Speeding on M6 Toll - Need a Motoring Lawyer

Speeding on M6 Toll - Need a Motoring Lawyer

Author
Discussion

Steffan

10,362 posts

227 months

Saturday 30th August 2014
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VonSenger said:
My cousin was convicted for 125mph on the m6 toll last Tuesday. 6 points and £1200 fine. No lawyer, he just put his hands up, said he was a nob but needs his license for the commute. Very lucky.
From memory there is a driver still with licence who reached more than 30 points on hs UK license and was still legally OTR. Your friend was treated very fairly and showed genuine contrition. The bench acted leniently giving your friend another chance. I hope he takes this seriouslyt. This s much more common than most motorists realise banning employed drivers who debt n their licences for employment with reasonable records are treated reasonably frequently.

It is very easy and very annoying when minor errors as in 35 in a 30 limit are reported and auctioned. However travelling in excess of 100 mph anywhere in the UK is not a minor error. Travelling at any speed thereafter is really pushing you licenced luck. I used to do ths long ago but the sheer volume of traffic and numpties OTR generally has made me realise that the days of serious speeding in the UK are over.

Cars can easily reach 170 in theory. Few paces you can do ths legally except on tracks and getting fewer still. I do not wish to be a killjoy but I do think a general rethink on the sensibilities of serious speeding on ordinary roads are overdue and seriously needed. It may seem like huge fun but not to any reasonably grounded driver, IMO. This s only going one way.

hondafanatic

4,969 posts

200 months

Saturday 30th August 2014
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LoonR1 said:
They aren't easy but there are some tell tale signs. Very clean, low spec even on the outside but high performance in the engine dept. Look through the car and there's a bit of clutter around the rear view mirror. No stickers in the rear window. Just too clean. These all seem to set my spidey sense tingling which has worked well for 15 years now.
It's similar to the police programs I watch when they talk about 'feeling' something is wrong but don't know what until they investigate.

It's the way they are driven, normally in Lane 1 like stealthy predators.

There's a really well "unmarked" BMW 5 series in Lancaster. I watched it pull a car over; all the lights were so well integrated into the existing light clusters there was literally nothing giving it away.

blueg33

35,574 posts

223 months

Saturday 30th August 2014
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LoonR1 said:
They aren't easy but there are some tell tale signs. Very clean, low spec even on the outside but high performance in the engine dept. Look through the car and there's a bit of clutter around the rear view mirror. No stickers in the rear window. Just too clean. These all seem to set my spidey sense tingling which has worked well for 15 years now.
Yep, and sometimes an additional small antenna

Snowboy

8,028 posts

150 months

Saturday 30th August 2014
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Dammit said:
Well, I've learned from this thread that my assumption that 100+ was a 12 month ban is totally wrong.

Did it ever used to be, or have I made that up?
Iirc, over 100 used to be a threshold for some sort of dangerous driving charge if plod felt like throwing the book at you.
Although that could be just myth and legend.

LoonR1

26,988 posts

176 months

Saturday 30th August 2014
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It used to be the warning mark that people in the pub spoke about ie no substantive truth.

Effectively the view was over 100 and you're getting banned which is very likely. But 96 is just as bad, there's no automatic ban threshold and there's no automatic minimum penalty of 12 months either.

Zedboy1200

813 posts

210 months

Saturday 30th August 2014
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Vipers said:
tenpenceshort said:
I could go weeks without seeing a marked or unmarked traffic car.
Are "Unmarked cars that easy to spot",


I only use motorways once a year, hence the questions, what make them so easy to spot?




smile
Bit more difficult now the clutch of roof aerials have been replaced by smarter technology....but easy in the winter...they're the only clean ones!

Snowboy

8,028 posts

150 months

Saturday 30th August 2014
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I'm pretty sure that (in Devon at least) 70-99 was a roadside ticket but 100+ was a court appearance..
That might be what's caused the other myths.

Sheepshanks

32,520 posts

118 months

Saturday 30th August 2014
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0000 said:
I thought 96 was the ACPO guideline for a court appearance?
It is, but not all forces are signed up to the ACPO guidelines. Devon and Cornwall is, though. Dorset isn't.

Gargamel

14,957 posts

260 months

Sunday 31st August 2014
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Zedboy1200 said:
Bit more difficult now the clutch of roof aerials have been replaced by smarter technology....but easy in the winter...they're the only clean ones!
Some now have assertions, led lights fitted onto the wind mirrors. a these are white when off.

Subtle.

Normally it is the lack of stickers that is the biggest clue. Though I often look to see if the driver has a white shirt on.....

Projectx

108 posts

162 months

Sunday 31st August 2014
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Vipers said:
Are "Unmarked cars that easy to spot",

I only use motorways once a year, hence the questions, what make them so easy to spot?
smile
Extra wing mirror sometimes. Look at the driver and passenger for uniform. "Clutter" in windscreen gives it away. Also the type of car aswell - always cautious when I see a clean bmw or skoda or vauxhall of a certain series model and check the driver.


jmorgan

36,010 posts

283 months

Sunday 31st August 2014
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Projectx said:
"Clutter" in windscreen gives it away.
Hell, most white van persons are unmarked then..........


The rise in dash cams is making this harder. Not that I need to worry.

