Meet Tom Riall, pictured in the screenshot at left taken from newburytoday.co.uk. This guy is going to blow your mind when you find out his attitude on reckless driving by speed. First, you should be aware that this jerk is an executive for Serco, which oversees thousands of cameras on Britain’s roads which are used to ticket drivers for speeding.He's really, really concerned about the dangers of speeding. For example, last year he and his company supported the "Safe Drive Stay Alive campaign". He even made a statement to show the public how much his business cares about highway safety. "In courts and prisons we see the direct consequences of reckless and dangerous driving every single day. For far too many young people it ends with a prison sentence - but for the families left behind the pain lasts much longer.” (emphasis added).
Riall should be pretty familiar with the subject of reckless driving. He has been cited numerous times for traffic violations including speeding, and was most recently caught doing 103 MPH in a 70 MPH zone. I am not making this up. Undeterred by his previous proclamations about dangerous driving, Riall was actually heard to plead with the Court for lenience, begging to be let off the hook without a license suspension. His children are in private school, he reasoned, and a license suspension might have a negative effect on their long term educational prospects? What? Did he really ask for a break at over 100 MPH "for the kids"?
At the risk of overstating the obvious, this guy is arrogant beyond belief. If I were a judge in Virginia and he came before my Court with this charge, I would impose a sentence that he would not forget. First I would sentence him to the maximum term of 12 months in jail. I would also suspend his license for 12 months. I would then fine him $2,500. Then I would lecture him from the bench.
"Mr. Riall" I would say, "you and your employer Serco are snitches. You do not care about highway safety, but rather about the revenue that can be derived from ratting out your fellow drivers for the exact same behaviour that you have engaged in. You are a disgrace. You actions reveal the sad truth about speeding tickets, which are designed simply as a revenue source rather than a safety measure. We could easily control speeding by mandating that all new cars be sold with speed governing devices, but the loss of revenue will not be tolerated by an equally hypocritical government made up of legislators, police, prosecutors, bureaucrats, and yes, judges like myself who also speed. I cannot sentence you more harshly even though you deserve it. But I would hope that the government would rescind every one of Serco's contracts based on your misconduct."
Then I would resign from the bench in protest, and I would return to defending drivers like you and me who are humans that are increasingly being subjected to the judgment of machines in order to fill government coffers. By the way, Serco issued a statement after the trial, stating "Mr Riall has apologised to the company and his apology has been accepted." Shame on Tom Riall and Serco.
