Excuses

“ I was just testing my car, it has a fault that only shows over 80mph”.

This was a genuine excuse used by one motorist who had just been caught speeding.

Whilst other people’s misdemeanours behind the wheel may fill us with a sense of righteous indignation, we often fail to realise that the majority of us continually make excuses for our own shortcomings as drivers.

This is a problem that affects us all but no more so than young drivers, where experience has yet to catch up with a new-found confidence behind the wheel.

Most of us believe that the speed limit should only apply to other people – after all, we all think that we are the best driver on the roads.

Standard excuses for speeding range from “I’m late for a meeting”, “I was rushing to hospital” to “ I wasn’t really going that fast, was I?”

The truth is that it is an easy and all too common mistake to think that accidents happen to other people and never to us. Anyone who regards themselves to be such a good driver as can set their own speed limits, is a danger to themselves and every other unfortunate road user who crosses their path.

We all make excuses for our bad driving – here are some that people have given for speeding or driving through a red traffic light.

• “Have you ever tried to drive one of these below 60?”
• “My speedo stopped working at the top of the road!”
• “I had already stopped for four sets of traffic lights and I was certainly not going to stop again for another set.”
• “I was overtaking – you can exceed the speed limit to overtake.”
• “I thought it was safer to keep going than stop because of the terrible conditions on the roads.”
• I accept full responsibility for what happened and hope you will not be too lenient, as this is my first offence.”
• I felt unable to stop safely in the required distance. The braking capability of these Ford Capri 2.8s is, to excuse the French, absolutely crap, and with three thirteen stone adults, on that occasion, I used my judgement.”
• “ I honestly believe that I must have gone through amber to green. I would never knowingly go through a red traffic light as my car is worth a lot of money (at least £7,000). Please note that I am a qualified optician.”
• “I am very sorry about the mistake which I have made. I didn’t realise at the time because I was on speed and couldn’t stop.”