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

  • Zipping up road lanes
    September 28, 2018
    QMB has a Lindsay Road Zipper on duty near Montreal. World Highways deputy editor David Arminas climbed aboard As vice president of Canadian barrier specialist QMB, based in Laval, Quebec, Marc-Andre Seguin is sanguine about the future for moveable barriers. On the one hand, it looks good. The oft-stated advantage of moveable barriers is that the systems are cheaper to install than adding a lane or two to a highway or bridge. Directional changes to lanes can boost volume on a road without disrupting tra
  • Springtime for the use of analytics
    April 6, 2021
    Samu Karanko of Vaisala Digital argues for more - and better - use of big data analytics to predict winter weather patterns in order to keep roads clear of snow and ice
  • New chapter for bituminous slurry in Colombia
    January 11, 2019
    Colombia’s San Rafael road concessionaire is using its first VSB Macropaver 12B unit to maintain a road carrying heavy traffic volumes – Enrique Saez writes The use of bituminous slurry for road maintenance works in Colombia is taking a new step forward with the purchase of equipment from VSS Macropaver by road contractors in the country. Engineer Ezequiel Romero, manager of the concessionaire San Rafael, explained that the application of bituminous grout has delivered major benefits for the firm. The c
  • Analysing intelligent speed adaptation benefits
    February 22, 2012
    Oliver Carsten, Professor of Transport Safety at the Institute for Transport Studies (ITS) at the University of Leeds, UK, discusses Intelligent Speed Adaptation, looking at its safety potential