Having witnessed first hand the suffering of families whose loved ones have been seriously injured or tragically killed, I would strongly urge all motorists not to speed
This was the comment made by Chief Superintendent Les Owen, head of the Metropolitan Police Traffic Division, following the installation of five new speed cameras in East London in February 2003.
Ch Supt Owen is currently facing a misconduct hearing after the car he was a passenger in was caught speeding at 82mph in a 40mph zone. His driver, PC Mark Bradley, has been fined �250 and given three points on his licence after magistrates heard that he was speeding because the Chief Superintendant was late for a meeting.
In a seperate case, Constable Mark Milton was caught driving his unmarked police patrol car at 159mph on the M54, as well as 100mph in a 60mph zone and 60mph in a 30mph zone. Milton was testing out a new Vauxhall Vectra GSI police car while on night patrol in December 2003.
Speed cameras are prevalent everywhere in the UK. The general rule is that there is an error margin of 10% + 3mph, so if you are in a 30mph zone, you shouldn’t get a ticket below 36mph. Being caught speeding means a fine and 3 licence points - drivers have 12 points to lose before being banned from driving. The problem is, speed cameras are hidden behind signs, in moving vans and even hand-held by parked police officers. At some sites, cameras can catch the same car speeding four times in the space of a mile - if you get 3 points for each offence, that’s your licence gone over a mile.
These police officers should have their driving licences revoked. Individual cameras at some sites bring in hundreds of thousands of pounds each year for the police force, and then they drive around at more than twice the speed limit, knowing full well they are immune to prosecution.
Rant over.
Dear Sirs,
I was dismayed to read your comments on your website with ref to police officers and speeding.
Police officers are far from immune from prosecution, in fact just the opposite in our very policitical world. It can be very career builidng to disapline other officers.
Police officers are always accountable for there actions, rightly so.
However as members of the public we should be careful to critisee without considering the bigger picture and evaluating what we expect from them.
When we dial 999 we expect officers to be there to offer whatever help and assistance we require. Many times officers are expected to get there quick! and the persons on the other end of a 999 line oftern demand to know why they are not there yet.
So we as memebrs of the public have a lot of questions to ask and even more answers to find as to how we expect our police officers to attend.
Do we want them there quick, how quick? is 10, 20 or 30 mph over a speed limit acceptable or not?
Do you wish our officers to adhere to the speed limits as stated on roads?
And if you do - make sure you understand the consequences of that!
Next time you here of some one being mugged, someone being stabbed, some disqualified driver that has fled the scene of an accident having hurt a child. These are some of the examples of the daily incidents that police officers deal with for us the public, to protect and serve us!
And whilist we expect officers to get there speedily to protect the good and get the bad there will always be unfortunately as in any walk of life be accidents and loss of life are traggic, horrific for anyone. I too have lost a loved one by way of car accident and understand fully all emotions that some with that , the why’s and details of how are very important.
There are many standards of police driver,
but to attain advanced driver level, these officers are highly trained individuals with skills far beyond any “normal to and from work” driver like you and I. The cars they drive are worked 24-7, one crew taking over from another, one car coming back from repair or service, replacement cars or pool cars being used. Each respond differently. Did you know it takes 6 months to become familiar with a car you drive daily.
Be under no illusion as to what implications these cases will have - they
will be far reaching, affecting the way every police officer attends every incident that comes there way or our way if we are the one that is waiting for them to come to our rescue.
Do not think that I in anyway support reckless or stupidity. Like every individual in any walk of life we are all accountable for our actions.
But I am all too aware of the pressures our officers and familys are under daily.
Lets give credit where credits due. Highly trained officers do a thankless job most of them time.
No one dials 999 to say Hi how you doing, isn’t life great.
I dont think any level of incident should require a police vehicle to travel at 159 mph at that speed it would take a car over a 1/4 of a mile to stop. and to do this in an unmarked car is unacceptable these drivers may well be trained to drive but no amount of training can give an individual the ability to predict what other roadusers will do, it is also extremely difficult to judge the speed of approaching vehicles at night a driver driving at 60mph may well check his mirrors and see the headlights in the distance and continue to pull out resulting in almost definately a fatal accident.
this type of car is merely a pursuit car for chasing other high speed drivers or stolen vehicles i think the moey could be better spent elsewhere within the force
PC Milton was also trained in firearms should he practice using his weapon in public i suggest you are more likely to survive after being hit by a bullet than a 159mph car!!!
