Kent's most idiotic and reckless road users
Published: 00:00, 28 May 2015
Updated: 12:40, 28 May 2015
While most motorists generally abide by the Highway Code, Kent has its fair share of reckless road users.
Here, we look at the most shocking examples of jaw-droppingly idiotic behaviour on the county's roads...
Just today, this plank was spotted, well, planking on a motorbike travelling along a 70mph dual carriageway.
The bonkers biker was seen laying flat as he rode along the A299 Thanet Way at Herne Bay.
The dangerous stunt was captured on camera by someone travelling behind.
One of the most high-profile cases of dangerous driving is "full throttle" Jack Cottle, who gatecrashed the Brands Hatch circuit while a race was in progress.
Cottle, of Milton Gardens, Tonbridge, had his hysterical girlfriend and a friend in the car when he drove onto the Kent track during the VW Fun Cup event at the circuit last June.
The friend filmed from the back seat as Cottle laughed as he completed a circuit. A clip was put on YouTube, attracting 2,300,000 hits.
But the smile was wiped off the 22-year-old's face when he was jailed for eight months in November.
The driver of this truck appeared to skip health and safety when he was spotted careering round the streets of Thanet.
Motorists watched in horror as a lorry thundered past them - with THREE skips perilously stacked on top of each other.
The load rocked from side to side and looked dangerously close to toppling over as the truck went through Ramsgate.
One driver said it went so fast, the wheels appeared to lift off the ground as it shot over two roundabouts.
The owner of the skip company later defended his driver - but said he would tell him not to stack the skips so high in future.
Earlier this week, a quad bike rider was caught on camera performing a wheelie at high speed on the A2.
Kait Borsay, a freelance sport broadcaster from south-east London, was in a car travelling along the coast-bound carriageway on her way to Canterbury when she spotted the rider’s antics.
A police spokesman confirmed they had received a report and were investigating.
Police also investigated after a young girl was snapped standing through the sunroof of a fast-moving car in Medway.
Passers-by were stunned to see the youngster's head and shoulders out the top of the Mercedes - travelling at 40mph on a busy main road in Gillingham.
Passenger Lucy Sheridan spotted the child standing out of the car on a dual-carriageway close to Medway police station and captured it on video.
This was another example of an irresponsible driver putting a child in danger by failing to ensure they wore a seatbelt.
The young girl was spotted laying sprawled across the parcel shelf of a moving car – as it drove past a police station.
Road safety campaigners branded the driver “appallingly irresponsible” after the snap was posted on Facebook.
Police were handed the picture and tracked down the driver, who claimed she did not realise her daughter had clambered out of her car seat.
It's not just drivers who put lives in danger, as this pedestrian proved.
She was branded "irresponsible and dangerous" after she was caught on camera dragging a small child across one of Canterbury's busiest roundabouts.
Shunning a nearby pedestrian subway and footbridge, the unknown woman was seen clambering onto Wincheap roundabout with a young boy who looks little older than a toddler.
Clutching an umbrella in one hand and the youngster's hand in the other, she walked to the edge of the roundabout and guided HIM into the road first – without bothering to check if cars were coming.
The tense footage was captured by driving instructor Phil Hunt on a dashboard camera installed in his car.
He posted it on YouTube, along with other clips of reckless road-users, to draw attention to the shocking behaviour he encounters on a daily basis.
Another driving instructor captured this motorist having difficulty with the simple rules of a roundabout.
Geoff Watkins posted this video of a 4x4 almost causing a crash by going the wrong way round a roundabout in Gravesend.
He said: "This sort of thing doesn't really shock me anymore. I've got a whole page of YouTube videos dedicated to this kind of driving.
"I'm used to seeing things like this on the road, but this one really does beggar belief."
What's the most shocking example of reckless driving you've seen? Let us know in the comments below.
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