Elroy Blue

8,686 posts

191 months

Sunday 31st August 2014
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Zedboy1200 said:
Bit more difficult now the clutch of roof aerials have been replaced by smarter technology....but easy in the winter...they're the only clean ones!
Not when it's so cold the tap freezes up. (Our carwash was taken away years ago)

Good luck to you if you can spot an unmarked car. Fact is 99.99% of people are oblivious to a marked car.

turbobloke

103,739 posts

259 months

Sunday 31st August 2014
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Elroy Blue said:
Zedboy1200 said:
Bit more difficult now the clutch of roof aerials have been replaced by smarter technology....but easy in the winter...they're the only clean ones!
Not when it's so cold the tap freezes up. (Our carwash was taken away years ago)

Good luck to you if you can spot an unmarked car. Fact is 99.99% of people are oblivious to a marked car.
That may be true but the minority of people not in that category find it easy. Apart from the expected makes of car, colour, and occupant appearance for starters, those modern l.e.d. light strips on bumpers are easy to spot when present, in the old days the glass on blue lights would glint from behind front grilles whereas nowadays there's a couple of dark rectangular 'shadows', a camera hanging from the wing mirror or screen top corner may be MoP with a dashcam but the posibility is there, two rear view mirrors with one for the passenger, curious sun visor size or shape, funny looking rear parcel shelf, rear light cluster with more clear sections than usual. Etc. Even with au naturelle clapped out old bangers there's driving style to consider. I'm sure you get the picture as clearly as the 0.01% of motorists do wink

Sheepshanks

32,520 posts

118 months

Sunday 31st August 2014
quotequote all
Projectx said:
Extra wing mirror sometimes. Look at the driver and passenger for uniform. "Clutter" in windscreen gives it away. Also the type of car aswell - always cautious when I see a clean bmw or skoda or vauxhall of a certain series model and check the driver.
I quite frequently use the M40 during the day (between rush-hours) when it's not so busy and the tactic for the unmarked cars seems to be to drive very fast (I reckon 130MPH) and then pick someone up and follow them at a distance before catching and stopping them. So the first time you'd see the unmarked car is when it lights up.

Seen it several times now. The obvious answer is to drive even faster than they do!

tenpenceshort

32,880 posts

216 months

Sunday 31st August 2014
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Sheepshanks said:
I quite frequently use the M40 during the day (between rush-hours) when it's not so busy and the tactic for the unmarked cars seems to be to drive very fast (I reckon 130MPH) and then pick someone up and follow them at a distance before catching and stopping them. So the first time you'd see the unmarked car is when it lights up.

Seen it several times now. The obvious answer is to drive even faster than they do!
If you're going to drive at high speed, be very wary of someone appearing quickly in your rear view mirror. More prudent to slow and let it past than to sit there wondering what it is, why is it wanting to travel faster than you, and staring in your mirror more than you ought to as you do it (at high speed).

anonymous-user

53 months

Sunday 31st August 2014
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If ever I am speeding on a motorway and see a car that is well back but keeping a pretty exact pace with me I move over and slow down ASAP.

Given that I not uncommonly sit behind someone else going fast, well back (tailgating is a deeply tttish thing) and at the same speed, I probably send out as many false signals as I receive.

Sheepshanks

32,520 posts

118 months

Sunday 31st August 2014
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tenpenceshort said:
If you're going to drive at high speed, be very wary of someone appearing quickly in your rear view mirror. More prudent to slow and let it past than to sit there wondering what it is, why is it wanting to travel faster than you, and staring in your mirror more than you ought to as you do it (at high speed).
I used to work with a guy whose brother was GMP traffic cop and they used to goad people on the M62 into going faster and then pull them over.

I don't know if it's still the case, but he told me Lancashire Police won't stop anyone on the motorway at night as it's considered too dangerous.

Edited by Sheepshanks on Sunday 31st August 13:33

Sheepshanks

32,520 posts

118 months

Sunday 31st August 2014
quotequote all
Breadvan72 said:
If ever I am speeding on a motorway and see a car that is well back but keeping a pretty exact pace with me I move over and slow down ASAP.

Given that I not uncommonly sit behind someone else going fast, well back (tailgating is a deeply tttish thing) and at the same speed, I probably send out as many false signals as I receive.
I do exactly the same! Ideal scenario is to get in the middle - although I did see one of those Police programmes where they pulled both drivers and speed checked the front one by using the assumption that it was going at the same speed as the second car.

Elroy Blue

8,686 posts

191 months

Sunday 31st August 2014
quotequote all
Sheepshanks said:
I used to work with a guy whose brother was GMP traffic cop and they used to goad people on the M62 into going faster and then pull them over.

I don't know if it's still the case, but he told me Lancashire Police won't stop anyone on the motorway at night as it's considered too dangerous.

Edited by Sheepshanks on Sunday 31st August 13:33
A man's, brother's, uncles, nephew. Always love those kind of stories. Never a truer word spoken. Particularly like the 'won't stop anyone on the m/way at night' bit. Proves his story is totally accurate. (I must have been doing it wrong all these years)

There's absolutely no need to 'goad' anybody into speeding. Plenty of people manage to do three figures all by themselves. Usually oblivious to the marked 5 series travelling behind them for the last couple of miles.


turbobloke

103,739 posts

259 months

Sunday 31st August 2014
quotequote all
Elroy Blue said:
Sheepshanks said:
I used to work with a guy whose brother was GMP traffic cop and they used to goad people on the M62 into going faster and then pull them over.

I don't know if it's still the case, but he told me Lancashire Police won't stop anyone on the motorway at night as it's considered too dangerous.
Plenty of people manage to do three figures all by themselves. Usually oblivious to the marked 5 series travelling behind them for the last couple of miles.
Failing to look in rear view mirrors, a common offence wink