I would tend to agree with Mr Harrison on many of his points, the only time it is acceptable for the emergency services to use excessive speed is when human life is under threat. “familiarising” oneself is simply not sufficient grounds for travelling at 2.25 times the maximum speed limit on a motorway and double the limit in a 30mph zone (if a child were hit at 40mph, there would be an estimated 90% chance of death, what will the odds be at 60mph?).
The advanced police drivers are indeed highly trained and skilled people, but they are still human and are certainly not infallible by a long stretch. At 149mph, what will happen to the car and driver if an animal or human being ran across the road? At this speed even an advanced driver would be unable to either stop or take evasive action, which would result in total destruction of both vehicle and driver.
In summary, I would comment that if police advanced drivers want to test their vehicles to the limits they would be better advised to confine these activities to a racing circuit where there they are unlikely to encounter Joe Public on foot or vehicle!
Once again it looks like a case of “do as I say, not as I do”
159MPH…………….JUST TESTING THE NEW MOTOR YOUR HONOUR !
It is absolutely unacceptable for a police officer whatever their level of training to travel on a 70mph public road at this speed. I have travelled in excess of 180 mph on a german autobahn and believe me, when speeds get above around 130 mph everything becomes surreal. Yes you may be or feel in control of your vehicle but the people you are passing do not have a clue that you are there.
If this had been a regular patrol car with sirens and lights flashing and actually attending an emergency the officer driving would still be accountable for his actions. To do this in an unmarked car and apparently for the hell of it is scandalous.
Apparently other officers examining the onboard video reported him, if his fellow officers considered this illegal, dangerous and obviously innapropriate behaviour how on earth can a judge rule differently ?
It is beyond belief that he has walked away with his license intact.
A custodial sentence would have been more appropriate.
This officer should have been dealt with the same way as Joe public.
I have read many times the police driving handbooks and this behaviour is not mentioned in any of them………. So just what was his rational for driving like this ?
One rule for them and another for us………………………..AGAIN !
(I have no axe to grind, I have held a clean licence for over 20 years)
I, like the previous post, have also driven at those speeds of past 160 mph on a German Autobahn. I can concur that any speed above 130 is a gigantic risk. The ability of even the best of drivers may not be directly questioned yet the variables in other road users not being prepared for another vehicle driving at those speeds (especially on a UK motorway where the speed limit is 70 mph) could all too easily lead to a fatal incident as reaction speeds are GREATLY increased.
His speed on the motorway in those conditions (early hours with no traffic) may (in certain peoples eyes) be acceptable yet to reach speeds of 100 in a 60 and 60 in a 30 respectively are far worse.
I feel that I would prefer police drivers to be able to utilise their equipment to its maximum potential if the need was there but to practice on an open road is questionable. Is an alternative track days at venues like Rockingham speedway where speeds can be experienced like that but in a closed road/ controlled environment?
The point also made by the previous post speaks wonders as for a colleague to deem his driving dangerous it must have been very excessive in the areas recorded by the on board camera.
I might also add that the car I was driving (an Audi RS4) has far better stopping power/ manoeuvrability than the Vauxhall Vectra driven by the officer. To drive at those speeds in a real performance car with more ability to avoid any obstacles is one thing but to drive at the same speeds in a relatively standard car would increase the danger levels again a substantial amount.
I have just recieved a NIP from North Wales Police for allegedly doing 35 mph in a 30 mph zone!!! can they really do this if what is being said about 10%+3mph being an accepted tollerance is true??
10%+3mph is a rule of thumb. You won’t find this written down anywhere.
Police friends tell me you are relatively safe from prosecution on a motorway upto about 85mph. BUT again it’s an unwritten rule and they will probably become far more strict if they are not meeting their targets.
In a 30mph zone they are likely to be far more strict than on a motorway.
