367-Pound Woman Not Too Fat to Drive

GLEN BURNIE, Md. — A woman who was required to take a driving test because authorities thought she might be too fat to drive safely proved Friday that she can operate a car even though she weighs 367 pounds.

Using a borrowed car that she had only driven once, Regina Guy passed the test with more than 75 people watching from a distance.

A state motor vehicle hearing examiner had ordered Friday morning that she pass the test or forfeit her license.

“That’s it. I’m legal, guys,” Guy said afterward. But she remained angry that she had had to prove that her weight would not prevent her from being a safe driver.

“Fat people are human. We deserve equal treatment,” said Guy, 25. “Because of my size, I should not be discriminated against.”

The Baltimore woman’s problems began July 13 when she was stopped because the lights were not working properly on another car she had borrowed from a friend.

The officer wrote on his report to the Motor Vehicle Administration: “Due to this person’s obesity, she was unable to sit behind the wheel of the car.”

Guy was sitting in the center of the seat and was using her left hand and left foot to drive the car, the officer said.

“I feel that this driver should have special equipment on her car,” the officer wrote.

Guy denied that she was sitting in the center of the seat or was driving abnormally. On Friday, she sat behind the wheel of the normally equipped car.

Several members of the National Assn. to Advance Fat Acceptance showed up to support Guy. Among them was Peggy Williams, 450 pounds, owner of the car Guy was driving when she was stopped.