Motorway Dangers
Discussion
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I do recognise that the police force that we have, could be an awful lot worse, and that the majority of police officers start off in the job with the best of intentions.
Let me give you an example of the dwindling man power within my local force at the division I used to work. (no names etc for the obvious reasin but all true).
Early 1990 in a largeish city up north. Shift size about 20 men and women on front line duties. Which gave us 5 double crewed patrol cars, 2 vans double crewed and the remaining officers either in plain cars or walking the city centre. A shift of young enthusiastic people keen to catch burglarers, car theives, drink drivers etc.
Twelve years later the same division but now busyer than ever has about 8 officers on a good day, and frequently has only two working nights to cover the same area.
You think I'm joking think again, this comes from the lads who I know still working. There's no better time to be a villian.
Just received an Email from a mate of mine. His Lotus Excel was stolen from a car park in Bristol, it had been logged by the police as burnt out before he had a chance to notify them. Give the police more man power, more resources, and a bit more support, and maybe together we can do something about the problems in our society. If not things are going to get very bad indeed!
M73 empty road , early on a Saturday morning , no aggravating circumstances, I was in the outside lane , headlights on , and plod hidden out of site on overhead bridge at Junction 17 (Lockerbie) who clocked me at 115mph. I was very polite to the officer - I thought I would get off due to reasonable mitigating circumstances (i.e in a hurry to make last visit to close relative who was dying in Glasgow Royal infirmary ) - however 5 months after the NIP ,they proceeded to charge me with Dangerouse driving for no other reason but for my speed . The Police claimed there were 'potential' dangers from animals wandering onto the motorway and also the possiblities of lorries shedding their tyres and causing a hazard - these guys really scraped the bottom of the barrel to bring a charge of dangerouse driving against me , as none of these hazards were evident on the day they caught me !!!
Anyway I got a lawyer , pleaded Not Guilty , attended the sherrif court but was unsuccessful in my plea . The sherrif found me guilty , banned me for 1 year + £250 fine and I need to resit my driving test - this penanlty is just ludicrous for the crime - I've being driving for 29 years with only 2 minor speeding convictions - Ok I deserved a ban - but not a year!!The application of the law and punishments is so inconsistent in the UK and there's usually less severe punishments for people going much faster in other parts of the country - seems that the Dumfries and Galloway police force are too zealous and go for the jugular.
Anyway I got a lawyer , pleaded Not Guilty , attended the sherrif court but was unsuccessful in my plea . The sherrif found me guilty , banned me for 1 year + £250 fine and I need to resit my driving test - this penanlty is just ludicrous for the crime - I've being driving for 29 years with only 2 minor speeding convictions - Ok I deserved a ban - but not a year!!The application of the law and punishments is so inconsistent in the UK and there's usually less severe punishments for people going much faster in other parts of the country - seems that the Dumfries and Galloway police force are too zealous and go for the jugular.
quote:
M73 empty road , early on a Saturday morning , no aggravating circumstances, I was in the outside lane , headlights on , and plod hidden out of site on overhead bridge at Junction 17 (Lockerbie) who clocked me at 115mph. I was very polite to the officer - I thought I would get off due to reasonable mitigating circumstances (i.e in a hurry to make last visit to close relative who was dying in Glasgow Royal infirmary ) - however 5 months after the NIP ,they proceeded to charge me with Dangerouse driving for no other reason but for my speed . The Police claimed there were 'potential' dangers from animals wandering onto the motorway and also the possiblities of lorries shedding their tyres and causing a hazard - these guys really scraped the bottom of the barrel to bring a charge of dangerouse driving against me , as none of these hazards were evident on the day they caught me !!!
Anyway I got a lawyer , pleaded Not Guilty , attended the sherrif court but was unsuccessful in my plea . The sherrif found me guilty , banned me for 1 year + £250 fine and I need to resit my driving test - this penanlty is just ludicrous for the crime - I've being driving for 29 years with only 2 minor speeding convictions - Ok I deserved a ban - but not a year!!The application of the law and punishments is so inconsistent in the UK and there's usually less severe punishments for people going much faster in other parts of the country - seems that the Dumfries and Galloway police force are too zealous and go for the jugular.
Dunno what happened in that last quote. (I blame those Jet errors I keep getting). Anyway, what I meant to say was...
Wasn't there a guy who was done for dangerous driving for doing over a ton in an X5 (or similar). He took a BMW engineer to court with him who told the beaks that the car was designed to be driven safely at that speed (German auobahns and all that). Apparently, the court accepted this, and the guy got off scot-free 'cos they'd neglected to charge him with speeding.
quote:
they proceeded to charge me with Dangerouse driving for no other reason but for my speed .
Wasn't there a guy who was done for dangerous driving for doing over a ton in an X5 (or similar). He took a BMW engineer to court with him who told the beaks that the car was designed to be driven safely at that speed (German auobahns and all that). Apparently, the court accepted this, and the guy got off scot-free 'cos they'd neglected to charge him with speeding.
As a side note, my lawyer told me that the presiding Sherrif on my case had previously overseen another Dangerous Driving case for speeding at 125mph on the M73 last Oct ; He found the defendent Not Guilty , however the CPS appealed against the Sherrif's decision and the Not Guilty ruling was overturned - and Sherrif suffered the 'embarrassment' of having his decision being overuled by the big wigs in the Appeal court in Edinburgh. So it seems to get caught above 100 mph on the M73 motorway in Dumfries and Galloway region will find the driver getting charged with Dangerous driving with a high probablity of getting a conviction irrespective of the circumstances when it goes to court.
So the lesson is dont speed in Dumfries & Galloway region !!!
Cie la Vie
So the lesson is dont speed in Dumfries & Galloway region !!!
Cie la Vie
Re: the original point, I'd far rather come across a police car doing 60mph on the motorway, so that everyone can show deference by passing at 70 and making their merry way onwards after that, than a police car doing 70 which everyone was afraid to overtake, causing a longer jam. 60 is a great speed for a motorway police car, and I would have no problem with them prosecuting any driver that sped past without acknowledging the police's presence with his speed (albeit briefly). Those who decelerate, even momentarily, deserve reward for their observational powers!
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Those who decelerate, even momentarily, deserve reward for their observational powers!
Some years ago a colleague of mine was busted by a marked car. The officer told him "I wouldn't have bothered but your brake lights came on when you saw me so you obviously knew you were speeding"
C'est la vie
Where I work we're told to drive at 50mph on Mways during routine patrol. That way cars can flow past as well as HGV's.
Outlaw, your comments amuse me, you seem to have a huge chip on your shoulder. You as a criminal (ex) must know what a hard and normally impossible job the Police do. It appears from your attitude that your hell bent on making it worse. Why?
Regards
Rob
Outlaw, your comments amuse me, you seem to have a huge chip on your shoulder. You as a criminal (ex) must know what a hard and normally impossible job the Police do. It appears from your attitude that your hell bent on making it worse. Why?
Regards
Rob
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