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1. Police officer said woman’s breast cancer: “Not their problem.”
A woman has been fined for incorrectly wearing a seatbelt after she attached a bulldog clip to stop the pain from the belt where she had a breast cancer related operation.
Lin Riley, 68, had been pulled over on Oxford Street in Sydney for a random breath test and presented her licence to the police officer.
The officer noticed her seatbelt was harnessed with a bulldog clip and asked Ms Riley why.
She told The Daily Telegraph she had various treatments on her left breast for breast cancer, which resulted in a mastectomy.
“The belt made it very uncomfortable to drive, so when I didn’t have a passenger or I couldn’t catch public transport, I put a bulldog clip where the seatbelt comes out of the roller,” she said.
“It just lifts the belt away from my chest just a small amount so it doesn’t go tight across my left side and cause me pain.”
The officer noticed her seatbelt was harnessed with a bulldog clip and asked Ms Riley why. Via IStock.
When the officer noticed the clip he said to Ms Riley ‘That’s not my problem,’” she said.
“I told him and showed him that I still had the belt on, and the officer just said that my issues weren’t his problem.
“He asked me to pull over to the side of the road, and another officer walked over to my car and asked why I was still there. I explained to the him about my breast cancer and my seatbelt, and that officer didn’t care either.”
“The officer walked away with my licence, and kept me waiting for 35 minutes,” she said.
Top Comments
I used to drive an old Peugeot with a stick gear, and seatbelts that were rigid. I couldn't reach the gears with the seatbelt over my shoulder, so I used to have to wriggle my arm out of it and have the seatbelt below my arm in order to drive. I drove that car for years, and for years afterwards I would entirely unconsciously take my arm out from my seatbelt and find that I was driving my "standard gears" car with my seatbelt sash around my waist. I sometimes wondered whether the police would accept my excuse! It was only about five years after the old Peugeot was retired that I outgrew the habit ...
The police officer could have used a little more tact, or at least have been a bit more compassionate. However, he is right in saying that it is not their problem. I do empathasize with this lady a lot, it must be very painful but if you have a medical condition that prohibits you from safely driving, you shouldn't be driving. She needed to have that documentation on her before stepping in the vehicle. The other consideration is how many times would a police officer hear a dumb excuse when someone is breaking the law on the road. They would have heard it all. I don't blame him for not accepting her story at face value. The only thing they should have apologised is for not being a bit more compassionate but they shouldn't apologise for following the law.