Overtaking slow moving police cars on country roads...?
Discussion
CDP said:
Ricardo88 said:
I wouldn't bother either but most marked cars you see purposly drive slowly on country roads so they can pick out the impatient drivers likely to cause accidents.
As opposed to the arrogant, selfish people who crawl around without consideration of other road users and hold up queues of people which eventually leads to impatience and accidents.
wish I had a forklift fitted to my front, I'd use it to move the crawlers.When I passed my test in 1983, one of the last things my instructer said to me was, "don't drive like an idiot but do get a move on" I still drive by that!
snotrag said:
I'd be more inclined to make a proper, safe, legal overtake if it was a proper traffic car I think - as most trafpol seem to actually have a brain.
Couple of hyped up 22yr old I AM THE LAW Bobbies in an Astra - wouldnt bother.
+1Couple of hyped up 22yr old I AM THE LAW Bobbies in an Astra - wouldnt bother.
I have overtaken at least one police car without issues. Just don't try to disappear into the distance.
Bebee said:
CDP said:
Ricardo88 said:
I wouldn't bother either but most marked cars you see purposly drive slowly on country roads so they can pick out the impatient drivers likely to cause accidents.
As opposed to the arrogant, selfish people who crawl around without consideration of other road users and hold up queues of people which eventually leads to impatience and accidents. wish I had a forklift fitted to my front, I'd use it to move the crawlers.When I passed my test in 1983, one of the last things my instructer said to me was, "don't drive like an idiot but do get a move on" I still drive by that!
Ricardo88 said:
I wouldn't bother either but most marked cars you see purposly drive slowly on country roads so they can pick out the impatient drivers likely to cause accidents.
People don't just overtake because they are impatient though. The speed at which someone drives is not a measure of their patience and nor does it have much proven correlation with their ability to cause an accident. In fact, if I where a policeman, I'd be questioning the judgment of someone who, given a safe opportunity to do so, would not overtake a vehicle travelling slower than they wished to. What do they have to hide?
Not a country road, but a dual carriageway in Wales over take a Panda, who was doing 50 in a 70. Unfortunately 70 turned into a 50. As I cautiously crept passed Mr Welsh Policeman at an indicated 53 he started tooting and gesticulating.
He was a t
t of the highest order and it killed me having to be polite and contrite. He also claimed I was doing at least 60, which given that I was overtaking a police car, I knew was bks.
Ended up with a producer, and just to be awkward he insisted that it needed to be an original copy of the insurance certificate, which meant much phoning around the company to locate.
So no, unless they were going very slowly I would not bother. Cocktards.
He was a t
t of the highest order and it killed me having to be polite and contrite. He also claimed I was doing at least 60, which given that I was overtaking a police car, I knew was bks.Ended up with a producer, and just to be awkward he insisted that it needed to be an original copy of the insurance certificate, which meant much phoning around the company to locate.
So no, unless they were going very slowly I would not bother. Cocktards.
davidjpowell said:
Not a country road, but a dual carriageway in Wales over take a Panda, who was doing 50 in a 70. Unfortunately 70 turned into a 50. As I cautiously crept passed Mr Welsh Policeman at an indicated 53 he started tooting and gesticulating.
Unfortunately you were probably just over the 50.davidjpowell said:
He was a tt of the highest order
+1t of the highest orderOn my way to a cow with problems calving, saw a panda car ahead doing 40 in a 60, road clear so just indicated and maintained the 60 as I passed, immediate blue lights and flashing headlights, literally dragged into back seat, presumably as a demo of plod's masculinity to the wpc, "disgraceful, reckless, bend ahead, 30mph limit around the bend, could have been a car coming" etc none of which was of any value as none of it was true. "So, what excuse have you got for this speed?" "I'm on my way to calve a cow which is stuck trying to have its calf, so give me a ticket as I have no time to argue and I will see you in court" His face went rather grey and immediately said he would call me the next day to discuss my problem, let me on my way and never heard from again. And the cow had a healthy wee calf. Result! But rather annoying when I wasn't doing anything wrong, had seen said panda and carefully assessed my speed and the road ahead before choosing to overtake. I would do the same again in the same situation but not if I wasn't on my way to an urgent call.
