10-06-2008, 01:56 PM
British trucker suspended for behind-the-wheel TV viewing
LONDON - A British court has suspended the license of a truck driver who careened down a highway while watching episodes of "Battlestar Galactica" on a laptop computer atop his dashboard.
Police say Benjamin Trotman drove for 24 miles in northern England last December with one eye on the road and the other on the cult sci-fi show.
A traffic officer who pulled him over found the show still playing on his computer.
Trotman's lawyer claimed he had been looking at Google Maps while listening to the sound from the show. But Trotman pleaded guilty to dangerous driving at an earlier hearing.
A justice of the peace banned him from driving for 15 months.
He also was sentenced to 225 hours of community service and ordered to pay the equivalent of about C$1,000 ($1,400 US) in costs.
LONDON - A British court has suspended the license of a truck driver who careened down a highway while watching episodes of "Battlestar Galactica" on a laptop computer atop his dashboard.
Police say Benjamin Trotman drove for 24 miles in northern England last December with one eye on the road and the other on the cult sci-fi show.
A traffic officer who pulled him over found the show still playing on his computer.
Trotman's lawyer claimed he had been looking at Google Maps while listening to the sound from the show. But Trotman pleaded guilty to dangerous driving at an earlier hearing.
A justice of the peace banned him from driving for 15 months.
He also was sentenced to 225 hours of community service and ordered to pay the equivalent of about C$1,000 ($1,400 US) in costs.
Ooops, I crapped my pants