Driver faces £5,000 fine after ploughing through 20ft puddle to soak mum with pram
A careless driver is being hunted by police after soaking a mum and her two young children by driving through a 20-foot puddle.
The parent was pushing one of her children in a pram when the motorist splashed all three of them in St Ives, Cambridgeshire, at around 12pm on January 4.
Police are now appealing for witnesses who may have seen the ‘unbelievable’ act, which could see the driver facing a fine of up to £5,000.
A police spokesperson said: ‘On Thursday, January 4 around noon, a mother was with her two children, one in a pram and the other walking alongside her near the junction of Pig Lane and Greengarth in St Ives.
‘Due to the poor weather a very large puddle had built up due to a blocked drain near the junction, which was halfway across the road.
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‘It was not raining and the puddle, some 20 feet in length, could easily be seen by motorists.
‘Unbelievably a motorist drove through the puddle causing the water to soak the three.
‘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.’
The Road Traffic Act 1998 states that it is illegal to drive ‘without reasonable consideration for other persons’, including ‘driving through a puddle causing pedestrians to be splashed.’
The traffic offence can lead to a maximum fine of £5,000 if it is established that the driver’s behaviour ‘amounts to a clear act of incompetence, selfishness, impatience, or aggressiveness.’
A spokesperson for Cambridgeshire Police added: ‘We’ve got no description of the vehicle.
‘A member of the public mentioned this incident to a PCSO who wrote to residents more as a reminder to be considerate when driving through/ close to puddles.’