A retiree has spoken about how he was slapped with an £100 fine and landed three points on his license, after pulling over on a busy carriageway to let an ambulance overtake.
76-year-old Frank Wallington was on his way to a funeral when he allowed the emergency service vehicle to pass him by, but the pensioner had passed through traffic lights which had just turned red by 1.2 seconds in doing so.
He received correspondence one month later from Nottinghamshire Police - who informed him that his actions were considered a traffic offence and he would be punished accordingly.
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The Mirror reports that Frank said the measures were unfair, and he told Nottinghamshire Live he wanted mitigating circumstances to be considered. He described the incident on the A52 Grantham Road in Nottinghamshire as simply 'frustrating'.
He said: "I'm an advanced driver and I've always had a completely clean licence. I actually feel I could have carried on and driven straight through the traffic lights without any problem. But then I would have delayed the ambulance and what I assume was a car with perhaps a relative of the patient in the ambulance, with it being so close to the ambulance.
"I can't deny that I was 1.2 seconds late going through the traffic lights. But my point is that it was mitigating circumstances. If I had carried on I would have blocked the ambulance's procedure through those traffic lights as the road went into a single lane shortly afterwards."
The Black Country man said he had made a 'split second decision' and paid the price. He said he was 'distracted' as he tried to let the ambulance through and wasn't looking at the lights. He added: "A split second decision on my part has caused me to go through the lights after they had turned red, but I was distracted of course as they were overtaking me.
"I wasn't looking at the traffic lights. I was looking at them in my rear view mirror whilst they overtook me."
Despite explaining the situation, Frank claimed he had been told that he must appear at Nottingham Magistrate's Court on February 14 if he wishes to dispute the punishment. He added: "They are not listening. It's going to be expensive to drive over there in fuel alone, to have a day in court just to say exactly what I would say in a letter and what I have already said to them."
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