Claims that police had a taser ready to use on a biker at a service station have proved false.
The claims came after the release of a YouTube video of the protracted questioning of Fat Boy rider Jamie Evans. The video has since been viewed more than half a million times and there is no evidence of police taking a taser from their holster, despite social media claims.
Jamie has since released a second video of a drug test he encountered shortly after the first breath test, licence check and grilling.
“These three detained me for a further 10 minutes or so after the first five cars had just left and told me I was free to go,” Jamie says.
“They detained me for a licence check and drug test. By this stage I was frustrated and I did come across as being rude, however, in Newman’s own words, ‘I make no apologies’.”
If the police interception had got out of hand, they would not be permitted to use a taser on a service station forecourt, according to several fuel companies I contacted.
BP media manager Jamie Jardine says that in his 30 years in the business he had “never known police to turn up on an operational forecourt with weapons (lethal and/or non-lethal) drawn and ready to be used”.
“However it is the case that battery-powered equipment could be a potential ignition source and the way the industry manages this risk is to ask customers not to use battery-powered equipment on forecourts.
“As tasers clearly fall within the category of battery-powered equipment, I believe this issue is covered by existing policies.”
So if you are hassled by police and they go for their taser, advise them that it is dangerous.
TV crime show CSI featured a show in which the combination of capsicum spray and a taser resulted in the target being badly burnt. It was based on an actual incident which changed the laws in the US about use of a aster on a forecourt.
Another TV show, Mythbusters, busted the myth that mobile phones cause explosions around fuel bowsers.
However, the main reason for not using a mobile phone while filling up is that it is a distraction from a quite dangerous situation. Spill petrol on a hot motorcycle engine or exhaust and you could be in more strife than Jamie Evans.
