Lewis Hamilton Vs Victoria Police

[TVR-190]

Police stop Hamilton for 'over-exuberant' driving | F1 News | Mar 2010 | Crash.Net

'Silly' Hamilton arrested for 'over-exuberant' driving
A year on from the infamous Melbourne 'lie-gate' scandal, former F1 World Champion Lewis Hamilton has committed another costly PR blunder in the same city - after being arrested by police and having his Mercedes sportscar impounded for 'over-exuberant' driving on public roads
Former F1 World Champion Lewis Hamilton has been arrested and his road car towed away and impounded in Melbourne ahead of this weekend's Australian Grand Prix in the city, for being caught 'driving in an over-exuberant manner' on public roads – an incident that he admitted was 'silly'.

Having topped the timesheets during opening practice in Albert Park, Hamilton perhaps began his celebrations a little too soon, and the McLaren-Mercedes star was pulled over by Victoria Police at 9:15pm local time for performing a smoky 'burn-out' following a 'deliberate loss of traction of the wheels' of his new silver Mercedes sportscar, ABC reports.

“A man who resides in Switzerland was arrested after leaving the grand prix circuit at Albert Park at 9.15pm local Melbourne time today,” revealed a Victorian Police spokesman. “Officers noticed there was a deliberate loss of traction of the wheels of the motor car, ie. the wheels were spinning.

“Legal process will take place in due course and there is a monetary charge by summons. The man was returned to his hotel and the car has been impounded for 48 hours. He does not have to appear in court, and alcohol was not a factor in the incident.”

“It would have been fair to say he was fairly disappointed with the incident,” added Senior Constable Scott Woodford, who affirmed that the Stevenage-born ace stopped immediately and was 'extremely co-operative' during the half hour he spent inside the car being questioned by police.

Hamilton is expected to be summonsed, charged and fined for improper use of a motor vehicle, and in an apology released in a McLaren statement, the 25-year-old confessed: “This evening, I was driving in an over-exuberant manner and, as a result, was stopped by the police. What I did was silly, and I want to apologise for it.”

The incident is sure to cast a shadow over the eleven-time grand prix-winner's preparations for the second race on the F1 2010 World Championship calendar, and comes unfortunately a year on from what he described as the personal nadir of his career, when he was caught lying to race stewards in the aftermath of the 2009 Australian Grand Prix in an effort to get Toyota rival Jarno Trulli unjustly stripped of his third place and thereby inherit the position for himself.

It is also not the first time Hamilton has had his road car taken away from him by police, after similar action was taken when he was clocked speeding at 196km/h on a French motorway less than three years ago. How this latest PR blunder will affect his reputation remains to be seen.

bloody hoon

[ClairBear]

I bet he felt stupid standing there at the side of the road while everyone drove past looking.

[minux]

hahha thats awesome.

[greenfoam]

Funny, at least they wouldn't have been able to get him on loss of control or unsafe driving :P. That will put the hoon laws of Australia in the spotlight, the Europeans will think we have gone insane.

P.S just reading the comments to the story is classic heaps of internationals saying wait..... what? arrested for wheelspin..,?@!

[Sabbath']

Awesome. Impounding somebodies car for "Hooning" when they spend most of their working lives over 200km/h......just shows how ridiculous these laws are. They're not out to get dangerous drivers off the road, just to make a quick buck for the government.

Wheel spin from anybody, especially a professional driver is hardly dangerous, let alone something to have your car impounded for.

[acarmody]

Awesome. Impounding somebodies car for "Hooning" when they spend most of their working lives over 200km/h......just shows how ridiculous these laws are. They're not out to get dangerous drivers off the road, just to make a quick buck for the government.

Wheel spin from anybody, especially a professional driver is hardly dangerous, let alone something to have your car impounded for.

So basically you think there should be laws for 'us' and laws for 'them'. You can't swing it both ways, either everyone get done for it or no-one.

[Sabbath']

So basically you think there should be laws for 'us' and laws for 'them'. You can't swing it both ways, either everyone get done for it or no-one.

Where did i say "Us" and "Them"??? I stated that i find it ridiculous that you can have your car seized for spinning your wheels, no matter who you are, on the premise that it's "dangerous driving"

[Bugboy]

Arrr the good old Vic Establishment,Another proud member serving the greater good that is Revenue and Publicity.A big pat on the back and a hardy well done for once again .And we wonder why serious crime is escalating.Once again a big well done for keeping us all safe in our beds a night from those dangerous wheel spinners .

[soop]

It costs to much to fight real crime.
Petty shit that the media laps up makes more money and is easier.

