ..... I bet she now wished she was driving in appropriate footwear

Last year, France's Supreme Court issued a judgment against wearing high heels at the wheel.

In that case.......... judges.......... decided that a female driver from Corsica should not receive €250,000 in compensations for injuries sustained in a car accident in 2002 because of her choice of footwear. - See more at: http://www.connexionfrance.com/driver-fined-90-euros-wearing-flip-flops-road-safety-17114-view-article.html#sthash.0YQa8eXl.dpuf
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