The Defence Brief

I am fed up with constantly hearing that the Government as a whole and individuals within it are out of touch with real life. They are not.  Even the rich ones have kids, go to work and own houses.  Yes they may have a bit more cash than the rest of us, but that does not make them out of touch.  That's like saying being poor is the default position of the human race and we should all aspire to poverty so we can keep in touch with our roots.  It's nonsense.  Look at Andrew Mitchell.  He had a crappy day, got wound up and acted like a prat to somebody who didn't deserve it.  Who can honestly say they haven't been rude to somebody they shouldn't have been rude to?  I'm not excusing him, I'm merely saying that he shows us that he's a bit of a twat when he's in a bad mood like most people in the world.. even Mother Theresa was said to be rude to her nuns at times. If we are going to criticise the Government and the individuals within it then let us...

Since I started my ultra niche solicitors firm, Biker Defence Solicitors , which caters for motorcyclists accused of road traffic offences, I've been paying a lot of attention to other drivers. The one thing that has jumped out at me is that people seem to have difficulty obeying multiple part rules, e.g. Highway Code Rule 185: when approaching a roundabout you should give way to traffic approaching from the right (part 1) and give way to traffic already on the roundabout (part 2).  Another example comes from Rule 174 that governs those yellow box junctions that you must not enter unless your exit is clear (part 1) unless you are turning right and only traffic coming across the junction is preventing you from turning right out of the junction (part 2).  I should say here that I'm paraphrasing the rules and I realise that Rule 185 is more complex than I give it credit for, but I have set it out in the way it was always taught to me as a learner. As well as my Highway Code I...