I just wanted to write something in reply to this as yesterday I was driving on the motorway on my way north from Dorset, on the M1 I was passed by several police cars at various points on the motorway, every one speeding past me while I was going a steady 70-75, they must have been doing at least 120 to get past me at the speed they did, there is no way they could have stopped in time if anything had happened in front of them, and they were weaving in and out of lanes like they were doing the dodgems. None of these cars had emergency lights on, none of them, in my opinion had just cause to be driving like they were, and I cannot even find anywhere to complain about it because they didnt cause me any harm. Thats the law for you.
What was that cop think he doing going at 159 mph. let;s us just think a sec .Those two men [ha] racing at a 150 mph got two months in nick and a two year band.What if cop killed someone say a family at that speed.ill let you think about it………PS. ill know what ill do……..
I have today contacted Thames Valley police to report an officer driving at approximately 90mph along the south bound M1 at around 8.25 this morning which included a 50mph restricted zone. Not only was he driving at this excessive speed, he was also tailgating and weaving in and out of rush hour traffic, without indicating. With no blue lights or sirens, I assume he was not hot footing it to an incident or accident but merely eager to get home or wanting to display his ability to flaunt the law he’s there to enforce. I have yet to find out what the response from Thames Valley is - but one can guess.
Having personally recieved penalties for driving at 7 and 10mph respectively above speed limit, I am appalled that the police can behave in this way. As ironic as it might seem, I do consider myself to be a safe and a good driver, I have never driven “excessive speeds”, weaved, tailgated or cut up other drivers, I was simply ignorant of the speed limit at that time (not that that is any defence!!). The police, however, are very quick to enforce the law with a fine and a 3 year “sentence” - not to mention the damage this does to ones insurance premium. They should, therefore, lead by example. It’s this display of arrogance that re-inforces the negative image the police can often get. I am considering reporting this to my local MP.
Please only display my first name
HELP
I have been reported for dangerous driving.
Sat Morning dry and sunny road quiet travelling through an area which the police admit is high risk, in my mirror I see a blue car swerve around the corner ver fast I decided to takew evasive action so speeded up to about 40 miles per hour (30 zone ) to keep my distance traffic lights ahead I undretook 2 vehicles and one motercylcle sounding my horn to warn them arrived at traffic lights and the car came up behind me at speed stopped one person jumped out and ran towards my car I immeadiatly took off through a red light and a chase happened.
It turns out that it was an unmarked police car with no markings blue lights video equipment or speed detectors on board the 2 police were in plain clothes. they reported me not for the chase bit the initail cahse were \I was viewing them coming after me.
has anyone experienced this before ? what was the outcome ? if anyone could give me advice etc It would be much appreciated
Many Thanks
William
I am a police officer within the UK and I accept all the comments and points most people have made.
I agree that the 159mph was excess especially when the driver was not responding to what we would class as a grade 1 incident.
The police service grade there incidents according to current government and public concerns.
There are 4 grades 1 being an immediate responce and 4 being as and when an oficer is free to attend the incident. Only when a trained officer who has completed a three week intense home office driving course and examination can they use blue lights and sirens breaking speed limits and contreveaning traffic signals when attending a grade 1 incident.
The grading of an incident is authorised by an officer of the rank of inspector who is monitoring the control room incidents.
When the authorisation is given and only then can the officer drive against speed limits and law.
Well theres the insight to how it all works. I am fortunate to be able to respond to incidents on a grade 1 and yes i agree it is stressfull and i am 100% accountable for my standard of driving and accountable should things go wrong.
The area i cover is very rural however very busy. There are big towns seperated by rural fast roads and the need to move from village to village at speed is imperative when responding to incidents. For instance last week I was in a village and was sent to a very serious road traffic collison which resulted in the death of a young lady. I had to cover a distance of sum 28miles and i was the only officer deployable on the area. If i never arrived so quick there would have been traffic caous and also the evidence which was available to arrest the driver of the offending vehicle would have been lost.
A common myth is that when you see a speeding police car with no lights or sirens on and undertaking traffic, you immediately presume oh there late for Tea etc etc etc. I have had several complaints made against me when doing this.The reality of the matter is that we are attending an incident which requires a silent approach. Such as a burglary in progress or an incident where are sirens etc would make the offender flee.
