Driver with no use of his legs used walking stick to operate car's pedals

A man with no use of his legs has been caught driving in Auckland, New Zealand, using a walking stick to control the pedals, police say. Police criticised the disabled man for his "blatant disregard for his own safety" and charged him with dangerous driving.

The man was driving with one passenger who had no legs and another passenger who had a disqualified drivers licence, they said. The man was pulled over in Manukau on Wednesday morning at an automatic number plate recognition checkpoint. Sergeant Mark Fleming described the offending as a "very unusual".

 

The man was driving a regular vehicle without hand controls, but was using a walking stick to operate the brake and accelerator, Fleming said. "Needless to say this was a very surprising thing to come across." The man has held a learner licence since 2002. He also had two passengers, neither of whom were licenced to drive. Fleming said the man put himself and other road users in danger.

"Operating a vehicle with a stick is an extremely dangerous practice and it would be impossible to safely control a vehicle in this way." He said it was very disappointing to see that in spite of the efforts made by police there were still people out there who were taking these kinds of unnecessary risks with people's safety. The 31-year-old man is due to appear in the Manukau District Court next month.