Skip to main content

Cause for offence

A British woman called the police to report that her scarecrow had been stolen, only to discover that the scarecrow had in fact been taken into custody by the police. The offending scarecrow had been placed outside a village dressed in a high visibility jacket and a police uniform, to highlight a scarecrow festival in the village.
March 1, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
A British woman called the police to report that her scarecrow had been stolen, only to discover that the scarecrow had in fact been taken into custody by the police. The offending scarecrow had been placed outside a village dressed in a high visibility jacket and a police uniform, to highlight a scarecrow festival in the village. The local police had been informed that this would take place and had given their approval. However when police drove past they spotted that the scarecrow also sported a fake radar detector made of cardboard. Realising that the fake cardboard radar gun posed a safety potential hazard and could have caused passing drivers to become alarmed, the police rushed the offending scarecrow into a police vehicle and took it to the local police station. A spokesperson explained that impersonating a police officer is an offence and added that the scarecrow sent an inappropriate message to motorists. The scarecrow maker commented that the fake radar gun was actually intended to encourage motorists to slow down.

Related Content

  • Pan-European enforcement of driving laws due
    August 27, 2013
    Agreements are being reached that will see Pan-European enforcement of driving regulations. Drivers will now face being penalised for any offences committed in other European countries. The change is due on 7th November 2013. After this date EU Member States will commence the cross border exchange of data relating to road traffic offences. For this scheme to work, eight offences have been listed in the data exchange programme. These are; speeding, not using a seatbelt, red light running, drink driving, driv
  • Felix Scheuter, of Haenni Instruments, on effective highway weight enforcement
    September 26, 2013
    Felix Scheuter, managing director at Haenni Instruments, the renowned Switzerland-based mobile scales manufacturer, gives World Highways his views on how best to ensure effective highway weight enforcement The main danger for any road is its gradual destruction by overloaded heavy goods vehicles (HGVs). The more frequently such vehicles use a highway, the faster it is destroyed. Mobile patrol teams using mobile weighing scales are a highly effective way to enforce weight limits aimed at protecting ro
  • Cops stop caped crusader
    June 20, 2012
    Video footage has emerged of US police apprehending caped crusader, Batman, at the wheel of a Lamborghini. Hawk-eyed police spotted that the vehicle did not bear valid license plates as instead it bore the Batman symbol. As a precautionary measure, the police pulled the errant Lamborghini over. When the driver emerged from the vehicle he was dressed from head to foot in a Batman costume and explained he was on his way to a local hospital where he intended to entertain children in the cancer ward. The police
  • The UK’s pothole crisis is causing vehicle damage and crashes
    July 1, 2019
    The poor state of maintenance of UK roads is a factor in many crashes while also causing damage to vehicles according to road safety charity, IAM RoadSmart. In a bid to address the issue, IAM RoadSmart is calling for a long-term plan to tackle the problem. According to a survey it conducted, nearly 50% of the respondents have experienced pothole damage to their vehicles. The government’s Transport Select Committee has issued a report stating that the current short-term approach to financing road maintenan