When policing your job is hard enough with current legislation stacked against you, which is constantly changing. Mountains of paperwork and constantly used as a scape goat for the government and new targets to hit. (It is a myth..No police force have a speeding ticket target for there officers). Cut us some slack and help us do our job by supporting us.
We put ourselves in danger not only attending the incident but also getting there. Dont forget we are travelling to incidents that you may one day be the victim.
I am a police officer within the UK and I accept all the comments and points most people have made.
I agree that the 159mph was excess especially when the driver was not responding to what we would class as a grade 1 incident.
The police service grade there incidents according to current government and public concerns.
There are 4 grades 1 being an immediate responce and 4 being as and when an oficer is free to attend the incident. Only when a trained officer who has completed a three week intense home office driving course and examination can they use blue lights and sirens breaking speed limits and contreveaning traffic signals when attending a grade 1 incident.
The grading of an incident is authorised by an officer of the rank of inspector who is monitoring the control room incidents.
When the authorisation is given and only then can the officer drive against speed limits and law.
Well theres the insight to how it all works. I am fortunate to be able to respond to incidents on a grade 1 and yes i agree it is stressfull and i am 100% accountable for my standard of driving and accountable should things go wrong.
The area i cover is very rural however very busy. There are big towns seperated by rural fast roads and the need to move from village to village at speed is imperative when responding to incidents. For instance last week I was in a village and was sent to a very serious road traffic collison which resulted in the death of a young lady. I had to cover a distance of sum 28miles and i was the only officer deployable on the area. If i never arrived so quick there would have been traffic caous and also the evidence which was available to arrest the driver of the offending vehicle would have been lost.
A common myth is that when you see a speeding police car with no lights or sirens on and undertaking traffic, you immediately presume oh there late for Tea etc etc etc. I have had several complaints made against me when doing this.The reality of the matter is that we are attending an incident which requires a silent approach. Such as a burglary in progress or an incident where are sirens etc would make the offender flee.
When policing your job is hard enough with current legislation stacked against you, which is constantly changing. Mountains of paperwork and constantly used as a scape goat for the government and new targets to hit. (It is a myth..No police force have a speeding ticket target for there officers). Cut us some slack and help us do our job by supporting us.
We put ourselves in danger not only attending the incident but also getting there. Dont forget we are travelling to incidents that you may one day be the victim.
i agree that some incidents do require a speedy response to protect the lives and well beings of many people. As an executive covering a large area i spend a lot of time on motorways and rural roads and have had 3 incidents in 3 months with un-marked police training vehicles driving like complete idiots.
Only the other week i was very nearly rear ended by a speeding Skoda octavia RS which turned out to be a police training vehicle, When making a formal complaint to the local traffic police to the incident i was greeted by a police officer immediatly passing the book and saying that police were exempt from speed limits.
maybe so but how the hell are they exempt from following so close at 75mph on a busy motorway when showing no blue lights or two tone sirens. If police need to train in such a manner then why not train on a track or a skid pan. THERE IS A SEVERE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TRAINING AND ENDAGERING THE LIVES OF TAX PAYING CITIZENS.
Im extremely dissapointed with the police for this and the other 2 previous near misses. And sympathise with the families of the 49 innocent people killed last year by speeding police cars.
49 people just like me or you!
just unacceptable.
I get passed by potrol cars weekly while Im going 70 down the interstate. When passed by a police car that is not using his flashing lights I follow at the same speed he is going. I was recently pulled over while doing 95 behind a police car. He was not responding to an emergency situation and after threatening to take him to court if he wrote me a ticket he neither wrote me a ticket or a warning. They are not above the law and need to understand that, they should follow it more closley than anyone. If there is an emergency they will use thier lights.
I own my own car tuning business and have been in some v.v fast cars. Some pushing the 1000bhp mark. I have been through Germany a few times and have obviously driven on the Autobahns and on Airstrips etc in cars that break the 180mph barrier with ease and more. These cars are designed and built to do these speeds with most people spending £50K on suspension, chassis, drivetrain, tyres, brakes, aerodynamics etc just to hold the car on the road at this speed.
