‘Ridiculous’ driver disqualified for driving with sofa on roof of convertible
Matthew Dummer was seen driving on the A286 in Singleton with a sofa and mattress loaded on top of his convertible Renault Coupe convertible in April 2021.
Police have hit out at a “ridiculous” motorist for putting lives at risk by driving with a sofa on the roof of his car.
Matthew Dummer was seen driving on the A286 in Singleton, West Sussex, with a sofa and mattress loaded on top of his convertible Renault Coupe convertible in April 2021.
PC Tom Van Der Wee, from the Roads Policing Unit, had already warned him not to drive with the items on the roof after earlier spotting the car parked outside Dummer’s home address in Stedham, West Sussex.
But the 34-year-old ignored the warning and he was spotted with just two straps tying the sofa and balancing it on the roof of the car.
He was sent a notice of intended prosecution (NIP) for dangerous driving.
Dummer chose to go to trial at Portsmouth Crown Court, where he was found guilty of the charge.
He was disqualified from driving for one year at a sentencing hearing last month.
The court also ordered him to complete 60 hours of unpaid work and pay £95 court costs.
Speaking after the case PC Van Der Wee said: "It should be obvious to any competent driver just how ridiculous it is carrying a load such as this on a soft top car.
“By forgoing all common sense and ignoring my warning, he put other road users at significant risk.
“A vehicle and its load are subjected to a number of forces when in motion. Had this particular load have come loose and struck a pedestrian, cyclist or indeed any other road user, we would almost certainly have been dealing with a fatality.”
As well as being disqualified from driving for 12 months, Dummer must now re-do his driving test and will face higher insurance premiums as a result of his disqualification.
What are the laws on carrying items on the roof of your car?
Objects attached to the roof of a car must be securely fastened by straps or a fixed rigid metal frame.
Car roof attachments can carry items including bicycles, surfboards, kayaks, tents or luggage.
The items must not obstruct the driver’s vision and not protrude more than 50cm from the side or rear of the car and no more than 15cm from the front of the car.
The maximum weight limit for any item attached to the roof is 100kg and should not cause damage to the car or other road users in the event of an accident.
Anything that could come loose and fall onto the road while car is in motion should not be attached to the roof.
