Speeding Fines !

This is the place for posts that don't fit into any other category.

Moderator: RichardW

Post Reply
Paulee
Posts: 64
Joined: 17 Feb 2004, 16:37
Location: United Kingdom
My Cars:
Contact:

Speeding Fines !

Post by Paulee »

Well it had to happen but in a way that left me with nothing but contempt for our boys in blue.
On returning from Somerset on the M5 I was followed for about half a mile at a distance by a Police Range Rover at 95mph , immediately I slowed to 78mph pulled into the middle lane and ambled along with all the traffic.After another half mile the blue lights went on and I pulled over to the hard shoulder.
I will keep this short but basically I was asked to explain why I was travelling at such a speed.I asked if he wanted an honest answer ? to which he replied yes , so I gave him one....
Very quiet motorway, daylight ,experienced driver (30-40,000 a year for the past 20 years with no accidents) capable car (VSX xantia TD)
and that inappropriate speed was dangerous not speed on its own.
I was then audience to a diatribe of crap from him about the limit being 70mph full stop,running kids over ?,pulling bodies from cars ?,debris in the road etc etc, I even explained how I had abs and how the xantia suspension was excellent regarding blow outs and he must have faith in modern tyre technology as he was going much faster than me in a heavier vehicle.
I mentioned he must have been doing 100-110mph to catch me up in his Range Rover which in my opinion was unsafe as I have been an owner of several of them ! I also asked if he pulled everyone doing over 70mph or was I just unlucky, and told him he had done nothing for road safety by pulling me and to do something constructive next time like pulling tailgaters,wagons that are 6 feet off your bumper, middle lane hoggers,and idiots who think it is safe to do 70mph when you can hardly see the end of your bonnet in a torrential downpour !
Eventually I told him I did not wish to listen to his crap anymore and to give me a ticket so I could get on my way as he had wasted enough of my time.
Why do they pick on easy targets and do nothing to stop the idiots that clutter our roads ?
Am I alone in my opinions ?
Any views,similar incidents,
God I hate traffic police.........Paulee
Sl4yer
Posts: 849
Joined: 12 Apr 2003, 04:29
Location: United Kingdom
My Cars:
x 2

Post by Sl4yer »

I take it he did give you the ticket then?
What evidence did he show you?
Homer
Posts: 1503
Joined: 26 Feb 2003, 10:52
Location: Yorkshire
My Cars: Current:
Volvo V60 D4 180

Previous:
BX16RS (two of),
BX19TZI,
Xantia 2.0i saloon,
Xantia 2.0 Exclusive CT turbo Break,
Peugeot 807 2.0 HDi 110,
Renault Grand Scenic, 2.0 diesel (150bhp)
C5 X7 2.0 HDi 160 which put me off French cars possibly forever
x 16

Post by Homer »

Ouch.
First mistake, admitting you were speeding. Say nothing - it is your right!
They will trick you into admitting, when that fails they will try to intimidate you, threatening you with higher fines and more points for a court appearance.
It's quite possible you could have got away with it if you had visited http://www.pepipoo.com/ first.
Paulee
Posts: 64
Joined: 17 Feb 2004, 16:37
Location: United Kingdom
My Cars:
Contact:

Post by Paulee »

Hi again
No he offered no evidence in the way of a camera,or collegue as he was on his own and I am sure he was just going to give me a talking to.
yes he did give me the ticket I asked him to as I didn't want to be in his presence any longer.
I know what I should of done " sorry officer,I let my speed creep up, its these modern cars you know ,they are so quiet,can you show me the evidence etc etc...
I also realise that if I contested this in court I would probably win but would have to take a day off work,travel to the court,sit waiting etc,etc, its just not worth it.If I didn't already have a clean licence though I would of behaved differently.
The point I was trying to make is that these guys are unable to hold a sensible adult conversation with you regarding road safety so what chance is there for improving safety on our roads...
Homer
Posts: 1503
Joined: 26 Feb 2003, 10:52
Location: Yorkshire
My Cars: Current:
Volvo V60 D4 180

Previous:
BX16RS (two of),
BX19TZI,
Xantia 2.0i saloon,
Xantia 2.0 Exclusive CT turbo Break,
Peugeot 807 2.0 HDi 110,
Renault Grand Scenic, 2.0 diesel (150bhp)
C5 X7 2.0 HDi 160 which put me off French cars possibly forever
x 16

Post by Homer »

No you should have either denied speeding or said nothing.
Refusing the fixed penalty does not men you have to turn up in court, you can still plead guilty by post.
BUT.
A lot of people are finding that if they play the game right then it never gets to court.
User avatar
reblack68
Posts: 1047
Joined: 11 Feb 2004, 01:28
Location: United Kingdom
My Cars:

Post by reblack68 »

They have to follow you for more than 3/10 of a mile. The reading on the police car's speedo is enough as long as it was calibrated that day (which it would have been, even if it wasn't- if you know what I mean).
Sl4yer
Posts: 849
Joined: 12 Apr 2003, 04:29
Location: United Kingdom
My Cars:
x 2

Post by Sl4yer »

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by reblack68</i>

They have to follow you for more than 3/10 of a mile. The reading on the police car's speedo is enough as long as it was calibrated that day (which it would have been, even if it wasn't- if you know what I mean).
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
I don't believe thats true. Yes, a calibrated speedo is good enough evidence, but I'm sure it needs to be corroborated by more than one officer if there is no video evidence.
allmond
Posts: 214
Joined: 28 Feb 2001, 01:02
Location: Weymouth, United Kingdom
My Cars:

Post by allmond »