There is no way he was testing the limits of the vectra because he was already way passed them. If he stamped on the brakes from 159mph he would have tremendous brake fade and would be completely unable to stop in a “safe distance”. (if there is one from 159mph!). If he had tried to turn the wheel fairly sharply to avoid anything from a fox to debris on the road he wouldn’t have been in court, but in a box. Sometimes there definately is a limit and he went way passed it.
Being on the roads and driving fast cars i am fully aware of the capability of some japanese and high performance vehicles reaching 70mph from standstill in under 5 seconds and braking in half of the required distance and therfore also fully understand the need for the police to have quite fast cars and learn how to use them, but there is a time and a place, and that isnt on public roads at any time. I have witnessed some terrible driving by the police, i have seen them racing one another, unmarked, marked, weaving in and out of traffic, cutting people up, exceeding the speed limit with no reason what so ever and i have no doubt that if i did the sort of thing they did i would have had 3,6 or 9 points without a doubt. All we ask as other road users is that every one drives safely whether they are police or not. Everybody wants to get home in one piece.
In response to the comments by the Police Officer about sometimes not using the siren as to ensure that the person committing the crime is not enlightened to the police presence and does not have chance to run away.
Yeah this is a fair point, but can you really say that this is what is happening on Dual Carriage ways and Motorways, most of which I have seen police travelling above the speed limit without flashing lights or a siren going, with no houses in an ear shot of any siren!
Also, what would you class as more important, getting there safely and not catching the criminal at the house, or not getting there at all after having an accident (because someone didn’t notice you or didn’t realise that you were a police car reporting to an incident and so didn’t correctly judge how fast you were going) and still not catching the criminal!
Also, I understand about what people have been saying concerning the police needing to speed to get to crimes and all about the grading of the crimes, but in the two instances on this story neither were true, One was a person being late for a meeting - well if this was a member of the public would that be an acceptable excuse, NO, they would have been banned for doing 82 mph in a 40 zone, and also they would have been looked down upon, you have to bear in mind that a lot of 40 zones are around areas with houses and kids, all the advertisements state that at 10 mph over the speed limit in a 30 zone the child has 90% chance of being killed, well what about 42 mph over a 40mph speed limit? I think the punishment should fit the crime no matter who the offender is, or their excuse, if there is an acceptable excuse without a crime, anyone should be able to use it, and I personally doubt a member of the public would get away with doing 82mph in a 40, no matter what the excuse, definately not for simply being late for a meeting.
The other case where the police officer was apparently testing out his patrol car, again if this was a member of the public after having brought a new car or changed something on their car, would this be accepted, NO it most certainly wouldn’t, they would be banned and also outcast by public for putting people’s lives in danger!
It is a discrace what somebody can get away with just because they are a Police Officer. I know this may not be all Police Officers, but with these two cases the reasons are not legitimate and they should have both had their licenses taken away, even if that meant them loosing their jobs. If Police can get away with something with a crap excuse then the normal public should be able to aswell, so unless the government want the public doing 159 mph on the motorway they shouldn’t allow the Police to get away with doing it without a good and genuine reason!
Well all i can say is the police rule, and its upto them if they wanna break the speed limit!!!
So if a police officer can do a 159mph on a test drive, can advanced drivers, piolts are use to speed, race drivers, so one who is use to driving the auto bar in Germany exempt from the law. Or do you need to have a police man qualifaction. I have noticed to police using mobile phone while driving, speed with out light, but the law backs the law, there was a case local to me where a police ranking officer hit a car whilst he was drunk, the owner of the parked car got nothing but harsment so the officer got off, 1 law for them and 0 tolorance ( or so it seems in Durham
My wife hit a police car that had crossed red lights fortunately no injuries.
The police had lights and sirens going. they have said they are going to examine the police cars black box, she was also aggresvely interviewed and breathalysed following the incident, (negative result). I am concerned that she will end up being blamed, ie police will look after their own.
Does anyone think that the Police are increasing the use of sirens in the middle of the night?
>The police had lights and sirens going. they have said they are going to >examine the police cars black box, she was also aggresvely interviewed >and breathalysed following the incident, (negative result).
Any money you like the Filth involved were not breathalysed. These people are corrupt from one end to the other and are assisted in being so by their chums the magistrates.
