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French police fine driver for eating foie gras at the wheel... whilst watching a film

The Local France
The Local France - [email protected]
French police fine driver for eating foie gras at the wheel... whilst watching a film
"Sorry sir, even in France, you can't eat foie gras whilst driving". AFP

A driver in western France has been hit with a steep fine after by police caught him eating a plate of foie gras on toast whilst driving. And if that wasn't bad enough, he was also watching a film on his laptop.

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The French government recently announced a crackdown on those caught using the mobile phones at the wheel but they may have to extend the draconian measures to cover motorists who indulge themselves in French delicacies whilst driving.

That's after a driver was caught by police in the western town of Laval, helping himself to a plate of foie gras on toast whilst he was motoring along.

Eating at the wheel is not actually forbidden in France - even the delicacy foie gras - as long as the driver is in control of the vehicle.

But the problem for this driver was that police also discovered he was watching a film on his laptop, which was placed on the dashboard.

The combination of the film and the foie gras was enough to convince the police that he was "driving in a dangerous position" or in other words liable to cause an accident.

The driver was hit with a fine of €750, but he was allowed to drive away with his vehicle, Ouest France newspaper reports.

But the story has one final twist. The driver was not in fact French as you might have imagined.

He was Russian.

Come on, there's no way any self-respecting French man would eat foie gras whilst driving. That would be a major food faux pas, of which there are many.

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