Laurie Driver
Encyclopedia
Laurie Driver is a fictional character who occasionally appears in the cult comic, Viz
Viz (comic)
Viz is a popular British comic magazine which has been running since 1979.The comic's style parodies British comics of the post-war period, notably The Beano and The Dandy, but with incongruous language, crude toilet humour, black comedy, surreal humour and either sexual or violent storylines...

. Most strips revolve around him murdering hitchikers
Hitchhiking
Hitchhiking is a means of transportation that is gained by asking people, usually strangers, for a ride in their automobile or other road vehicle to travel a distance that may either be short or long...

 and unsafe (and illegal) working practices, which this strip satirises
Satire
Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...

.

In one strip, he is stopped by a police motorcyclist
Police motorcycle
A police motorcycle is a motorcycle used by various police forces and departments. They may be custom designed to meet the requirements unique of a particular use. A police motorcycle is often called a "motor" by police officers in the United States...

 who tells him he's shedding his load. The police officer inspects his tachograph
Tachograph
A tachograph is a device fitted to a vehicle that automatically records its speed and distance, together with the driver's activity selected from a choice of modes. The drive mode is activated automatically when the vehicle is in motion, and modern tachograph heads usually default to the other work...

, telling him he's doing too many murders and tells him to rest at some point. While this sends up unsafe working practices, it's also a satirical reference to Peter Sutcliffe
Peter Sutcliffe
Peter William Sutcliffe is a British serial killer who was dubbed "The Yorkshire Ripper". In 1981 Sutcliffe was convicted of murdering 13 women and attacking seven others. He is currently serving 20 sentences of life imprisonment in Broadmoor Hospital...

. This is framed in a preceding scene where he goes to a Diesel
Diesel engine
A diesel engine is an internal combustion engine that uses the heat of compression to initiate ignition to burn the fuel, which is injected into the combustion chamber...

 mechanic, complaining that his engine "sounds like God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....

 saying, "Bell ringing" over and over again." The mechanic makes some adjustments and Laurie thanks him, saying that the noise now sounds like "Kill Women".

Further shorter strips have used this as a premise for their humour; the murders aren't shown, but are humorously alluded to. For example in one story where Laurie works as a driving instructor, he is seen shouting what appear to be driving instructions to his trainee, ie "throttle
Throttle
A throttle is the mechanism by which the flow of a fluid is managed by constriction or obstruction. An engine's power can be increased or decreased by the restriction of inlet gases , but usually decreased. The term throttle has come to refer, informally and incorrectly, to any mechanism by which...

, throttle, brake
Brake
A brake is a mechanical device which inhibits motion. Its opposite component is a clutch. The rest of this article is dedicated to various types of vehicular brakes....

, clutch
Clutch
A clutch is a mechanical device which provides for the transmission of power from one component to another...

, throttle, throttle", only for the penny to drop when his next instruction is to "wrap her in a carpet and dump her in a layby."
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