There is no doubt that this individual was taking the p***. He really should loose his job, loose his penison and loose his liberty. Of course non of these will happen as he is no doubt a maison and will be taken “care of”. It is a sad reflection of this country (republic of great britain and northern island???? I thin not - would that not need a consitutuion??? ) england that the police are really a law to themselves and that “normal” people are of a lower “class”. They will (along with the government) always look after themselves. Be it 159mph or WMD in iraq or innocent weapons inspectors murdered (but looking like suicide of course by MI6) , lies lies and more lies!!! Time to get out of here!!!!
This officer should be banned, fined, sacked and imprisoned.
This is exactly what has happened to members of tthe public who have travelled at these speeds on public roads.
If he needed to evaluate his new patrol car his superiors would have sent him to a race track.
Many owners of high performance cars do this as a matter of course, lots go to UK tracks and bikers and performance car owners go to the Nurburghring in Germany.
I cannot believe the gullibility of the magistrates/judges who have let this guy off - what do they think he was doing?
One look at him tells all - an arrogant show of with a mustache, purple shirt and lilac tie. What a class act!
Pulled onto a dual carriageway last year which had been redesignated a 50 zone. Drivng along when a bog standard police car joined the road and accelerated. Kept up with him, reaching 70mph and got in front of him at traffic lights. Got out and had a gentle word!! Its time that the police learned that there is only one law in this country. COol if its an emergency, otherwise the law is the law. Just emailed the constabulary involved to indictate my utter disgust with their appeal to have the office exonerated. TO me, he should be thankful he’s not in the clink cos thats where I would put him!
were can i find a legitemate source of the policeman doing 159mph beacause it is unbeliveable that a polieman could get away with commiting these offences when i might get banned for doing 52mph in a 30mph zone which is useually a 70mph duel carrigeway well past the road works that the 30mph limit was for wher there are no workman at anytime of the day anyway
Sorry this is precisely why the police are hated by people who used to support them. Do they come out when road racing occurs at the same time every week on the same road? Of course not. Do they do anything about people who don’t leave enough stopping distance or cut people up? Rarely. Do they go for people going slightly over the limit on dual carriageways artifcially set at 30mph. Yes - because it’s easy and they are hypocrites
the policeman who was doing 159 mph got let off no custodile sentence can you belive it this is a gr8 example of the police looking after there own it is just one form of coruption and it can only get worse more camares,fines,tickets,points and more police getting away with the crimes we the public get the book thrown at us for and while those 2 policemen are sitting there in there van preying on drivers criminals are preying on us the public just so they can get money to pay for more camaras
How can it be the police looking after their own?? The case was brought to the attention of the force in question by other police officers. The case was then referred to the Independant Police Complaints Commision (IPCC) who after investigating the incident made the decision to refer it the the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). The CPS then made the decision to take the matter to court and it would have been heard in front of a magistrate. The magistrate then made the decision. NOT the police!!!
I agree that the speeds were excessive, and in the vehicle he was driving, dangerous at speeds of 159mph. In realtion to people stating that he should have used a race track, this has a number of flaws for police driving. For officers to develop and practice high speed driving skills on a race track would not be benefically as it is a false environment. In order to be able to respond to emergencies, using public roads, then training has to take place on public roads. FACT!! As does training for the fire service and ambulance service, all of which will speed and contravene certain road traffic signals.
As for double standards, then yes their are officers out their who will drive unacceptably in police cars and their own personal cars, however the majority don’t and people only remember the cases when the police have been something wrong.
Any police or emergency driver that commits driving offences should be, and when evidence is available, will be dealt with the same as anyother member of the public. Their has to be evidence to be able to persue a court hearing too, as is the same with members of the public.
It’s high time the people of this country got together and did something about the dictators here. I always believed England was a democracy; not any more. We are nannied and hearded around like sheep. We are forced to live by laws which are twisted to suit those in positions of power. (What good is power if you can’t abuse it) is the police and judicial system motto!
As for the alleged police officer above and his comments I would like to know how the hell this person was allowed into the police force with such a poor level of gramma.
