Former traffic officer found guilty

A moped is not a bicycle and cannot be used to circumvent driving bans, the Blenheim District Court has found.

Former Blenheim traffic police officer Anthony Dale Bridgman has been found guilty of driving while disqualified after he was caught riding a moped in September last year.

Judge Geoffrey Ellis returned his guilty verdict on Tuesday after a defended hearing in July.

Although a sentencing date has not been set, Judge Ellis said in his decision he would "impose a small fine" and order him to pay court costs, but Bridgman would not be disqualified from driving further.

Bridgman would also be convicted and discharged for failing to display a current licence if police amended the original charge of driving an unregistered vehicle.

Bridgman was disqualified from driving for a year on May 29, 2009 after being found guilty of two charges of dangerous driving causing injury in the Buller Gorge in 2007.

The latest charge was laid in September last year when police stopped him riding a motorised scooter on Alabama Rd about 7.30am.

Defence lawyer Mike Hardy-Jones argued that what Bridgman was riding was a vehicle classed by the Land Transport Safety Authority (LTSA) as a type of bicycle and he therefore did not need a licence or to be registered.

Senior Constable Roger Ewers, of Nelson, gave evidence that Bridgman was adamant he had done the proper checks on the bike and did not need a licence.

Bridgman told police he used it to drive the seven kilometres to work as a dry goods storeman at a vineyard.

Mr Hardy-Jones said the vehicle was a "power-assisted pedal cycle", which was part of the definition of a bicycle under LTSA rules.

At the hearing, a distributor in Nelson who sold the scooter to Bridgman described the machine as an "electric bicycle" and believed the importer ordered the model with a smaller engine to comply with LTSA regulations.

Police prosecutor Sergeant Steve Frost, of Blenheim, said the vehicle was classified as a moped because the main source of power was the motor, not human power.

Pedals could be fitted but when Bridgman was stopped these were stored in a compartment.

Judge Ellis suggested the hearing was a test case in relation to the Ezi-Rider scooter Bridgman was riding, however other cases involving similar vehicles had reached the same verdict.

SIMON WONG - The Marlborough Express

Last updated 12:23 18/11/2010