132 mph maniac

A builder caught travelling at 132mph was speeding because his pregnant wife needed the toilet, a court has heard. Slawomir Adaszek, 30, was caught speeding on the A1 in Cambridgeshire in his BMW 745Li on 28 August, Huntingdon Magistrates' Court heard.

Pc Tony Barrios, casualty reduction officer for Cambridgeshire Police, said driving at such a high speed was extremely dangerous. He said: "While modern cars are capable of greater and greater speeds, reaction times for us human beings have remained the same.

It’s funny how senior police officers like Chief Superintendent Johnston give speeches expressing their anxiety about speed cameras but never have a word to say about car manufacturers which produce ever more lethal killing machines (for those on the receiving end, that is – not those inside them, who are protected from the consequences of their risk-taking by multiple air bags). And once again, if the police were prepared to raid and prosecute a firm manufacturing equipment useful for people to cultivate cannabis on the grounds that this was an encouragement to break the law, why are they never prepared to raid and prosecute car firms which cynically manufacture ever faster cars, equipment which is also designed to break the law?