As far as I’m concerned the government is bent, the police are bent and the lords, judges and the whole judicial system is bent. We are rapidly moving towards anarchy and civil war in this country were these creatures will eventually pay the price for their involvement in the obvious corruption that is currently prevelant!
I hope I live long enough to see them all fall to a regiem that cares for the people it protects.
Sorry for the typo should read “Grammar”
and “regime”
I must brush up on my grammer
and hover a bit longer over the submit button.
Do unmarked police cars have to have their sirens/lights going if they are in pursuit and exceeding the speed limit? I was recently given a ticket by a police officer who had been following me for 3 miles on the motorway. I think this is incredibly unfair as I feel I was targeted due to my age and the fact that I was driving a nice company car.
I was recently driving down the A1 late at night, happily crusing at 70 MPH according to my Sat Nav system when a police range rover passed me doing probably in excess of 80 -85 MPH.
He had no sirens going, nor any lights flashing. The road was near enough deserted so he couldn’t have been following anyone?
Is this manover legal? If it had been the other way round surely i would have been elligable for a ticket? Or is it one rule for the police and one rule for everyone else?
I agree with most of what is said here. The police constantly misuse the law for their own purposes and the cost of keeping all these cars and equipment on the road, plus the upkeep of speed cameras and other equipment must be the main factor impacting on the way the police should operate. As a kid out at night and in a playful mood, it was not long before the beat bobby came around the corner and caught you.
Nowadays, the beat bobby is almost gone. Kids laugh at the law, and way too much of the resources available to the police are used in the pursuit of revenue from car crime. Car drivers have become the financier of all things completely unrelated to the car, and we are paying for anything and everything. We are just a cash cow for the country who should only be paying for the upkeep of what we use.
It cannot go on like this as the present levels of taxation and cost to the motorist cannot be excused indefinitely. Even the slow on the uptake British motorist will wise up eventually. As for the police, they should remember that they serve the public and respect even a speeder. They must be accountable for the wrong they do including the use of unnecessary speed without proper cause. Chasing someone not wishing to stop is more likely to cause an accident than prevent one. I think this type of pursuit should be stopped completely.
Time we got back to how it was when I was growing up. Coppers on the beat and on bikes. The number of police cars should be lowered and the money spent on getting more men on the streets. The knock on effects of doing this will help to lower crime of all sorts and probably also cause us to respect the police again, as it should be. I can’t understand how the common sense approach has been so misused, but it is clear evidence that the people making the decisions are completely out of touch with the rest of those who make up the majority of the countries population. Lets hope this changes before its too late, and before the quiet majority decide they have had enough and explode in riots and civil war. It will happen if things carry on this way and I don’t personally want to see it when it is so preventable.
Can anyone tell me if the police and ambulances are required to use sirens in the middle of the night, when the traffic levels are practically zero? I unfortunately live near an intersection and I’m woken up between the hours of 11pm and 3am (which is made even worse by the fact that I have to get up for work at 4am) by either a police vehicle or ambulance giving a quick burst of the siren as it passes through the intersection. Surely the blinding flashing lights are enough to alert motorists??
Miss Blakeley i constantly see police speeding without flashing lights or siren sounding. Have you got the point yet ? if not here it is POLICE SPEED WHILST NOT ATTENDING EMERGENCIES.
hmm some good points made by all, however lets see how all you anti police folk would re-act if we didnt have the police there to deal with crime.
perhaps next time you require an officer to attend your location urgently and it takes them 20 to 30 minutes to get there “as they dare not break the speed limit” then dont complain as its people like you that make our jobs more difficult.
ref, police.
What utter nonsense! you guys speed because it gives you the same buzz as it does to anyone else! if your attending an emergency with the sirens on and the lights flashing then fair enough, but when your showing off (just because you can) in your modified pig rockets on motorways, with inocent people and children in cars surrounding you. YOU SHOULD STICK TO THE SAME SPEED LIMITS AS EVERYONE ELSE!! NO EXCUSES!!
Can you beleive the cheek of the police with this issue??
Because i am seriously struggling to justify any of the defence put forward!
And the police wonder why the people of this country are alienated??
I will never help any police officer with there enquiries ever again, they have lost the support of myself and probably are large number of the public through their own pettiness and stupidity!!
