Police on the case of puddle splash driver

A DRIVER who soaked a mother and her two young children by driving through a 20ft-long puddle is being hunted by police.

The parent was pushing one of her children in a pram when the motorist soaked the three of them, an act the force described as “unbelievable”.

Officers are appealing for witnesses to the splashing, which happened in St Ives, Cambs, at around noon on Jan 4. Amid accusations that Cambridgeshire Constabulary was wasting resources, Jason Ablewhite, the local Police and Crime Commissioner, said: “Please be assured that the flying squad did not attend.”

A plea for information posted by an officer online read: “A mother was with her two children, one in a pram and the other walking alongside her, near the junction of Pig Lane and Greengarth in St Ives. Due to the poor weather a very large puddle had built up owing to a blocked drain near the junction, which was halfway across the road.

“It was not raining and the puddle, some 20 feet in length, could easily be seen by motorists.

“Unbelievably, a motorist drove through the puddle causing the water to soak the three of them.

“The driver could well have waited to drive around the puddle or drive through it very slowly so as to not cause water to splash anyone on the footpath.”

According to section three of the Road Traffic Act 1988, it is illegal to drive “without reasonable consideration for other persons”, including “driving through a puddle – causing pedestrians to be splashed”. The offence can lead to a maximum fine of £5,000 if a driver’s behaviour on the road “amounts to a clear act of incompetence, selfishness, impatience or aggressiveness”.