If the freedom of speech is taken away then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.

- George Washington

Tuesday 6 April 2010

It's the Bradford Way

Get completely steamed before you take your pupil out for a motorcycling lesson.

A motorcycle instructor who was so drunk that she repeatedly fell off her bike during a lesson has been banned from driving for three years. Sandra Kenyon, 46, fell from her bike three times as a pupil from the Ridesafe Motorcycle School attempted to follow her through central Bradford.


Seriously, the poor woman must have had some significant problems:

When police officers arrived, they opened her motorcycle jacket and discovered two French brandy bottles. One was empty and the other was three-quarters full. Magistrates in Bingley were told that Kenyon had 131 microgrammes (mcg) of alcohol in 100ml of breath — almost four times the legal limit of 35mcg.

I'm surprised she could even climb on. I'm not a fanatical anti-drink-driver, but I do stick to the limits when I'm driving a car. One pint, or a glass and a half of wine, that's my lot. On the bike, the limit is zero. I won't even ride if I am feeling fuzzy from the night before. There is just too much to think about. Any reduction in the capacity to process information and act on it could be fatal, or at least highly inconvenient.

Four times the limit, on a bike? I can't even imagine how she did it. In a car, that's the one where you get into the back seat by mistake, or can't get the key in the ignition, isn't it?

In a letter to the court, Kenyon said: “I can only apologise to the people I have hurt and embarrassed. I’m truly ashamed for what I have done. Any counselling you impose will be a blessing.”

Thing is, I feel sorry for this woman, as I can only guess how out-of-control her life must be to even attempt to ride while as drunk as that. And now she has (deservedly, I might add) lost her livelihood. Good luck with the counselling, Sandra.

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