A French Muslim woman has been fined for wearing a full-face veil while driving a car.
Police in the western city of Nantes said the veil - which showed only her eyes - restricted her vision and could have caused an accident.
The woman's lawyer says they will appeal against the decision, which he described as a breach of human rights.
The incident follows months of intense debate in France about whether the veils should be banned.
Earlier this week, President Nicolas Sarkozy ordered parliament to debate a law banning women from wearing full-face Islamic veils in public.
'Safety risk'
After stopping the 31-year-old woman - who has not been named - police asked her to raise her veil to confirm her identity, which she did.
They then fined her 22 euros ($29; £19), saying her clothing posed a "safety risk".
"This fine is not justified on road safety grounds and constitutes a breach of human and women's rights," her lawyer, Jean-Michel Pollono, told AFP news agency.
He said the woman's field of vision was not obstructed and added that a veil was no different from a motorcycle helmet in terms of hindrance to vision.
He said he had formally complained to the state prosecutor.
"The ball is clearly in the authorities' court," he said. "Currently no law forbids the wearing of the niqab."
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Re: French police fine Muslim driver for wearing veil
I have heard accounts from women who wear niqab and state that it does restrict the wearer's vision.
Perhaps muslimahs who wear niqab can comment here.
Does wearing niqab impair safety whilst driving a car?
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Re: French police fine Muslim driver for wearing veil
I just find the French police really ridiculus. Niqab is not obscuring the sight, How do you think could veiled women see and walk ?
I think they're just desperately trying to find stupid arguments to ban islamic clothing.
Last edited by marwen; 04-23-2010 at 08:39 PM.
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Re: French police fine Muslim driver for wearing veil
format_quote Originally Posted by glo
I have heard accounts from women who wear niqab and state that it does restrict the wearer's vision.
Perhaps muslimahs who wear niqab can comment here.
Does wearing niqab impair safety whilst driving a car?
The fabric covers everything but the eyes aunty...no visual impairment , it's not blind man's bluff
Re: French police fine Muslim driver for wearing veil
Women can see better than men . Their visibility is 180 degrees unlike men its only 90 degrees. So lets say the niqab held 50 degrees of their sight ..... They still have 130 ,still better than men.
Last edited by Getoffmyback; 04-23-2010 at 09:24 PM.
Re: French police fine Muslim driver for wearing veil
I don't see how it would restrict vision at all. As someone else pointed out, motorcycle helmets surely restrict vision as that has a visor that goes *over* the eyes.
Honestly, you think the police would have better things to spend time on...
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Re: French police fine Muslim driver for wearing veil
format_quote Originally Posted by Getoffmyback
Women can see better than men . Their visibility is 180 degrees unlike men its only 90 degrees. So lets say the niqab held 50 degrees of their sight ..... They still have 130 ,still better than men.
Wait, what? Could you provide a source for that? I personally don't believe it.
Anyway, France is turning less tolerant, she was driving a car, not a risk, etc, etc.
Based on the above data for the resolution of the human eye, let's try a "small" example first. Consider a view in front of you that is 90 degrees by 90 degrees, like looking through an open window at a scene. The number of pixels would be
90 degrees * 60 arc-minutes/degree * 1/0.3 * 90 * 60 * 1/0.3 = 324,000,000 pixels (324 megapixels).
At any one moment, you actually do not perceive that many pixels, but your eye moves around the scene to see all the detail you want. But the human eye really sees a larger field of view, close to 180 degrees. Let's be conservative and use 120 degrees for the field of view. Then we would see
120 * 120 * 60 * 60 / (0.3 * 0.3) = 576 megapixels.
The full angle of human vision would require even more megapixels. This kind of image detail requires A large format camera to record.
Re: French police fine Muslim driver for wearing veil
format_quote Originally Posted by ardianto
Look, what's racing car drivers wear inside their helmets.
yh you cant wear that in public
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Re: French police fine Muslim driver for wearing veil
^
I guess there are different types.
My concern is that whilst a balaclava is fitted tightly round the head, the full veil doesn't always.
I also notice that the balaclava is cut fairly wide to the side - allowing for good peripheral vision.
One would have to wear a burka myself to really know what it is like. That's why I was asking for muslimahs who wear burka themselves.
It's fine for non-Muslims and Muslim men to make comments - but really we are only guessing!
Here are some pics for comparison. Perhaps there are other veils which have a wider space for the eyes.
Peace glo
Here I stand.
I can do no other.
May God help me.
Amen.
Come, let us worship and bow down •
and kneel before the Lord our Maker
[Psalm 95]
Re: French police fine Muslim driver for wearing veil
Which is more impending on the sight- the Burkha, or the Abaya? Because if she was wearing a Burqa, the French police may have had a point of pulling her over.
Re: French police fine Muslim driver for wearing veil
format_quote Originally Posted by glo
Can you show me the differences between Abaya and Burqa?
Just so you know there are different types of burqas as well. The one posted above is an afghani burqa, its also called a topi (hat) burqa since the top is like a hat and its all one piece. It's more popular in the media these days.
Re: French police fine Muslim driver for wearing veil
format_quote Originally Posted by Getoffmyback
Women can see better than men . Their visibility is 180 degrees unlike men its only 90 degrees. So lets say the niqab held 50 degrees of their sight ..... They still have 130 ,still better than men.
Just because women in general could see better than men, doesn't mean this specific woman didn't have problems with her eyes-sight.
There are exceptions to every rule, no ?
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