CDP said:
Ricardo88 said:
I wouldn't bother either but most marked cars you see purposly drive slowly on country roads so they can pick out the impatient drivers likely to cause accidents.
As opposed to the arrogant, selfish people who crawl around without consideration of other road users and hold up queues of people which eventually leads to impatience and accidents.Edited by Ricardo88 on Friday 31st December 15:48
busta said:
Ricardo88 said:
I wouldn't bother either but most marked cars you see purposly drive slowly on country roads so they can pick out the impatient drivers likely to cause accidents.
People don't just overtake because they are impatient though. The speed at which someone drives is not a measure of their patience and nor does it have much proven correlation with their ability to cause an accident. In fact, if I where a policeman, I'd be questioning the judgment of someone who, given a safe opportunity to do so, would not overtake a vehicle travelling slower than they wished to. What do they have to hide?
I was driving along a country road with 2 cars infront of me a few months ago. Front car doing maybe 30 (NSL road). Come up to a straight bit, the middle car looks but doesn't go, I drop to 2nd and get past comfortably. 500 yards down the road blue and two's behind me and i'm pulled over. The middle car was an unmarked bib. Apparently there was a dog walking towards us on the otherside of the road making it dangerous to overtake. I'm pretty sure there was no dog, he just didn't like being overtaken. 5 mins in the back of the cop car, took on some driving advice, nodded and agreed and I was let on my way.
So, if I knew it was a police car would I have overtaken. No. Because chances are they will take offence to it.
So, if I knew it was a police car would I have overtaken. No. Because chances are they will take offence to it.
Of course I would overtake if it was safe to do so and I didn't overly break the speed limit to get past.
I'm not saying I'd overtake if they were doing 33 in a 40 but if they were doing less than 30 I probably would.
On the Motorway I will pass police at an indicated 80mph when they are sat at 65-70. (most people do don't they?)
They're local plod not the Stasi
I'm not saying I'd overtake if they were doing 33 in a 40 but if they were doing less than 30 I probably would.
On the Motorway I will pass police at an indicated 80mph when they are sat at 65-70. (most people do don't they?)
They're local plod not the Stasi
Edited by Wills2 on Friday 31st December 15:54
Edited by Wills2 on Friday 31st December 16:00
Ricardo88 said:
busta said:
Ricardo88 said:
I wouldn't bother either but most marked cars you see purposly drive slowly on country roads so they can pick out the impatient drivers likely to cause accidents.
People don't just overtake because they are impatient though. The speed at which someone drives is not a measure of their patience and nor does it have much proven correlation with their ability to cause an accident. In fact, if I where a policeman, I'd be questioning the judgment of someone who, given a safe opportunity to do so, would not overtake a vehicle travelling slower than they wished to. What do they have to hide?
In the middle of last year, i caught a panda car tailgating some old biddy doing 35mpg in a 60 limit B road, The panda car was right up the biddy's ass, and clearly causing the driver some distress as they wobbled around 'cause they were concentrating on the car behind not the road. So we get to a clear straight, wait for the biddy to stop wobbling in the lane, drop a gear, and woosh, past them both, didn't need to speed to do it. 5secs later, blues, sirens, panda car pulls out, forces an oncomming car to brake to avoid them, rockets up behind me and pulls me over! Copper gets out of car, and says, "want to check your id/car, as the only people who overtake us are normally joyriders trying to goad us into a chase!!!"
I said i just wanted to overtake and not get caught up with the slower car etc, and that was that, unfortunately, by now, said biddy had got past where we stopped, now with 5 cars in tow, non who were capable of overtaking (even at 35mph) so we all just sat in a que of cars nose to tail for the next 10 miles till they turned off. And you wonder why our roads are so congested!! ;-(
I said i just wanted to overtake and not get caught up with the slower car etc, and that was that, unfortunately, by now, said biddy had got past where we stopped, now with 5 cars in tow, non who were capable of overtaking (even at 35mph) so we all just sat in a que of cars nose to tail for the next 10 miles till they turned off. And you wonder why our roads are so congested!! ;-(
As a member of plod, i feel the need to put up a bit of a defense here...
