[Gary L]

Originally Posted by heero_yuy

Interesting approach by the French police to burqa wearing driver

Cops said she could not wear the Islamic veil as its narrow slit for the eyes "reduced her field of vision" behind the wheel.

I always wondered why this has never happened here. you can't have any peripheral vision when wearing something like that.

Police in Nantes, in the west of France, today fined a Muslim woman for driving whilst wearing a veil after she was stopped for driving through two sets of red lights and narrowly missing a young child trying to cross the road.

A police spokesman explained that the officers concerned suspected the woman's range of vision was being severely hampered by the veil when one of them leaned through the driver side window and asked for her driving licence.

"The woman was clearly startled and rapidly twisted her head from side to side before asking, 'Who said that?'" reported Officer Jacques Clouseau of the Nantes Traffic Division. "She obviously couldn't see either me, my partner or the police car with blue flashing lights parked in front of her."

Lawyers acting on behalf of the woman said at a press conference that they intend appealing the fine as they believe it is 'a breach of her human rights'. "It is unbelievable that in a, supposedly, secular society this woman is being discriminated against because of her religious beliefs." said Mr Fast Buck, the woman's solicitor.

In response to a counter claim by police lawyers that human rights work both ways and that the safety of other road users and their 'human right to life' had to also be considered, Mr Fast Buck replied, "Life, and death, is not something decided by a bunch of pompous bureaucrats in posh suits, it is the 'will of Allah'. Their point is irrelevant to this case."

The woman, who was also present at the press conference, had little to say except to read a short statement given to her by one of the 12 brothers who accompanied her to the meeting.

"I freely and of my own volition choose to wear the veil. It is an important part of my religious identity and is integral to protecting the honour of my family."

This was followed by a rather uncomfortable moment for the woman when a representative of Amnesty International questioned whether she really had 'free will' in the matter. The woman's eyes quickly glanced at one of her 'brothers', who was playfully bouncing a small rock in his hands, before answering, "Absolutely, 100% my own choice."

http://www.thespoof.com/news/spoof.c...dline=s1i73758