The speedo is the coroboration. Two items of evidence are needed. The officer thinks, "I think that car's speeding." Then they look at the speedo, "Ah, yes. That confirms my opinion." Not the other way around. The officer can be alone. Two officers can coroborate each other without any device.
Jamie
Sl4yer
Posts: 849
Joined: 12 Apr 2003, 04:29
Location: United Kingdom
My Cars:
x 2

Post by Sl4yer »

Right. Thats worrying! [V]
Richard Gallagher
Posts: 803
Joined: 31 Oct 2001, 02:36
Location: South Bucks
My Cars:

Post by Richard Gallagher »

Whatever the rights/wrongs of it just think yourself as lucky you weren't doing 100mph as you would get a court appearance and a ban for at least a month even on a clean licence.
User avatar
uhn113x
Posts: 1161
Joined: 06 Jan 2004, 22:06
Location: Near Leeds, United Kingdom
My Cars: 1981 Dyane - on road all year round.
1982 GSA Pallas - on road April - September.
1997 ZX 1.9D Dimension.
x 1

Post by uhn113x »

My two penn'orth.
Slowing to 78, not 70? Why? Wasn't that asking to be stopped?
I do not agree with the speed limit structure either, but whatever the conditions, vehicle, experience, if the limit is XX MPH, and you exceed it, it can cost you money, whether you think you can justify your actions or not.
A final controversial thought - if we were all perfect drivers, speed limits would be totally unneccessary!
Ducking below parapet[;)]
Robin
Posts: 485
Joined: 01 Jan 2004, 18:45
Location: United Kingdom
My Cars:
Contact:

Post by Robin »

I just wish the standard and approach of officers was uniform. I have had very good and downright awful treatment at the hands of the traffic bods. My good ones oddly enough were both related to my bike days and my son has the same experience. He was doing 110 mph at 2 am on the A1M on a newish bike, clear night clear road and he is naturaly a polite guy. Just got a ticking off. On his way home from his girlfriends house.[;)]
On the negative side an enthusiastic bod cost me my trade plates which in the 1970's were so heavily 'policed' that being reported was enough to lose them. I was innocent of any wrong doing and got a letter clearing me to boot but not enough to save them at that time.
My local constabulary, Cambridgeshire, turned a blind eye to my 'personalised plate' but the Derbyshire lads took me to task and I got reported for a minor contravention of the rules.
Can this inconsistency have anything to do with the time of day, time left on the shift or can men have hormonal problems too?
I just wonder if there is a scale of harrassment that could be applied county by county? If so which is worst and which is less so. None of them would be good a I suspect.
Grumble over,[:(!]
Paulee
Posts: 64
Joined: 17 Feb 2004, 16:37
Location: United Kingdom
My Cars:
Contact:

Post by Paulee »

to uhn113x
the reason I slowed only to 78mph was if I had gone any slower it would have been dangerous as I would have caused the cars in the second lane to brake and avoid me.
thats my point the whole second lane was doing 78mph the limit is 70mph were is the consistancy ?
I hope most of us here are responsible drivers and as you state it is true if the roads were full of them there would be no need for speed limits or all the furniture and markings and speed bumps and cameras that clutter our once good roads.
Just look around when you go out next the asthetics of our roads are terrible compared to 20 years ago, maybe thats another thread for us to explore the incomprehensible wrecking of our once lovely roads and Country ? [V]
User avatar
uhn113x
Posts: 1161
Joined: 06 Jan 2004, 22:06
Location: Near Leeds, United Kingdom
My Cars: 1981 Dyane - on road all year round.
1982 GSA Pallas - on road April - September.
1997 ZX 1.9D Dimension.
x 1

Post by uhn113x »

Paulee
Difficult to comment without seeing the situation, but I assume lane 1 was fully occupied, and if you slowed fron 78 to 70 without braking, surely those following could do likewise - if they threw their teddies out of their prams, that is their problem, not yours; but, as I said, I wan't there - what do I know?
Yes, our roads are in a parlous state - in West Yorks we have some of the worst road surfaces in the country. There seems to be no control over street furniture, either. It is about time that traffic-light phasing was standardised, as well - there are only a limited number of junction types. One near us has been changed 3 times - someone got killed when a left filter was green at the same time as the green man on the crossing on the left turn. The words 'crass' and 'stupidity' spring to mind.
Attempt 2 retained the left filter, and left plus straight-on markings in the left lane. Many teddies were thrown out of prams by those who wanted to turn left behind those going straight on.
HS (hurry sickness) is reaching epidemic proportions [:(]
lhm_leak
Posts: 135
Joined: 21 Sep 2003, 02:33
Location: United Kingdom
My Cars:

Post by lhm_leak »

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"> It is about time that traffic-light phasing was standardised, as well - there are only a limited number of junction types<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
In theory, yes. In practice it's just not possible to "standardise" junction controls. The systems I work with have at least 5 operating modes, from simple(?) fixed time sequencing to fully optimised, traffic density/speed activated. These modes can be active at different times of day/days of week according to a set of plans stored in the controller itself. It's further complicated by pedestrian phases, emergency vehicle phases, "hurry" calls (buses etc.) and other stuff - have you looked at the number of sensors, detectors etc. around a set of traffic lights recently? Some junctions can have 70 or more!
In other words, setting up a junction is NOT a simple process, and cock-ups happen. Admittedly, the ped/filter conflict you mention should have been detected by the system (in hardware, NOT software) - normal practice when a green conflict occurs is to shut down the entire stream ( as happens when more than one red lamp fails ) and leave it all to the drivers.
This may have happened here...
Stu.
Post Reply