God i hate society. :P

[acarmody]

Awesome. Impounding somebodies car for "Hooning" when they spend most of their working lives over 200km/h......just shows how ridiculous these laws are. They're not out to get dangerous drivers off the road, just to make a quick buck for the government.

Wheel spin from anybody, especially a professional driver is hardly dangerous, let alone something to have your car impounded for.

That would be 'them', everybody else is 'us'.

Where did i say "Us" and "Them"??? I stated that i find it ridiculous that you can have your car seized for spinning your wheels, no matter who you are, on the premise that it's "dangerous driving"

Why is it ridiculous? It is dangerous. So would it be safe for me to do a massive burnout in the middle of a public road?

[soop]

This bloke races 650kg cars with 900hp and no traction control every weekend.

Can't you see how he "MIGHT" have half an idea how to drive?

[ClairBear]

LMAO - didn't take long for the shit fight to start.

I am not condoning what he did, however the chances of him losing control and causing an accident are pretty damn slim given his day job.

[Sabbath']

That would be 'them', everybody else is 'us'.

I was making a reference, not a demographic statement.

Why is it ridiculous? It is dangerous. So would it be safe for me to do a massive burnout in the middle of a public road?

Irresponsible, maybe. Dangerous, probably not.

[acarmody]

Irresponsible, maybe. Dangerous, probably not.

What happens if your car suddenly gains traction, ram a pedestrian, or another vehicle? Or all the other cars on the road can't see through your smoke cloud, should they just drive through it?

[acarmody]

Just reading through some of the comments in the story, I'm not quite sure why, but I find this one quite funny.

"Nice one Lewis, Good Lad.

Hope the irony of a Nation born of a Penal Colony arresting someone is not lost on everybody, I can hardly wait for the Police Email about it all. "

[soop]

Riiiight.
He lost traction. He didnt do a standstill... You should go and work for ACA, you're FOS.

[Holdens Rule]

If he only had a track to go to he wouldn't have had to resort to doing it on the road, hahaha. Love that argument.

[acarmody]

Riiiight.
He lost traction. He didnt do a standstill... You should go and work for ACA, you're FOS.

According to the story he deliberately lost traction, I don't know about you but most people call that I know call that a burnout.

Do ACA pay well?

We all know that if any one of us 'deliberately loses traction' we are going to get done for hooning, why should this guy be any different? The fact that he races car for a living means he should probably know better.

[greenfoam]

Well pretty big difference really, a burnout is for warming tyres (or destroying them) I believe from what I've read he just gave it a bit as he was leaving. Wheelspin isn't really a loss of traction especially in a car like that with the tyres they have on them, it still would have had 5 times the traction and acceleration that most guys with VL's and Olympic sprinters or RE92s on them . In fact a slight overspin of the tyres will give you more acceleration than no wheelspin so you can't really say the car isn't stuck to the road it's not like as soon as the tyres are turning faster than the road you will crash, you and you family will die and the universe will implode

[soop]

acarmody - I suggest you get out to more car shows. If you think a little squeek is a burnout.

Greenfoam - not according to the Vicgovt/police and media. haha

[greenfoam]

More proof this country has gone to shit the good thing is now the rest of the world will know it. We must look like the ultimate fun killing country of the entire world with the great internet firewall of Australia and our hoon laws combined

[soop]

The sad thing is, when you think about it our polulation would be half the size without all these nanny laws. Because the morons would wind up killing themseves.
Ah well, I find it easier to not watch tellevision or read the "news"papers. Saves agro.

[Sabbath']

What happens if your car suddenly gains traction

Brake?

ram a pedestrian

What the hell is the pedestrian doing in the middle of the road??

Or all the other cars on the road can't see through your smoke cloud, should they just drive through it?

They should drive to the conditions. Do you bury your foot on the accelerator in thick fog??

And anyway, you're getting a bit carried away dont you think? He didnt sit there frying his tyres, and nor does a simple chirp cause enough smoke to blanket the street.

[greenfoam]

You know your typo crossbreed of population and pollution made me remember something. The government allways go for the cheapest road contracts and end up with rough large stoned cheap roads. But most cars use around .8 or a litre per hundred ks more fuel on such roads than hotmix. So I don't know how many ks Australians do a year in total but 80% of the roads are rough surfaced so that's 80% of total ks x .8 litres = lots of fuel and smog that didn't need to happen. That's nothing to do with anything but it frustrates me to see the government save a couple dollars just to cost everyone else and the planet alot more dollars and problems, worst still no body seems to have realised it

[soop]

LOL, I didnt even notice that.

But yes, I've heared that before. The govt aren't out to do the right thing, they're out to make money.