According to The Sun, a traffic cop was sentenced to four months in prison after he crashed his car because of high speed. On the night of January 13, 2008, sgt Craig Bannister who became an advanced police driver a month before the crash, was driving on the M4 near Swansea, south Wales, at more than 120 mph when he lost control on his BMW 5 series, Cardiff Crown Court was told. Although Bannister was stood down from an emergency call before entering on the highway, he continued to speed until he eventually lost control of the vehicle that flew through the air and hit water at 113 mph. Fortunately, no one got hurt and the cop suffered only minor injuries.
“The potential risk to other road users was enormous. What you hit was water. It could so easily have been another vehicle. There is no way you could have reacted so as to avoid collision. You chose to deliberately accelerate, reaching speeds of at least 120mph in the pitch black. You did so for your own ends, and so launched a speeding missile into the unknown, with reckless disregard for other road users," a judge told him at the trial.
Because he endangered the road safety, Bannister, who was found guilty of dangerous driving by a jury last month, was sent behind the bars for four months.
Bannister explained to the jury that his speed was appropriate for the weather conditions although other motorists claimed the visibility was poor due to torrential rain.
In addition, although Bannister was trained to drive at high speeds, the judge explained him that he mustn't have abused of this privilege "for the sake of it." Apart from being sent to jail, he was also banned from driving for two years and will have to pass an extended test in order to be allowed to return on the road again.
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