It does seem as if there is a backlash to the oppression and tax gathering from the very people who keep the county solvent by going to work and moving the goods. It is a pity the Police are so aggressive at times with quite harmless people - It alienates them from the communities they should protect. So many people are now fined for trivia and all too often the really dangerous drivers on the road escape detection. As a young man in my motorcycling days I was always being stopped - for just being young and on a motorbike. Now I see my son suffering the same oppression. What quite horrifies me is the sensible option of simple peading guilty to disputed offences as innocence is inevitably more expensive. Just pay - it’s another tax and not worth the effort to fight.There are so many laws and so much bureaucracy that we will all eventually become some form of criminal through the very fact of being human and as such liable to make human errors. I expect we’ll all have a court account in a few years - pay into it by direct debit for the regular taxation of fines for being Homo sapiens. Pity none of the Politicians care to help - Antartica looks more attractive all the time!
you pigs take the utter piss as far as im concerd!!!!!! ref to the police officer above if you used your brain all the comments say we say fair enough if u have your sirenes and lights to speed to a location. hopfully u understand now!!!!!!!!!!!!! anyway w.t.f are u doin a 2.39am in the morning u should be asleep so you are fit to drive on the road the next day…..
The police in this country are a waste of time. They go after law abiding citizens instead of going after real crooks. someone nicks ya and he gets a slap on the wrist, we brake the speed limit slightly and end up with fines and points.
I ve seen loads of coppers speeding past me at high speeds no lights or sirens, probably showing off to the mate how fast they can drive. They make me sick. i do speed from time to time as every1 does but never dangerously. A few times i have been followed by a prat who thinks he can push me to speed. Always fails as i brake to make them back off or overtake.
I had a copper pull me for braking dangerously once whilst he was trying to make me brake the law. I told him to do me and i could complain bout him them. funny old thing he told me to take it easy and he went. Wish i had takin his details and complained about him.
I think the police should better spend their time catching real criminals. We have a Senior Police officer trying to bring back in hidden mobile speed cameras to catch us all out… why?? cos he thinks all we do is slow down when we approach one and then speed up after we have passed them…. instead of hiding cameras (entrapment) why doesnt he deter people by using the average speed ones?? anyway, heres a web site that you can check to see if you have any impending speeding tickets coming to you.. its http://www.i-database.co.uk
‘Boy racer’. Says it all really does it not.
Hi Police and Police 2, i have a very respected job get well paid so one on my hobbies is to make my car look good some ppl say im a boy racer but no i have done all my driver training with the fire service so can drive as well as you lot, i was driving down a country road a couple of days ago it was 10 at night so dark, when this ford fiesta pulled up behind me flashing its head lights and indicating to the left, there was no way i was pulling over but yet it continued to tail gate me making me go faster and faster to get away, ultimatly puttin my life and my passangers life in danger, eventualy we came into an area were i fealt it safe to slow down, the car took over me and i realised it was an unmarked police car so i promptly puled over, got out of the car and apologised for not pulling over as i didnt realise it was the police, but i was threatened with being arrested for failing to stop, dangerous driving and after explaining that i didnt realise it was police AS IT HAD NO BLUE LIGHTS OR SIRENS he threatened me with resisting arrest,
How can anyone justify putting the publics life in danger also is this legal for them to do this to me, i was not arrested but also was no apology given, his car was like a 1.2 fiesta which is less power than mine so he must of been pushing it, his exscuse for not having lites is they were on there way to pick a car up, Please some1 tell me if this is legal
Hi My sister’s just been hit by a speeding police car that had not blue lights or sirens. The police breathalysed her and appear to be trying to build a case against her. They have inteviewed witnesses but not her since the crash. They will not give out information on the police vehicle or driver involved.
Any advice on who to appraoch to put some pressure on them - police complaints, MP, laywer? is there a lobby group representing people injured or killed by police on 999 calls. My sister was the injured party but appears to be being treated like an offender.
thanks
lots of questions on here with very litle answers !! the police are very good at knowing what we should be driving like,but where is the public information on what the police should be driving like!!! there are quite a few officers who drive as they see fit because they know that the general public simply do not know what they can and can not do and i work for the (pca)