Firstly, im not trafpol so cant comment fully on how one of them would deal with it, however, i appreciate the astra isnt fast, but it doesnt need to be. We're all human too, and sometimes i want to drive a bit slower, i might have a bit of time to spare, or whatever reason anyone else might drive a little slower than the speed limit.
If someone overtook me, as long as i was happy it was safe and concise, not reckless and done with some thought, thats good enough for me, i wouldnt even entertain pulling them over. If i see a biker behind me, and there's room to do it, i'll even creep over to the left a little bit to give him a better view of the road and make overtaking easier. He's a biker, he wants to get past, why dont i make it easier for him rather than him getting pissed off and going headfirst into a wagon. By doing this, when they do overtake, i often get a little wave of the hand to say thanks for showing the biker some consideration and being aware of them and their requirements.
If its rushed, dangerous, reckless etc, expect to see some blues. It annoys me when some bobbies make cocks of themselves for stopping people just to prove a point. When i stop someone, if its safety releated, i always give the same spiel about road safety, and i'll quote some figures and cases i know of, to try and prove to the driver the reason i stopped them (i do a cracking talk on mobile phone usage) and not just to shout at them, tell them they are crap and to bugger off. If i get a handshake after writing a ticket, i consider that a mild success, as i've done my job, provided some education to a driver, and hopefully left them with a (reasonable at least) impression of the fuzz.
One of the annoying things, is the people who see the police behind them, and feel the need to drop to 25mph in a 30. Whilst i appreciate this is safe and legal, and in certain environments, required, this sometimes creates problems for everyone else stacking up behind, and sometimes forces the impatient one to pull out, realise there's a cop car in the mix and slow down again. Even a speedo reading 30mph isnt actually doing 30mph, so if im behind you, feel free to do 32 or 33. I wont put you before the court for it...
Firstly, im not trafpol so cant comment fully on how one of them would deal with it, however, i appreciate the astra isnt fast, but it doesnt need to be. We're all human too, and sometimes i want to drive a bit slower, i might have a bit of time to spare, or whatever reason anyone else might drive a little slower than the speed limit.
If someone overtook me, as long as i was happy it was safe and concise, not reckless and done with some thought, thats good enough for me, i wouldnt even entertain pulling them over. If i see a biker behind me, and there's room to do it, i'll even creep over to the left a little bit to give him a better view of the road and make overtaking easier. He's a biker, he wants to get past, why dont i make it easier for him rather than him getting pissed off and going headfirst into a wagon. By doing this, when they do overtake, i often get a little wave of the hand to say thanks for showing the biker some consideration and being aware of them and their requirements.
If its rushed, dangerous, reckless etc, expect to see some blues. It annoys me when some bobbies make cocks of themselves for stopping people just to prove a point. When i stop someone, if its safety releated, i always give the same spiel about road safety, and i'll quote some figures and cases i know of, to try and prove to the driver the reason i stopped them (i do a cracking talk on mobile phone usage) and not just to shout at them, tell them they are crap and to bugger off. If i get a handshake after writing a ticket, i consider that a mild success, as i've done my job, provided some education to a driver, and hopefully left them with a (reasonable at least) impression of the fuzz.
One of the annoying things, is the people who see the police behind them, and feel the need to drop to 25mph in a 30. Whilst i appreciate this is safe and legal, and in certain environments, required, this sometimes creates problems for everyone else stacking up behind, and sometimes forces the impatient one to pull out, realise there's a cop car in the mix and slow down again. Even a speedo reading 30mph isnt actually doing 30mph, so if im behind you, feel free to do 32 or 33. I wont put you before the court for it...
Edited by Acheron on Friday 31st December 17:45
Edited by Acheron on Friday 31st December 17:45
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