LIFE is often about taking risks. Two stories dominating the headlines at the moment are about very different men who took very different risks.

One is the ambulance driver who sped down the clear A1 at 104mph in the early hours of the morning. In his boot was a special cargo: a liver for transplant. It had been donated in Leeds but was required in Cambridge. If such an operation is to succeed, doctors like an organ transplanted within ten hours; the maximum wait is 17. Mike Ferguson, who is trained to drive at high speeds, flew from one hospital to the other as fast as he could, no doubt weighing up the risks of the road conditions as he went.

He travelled at speeds that the average Premiership footballer seems to clock up daily, yet, amazingly, he is being hauled into the dock by Lincolnshire police. He may lose his licence and his job. This is his penalty for trying to save someone's life.

Such a man doing such a vital job should not be at risk of prosecution.

Meanwhile, at the top of the world, British explorer Pen Haddow is plucked from certain death by brave rescuers who landed their plane on rapidly moving and breaking ice to get to him. Earlier Mr Haddow had become the first person to reach the geographic North Pole unsupported.

His bravery and his derring-do must be recognised, but so must his recklessness because he obviously had not weighed up the risks properly. Not only had he not taken enough food, but he'd also embarked upon his mission at the wrong time of year. Rescuers said they wouldn't normally land on the ice after April 30 because of the dangers. Yesterday was May 27.

Yet, amazingly, Mr Haddow will be seen as a polar hero who will probably make a small fortune from telling how he put lots of other people's lives, as well as his own, at risk.

We castigate tourists who need rescuing from Lake District peaks in their trainers when the weather closes in; we castigate the buffoons on the beach who need rescuing when their lilos get blown out to sea. So we must castigate Mr Haddow.

Such people should be at risk of prosecution for rank stupidity.