Licence to drive with no licence

Freedom may well, according to that old Janis Joplin song, be just another word for nothing left to lose. But true liberation may actually be driving along the freeway with not a care in the world. In the case of an unnamed man in Bulwell near Britain's Nottingham, add with no licence and insurance too. The man in a blue Mini Cooper who was stopped by the police was born in 1938 and had been apparently driving since 1950 when he was 12 years old. He had no prior traffic violation or accident record, which in this day and age must be accounted by two facts: that he was a very good driver of the variety that they don't produce any more, and that this was an English market town with a population of just under 30,000 making it a safe place to drive away sans licence.

So, what finally got the great driver a knock from the police on his car window? An automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) camera, it seems. Like the dreaded/irritating video assistant referee (VAR), the ANPR catches the slimmest of infractions, thereby curbing the licence to drive cars without a licence even further. Luckily, here in non-Nottinghamshire, there are other ways to dodge police action if caught without a licence. But driving licence-less for nearly 72 years takes talent. And the kind of freedom that songs should be written about and played loud in car stereos.