Drivers who drench pedestrians by spraying them with water after splashing through a puddle could face a £5,000 fine.

It is not widely known but speeding through a puddle is actually a criminal offence and carries a hefty fine.

But that is only if the driver intended to wet the pedestrian walking by.

Under section three of the Road Traffic Act 1998, it is a criminal offence to drive ‘without reasonable consideration for other persons’ and this includes any instance of ‘driving through a puddle causing pedestrians to be splashed'.

The maximum penalty is a £5,000 fine if the driver is found to have committed a ‘clear act of incompetence, selfishness, impatience or aggressiveness’.

But the likelihood is that you’ll get a £100 fixed penalty notice and three penalty points if you are caught. If you refuse to pay and take the matter to court , you could see a maximum fine of £5,000 imposed.

So police can, and sometimes do, take action, reports Chronicle Live .

In January, police in St Ives, Cambridgeshire, issued a public appeal to find the driver who splashed a mum and her two children after they had driven through a 20ft-long puddle.

WATCH: The laws around driving

The mum was pushing her pram with one of her children in the buggy while the other was walking alongside when they were splashed.

“The driver could well have waited to drive around the puddle or drive through it very slowly so as to not cause water to splash anyone on the footpath. Did you see the vehicle drive through the puddle causing the three to be soaked?” a police spokesman told the Cambridge News at the time.

It is rare but motorists have ended up in court for splashing someone.

In 2014, a 22-year-old man was banned from the road and fined £500 after he drove through standing water, soaking a woman and her two children as they walked to school in Colchester, the Daily Mail reported.

The mum was said to be ‘very shocked’ at the punishment.

The incident had been spotted by a police officer in a following patrol car.

In 2005, a motorist from Somerset was reportedly fined £150 and given three penalty points for driving through a two-inch puddle and soaking a workman.

And in 2009 a motorist from Plymouth was questioned by police after posting a video clip of her soaking pedestrians.

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