Found on the BSG NG

http://www.news-and-star.co.uk/news/trucker_veered_across_cumbria_m_way_while_wa
tching_battlestar_galactica_on_his_laptop

Trucker veered across Cumbria M-way while watching Battlestar
Galactica on
his laptop
Last updated 20:07, Thursday, 11 September 2008

A truck driver has admitted driving dangerously on the M6 motorway
near
Penrith - as he watched a sci-fi show on his laptop computer.

Police officers took action after concerned motorists contacted police
because Benjamin Trotsman's 38-ton lorry was repeatedly veering across
the
motorway as it travelled north through Cumbria.

To their astonishment, they found that his bad driving was down to him
being
distracted as he watched consecutive episodes of the cult sci-fi TV
series
Battlestar Galactica.

He was watching the programmes on a laptop, balanced on his dashboard,
as he
drove north on the M6 in the early hours of December 11 last year, say
police.

The police officer who worked on the case said Trotsman's actions
could
easily have resulted in an horrendous accident.

At Penrith magistrates court, Trotsman, 37, from Bridgenorth,
Shropshire,
pleaded guilty to driving dangerously.

Police were alerted to his poor driving by a concerned fellow trucker,
who
saw how Trotsman's articulated lorry was constantly veering across the
motorway as it travelled north, first past Kendal and then Penrith.

The driver who reported it told police he has seen the other man was
watching a film on a laptop computer on the dashboard in his cab.

The court heard that Trotsman appeared oblivious to other motorists,
continuing to drive in an erratic manner, speeding up and slowing
down, and
crossing occasionally to the hard shoulder.

This continued from the Kendal area to where the motorway passes
Penrith,
where police officers spotted the lorry, which was still obviously
being
driven in an inattentive manner.

The lorry was stopped and Trotsman spoken with, the court heard.

Sgt Paul Brown examined the laptop and found that Trotsman had been
watching
a number of episodes of Battlestar Gallactica.

He was duly reported for dangerous driving.

Trotsman later appeared at Penrith Magistrates Court and pleaded
guilty to
driving dangerously. He was bailed from the court to reappear for
sentence
tomorrow, Friday September 12.

A police spokesman said: "This was a sustained incident of highly
dangerous
driving by a professional lorry driver in charge of a 38 ton
articulated
lorry. The consequences of this level of inattention could have been
horrendous, and the lives of other road users were clearly put in
danger.