Stopped for no reason. Do I have to hang around?
Discussion
NinjaPower said:
I feel your pain.
I passed my test in early 1997 during the era of Max Power magazine, car theft, hot hatches, and £2500 insurance quotes...
Thanks to a perk of the family business I could insure anything from the day I passed my test, so I drove Golf GTi 16v's, Range Rovers, BMW 325i's, and heavily modified/custom stuff.
For reasons I cannot fathom, this seemed to be like a red rag to a bull where the police were concerned, and I was forever getting pulled and made to stand on the side of the road while they ran through the same questions: Is this your car? are you insured? Are the modifications declared? Can we see your licence? Where are you going to?
In case you are being serious they were pulling you over because 99 out of every 100 drivers of your age in one of the cars you mentioned were either not insured or had stolen it. That is why you got pulled so often.I passed my test in early 1997 during the era of Max Power magazine, car theft, hot hatches, and £2500 insurance quotes...
Thanks to a perk of the family business I could insure anything from the day I passed my test, so I drove Golf GTi 16v's, Range Rovers, BMW 325i's, and heavily modified/custom stuff.
For reasons I cannot fathom, this seemed to be like a red rag to a bull where the police were concerned, and I was forever getting pulled and made to stand on the side of the road while they ran through the same questions: Is this your car? are you insured? Are the modifications declared? Can we see your licence? Where are you going to?
Grunt Futtock said:
NinjaPower said:
I feel your pain.
I passed my test in early 1997 during the era of Max Power magazine, car theft, hot hatches, and £2500 insurance quotes...
Thanks to a perk of the family business I could insure anything from the day I passed my test, so I drove Golf GTi 16v's, Range Rovers, BMW 325i's, and heavily modified/custom stuff.
For reasons I cannot fathom, this seemed to be like a red rag to a bull where the police were concerned, and I was forever getting pulled and made to stand on the side of the road while they ran through the same questions: Is this your car? are you insured? Are the modifications declared? Can we see your licence? Where are you going to?
In case you are being serious they were pulling you over because 99 out of every 100 drivers of your age in one of the cars you mentioned were either not insured or had stolen it. That is why you got pulled so often.I passed my test in early 1997 during the era of Max Power magazine, car theft, hot hatches, and £2500 insurance quotes...
Thanks to a perk of the family business I could insure anything from the day I passed my test, so I drove Golf GTi 16v's, Range Rovers, BMW 325i's, and heavily modified/custom stuff.
For reasons I cannot fathom, this seemed to be like a red rag to a bull where the police were concerned, and I was forever getting pulled and made to stand on the side of the road while they ran through the same questions: Is this your car? are you insured? Are the modifications declared? Can we see your licence? Where are you going to?
Everyone I knew back then was licensed/insured/MOT'd precisely BECUASE the police at the time pulled a lot of people on a very regular basis. I hardly knew anyone who hadn't had a few 'producers'.
If I'm being honest, I just think they liked to harass youngsters in hot hatches and didn't really like the booming car and 'cruise' culture at the time.
I was even pulled one Saturday night after doing a couple of laps of the town and asked "what my purpose of being in town was"... I replied that I was simply out driving as I enjoyed driving in my car, and the reply I got was along the lines of "that's not a good enough reason, get yourself home right now, we don't want to catch you still driving about at 2am".
Looking back on it now, it pisses me off. If I hadn't been such a polite and well mannered 17 year old at the time, I would have told him to go f
k himself as I wasn't doing anything wrong and my car was 100% legal.I'm 35 now and still driving silly cars with tiny front number plates, wide wheels, carbon bodykits, loud pipes etc, the only difference is they are Porsches, and funnily enough, the police don't bother me these days... Must be an age thing
spookly said:
Red Devil said:
Mr E said:
(I was once stopped for"sounding fast, and a second time a few months later for "driving very sensibly". You're following me in a fully marked police car at 1am, would you prefer I tried to get the back out round a roundabout?)
I too was once stopped for just that, likewise well after midnight. The roads were almost deserted and I was sticking resolutely to the speed limit (30mph) which excited the officer's interest. As he told me during our conversation, he found my doing so "quite unusual round here at such an hour" and assumed it meant I was intoxicated! No chance, as I never have any drink containing alcohol when I know I'm going to be driving afterwards. k all once.On the way home from the birth of second child at 3 in the morning. Quite tired, so driving along a 50mph A road at 50mph on the cruise control, so probably marginally under 50mph in reality.
Saw a police car in my mirrors, about 3 miles later he pulled me over. Not amused. He asked me what speed I was doing, I said "you tell me, you've been following me for 3 miles". Then he asks if I have been drinking, and I said no. He then said he had reason to believe I had been drinking because of how I was driving, I offered to go to his car and look at any camera footage he had, and also informed him I hadn't had a drink in about 2 weeks. After that he gave up and told me I could go.
I understand that the laws allow the police to stop drivers for no reason, but when they do this they should realise it does not exactly build bridges with the public And many of the public don't have a great perception of policing already. I have very rarely ever been stopped, but if I was getting lots of HORT1's I would have been sending them complaints and considering legal action. Surely they only need to check License, Tax and MOT very periodically as these things don't magically expire.
Do producers even get issued anymore when they can use ANPR/DVLA/MID to verify License, Tax and insurance?
Probably could've answered your own question then.
pinchmeimdreamin said:
Am I the only person on PH who has never been stopped by the police 
It does make you wonder how some people manage to obtain sufficient HORT1s to wallpaper a room, having done nothing wrong. I have been driving for almost 20 years and never been issued anything, and only ever stopped once. Strange. That also includes years of driving my brothers fleet which is far more impressive than mine.
DBRacingGod said:
You do know that not all car thieves/unlicensed motorists drive like they want to be stopped, don't you? And that not every driver over the list sloshes from white line to white line? I suppose, knowing those things, you probably also know that nicked motors don't ping on PNC the second they're pinched?
Probably could've answered your own question then.
Yes, I know all those things. And I know they have powers to stop vehicles... does not mean they should without reason.Probably could've answered your own question then.
That still does not mean that I don't have a right to quiet enjoyment of my life without unwarranted interference from plod.
I certainly do not agree with them randomly stopping people for no reason other than fishing.
If I they do not have reason to believe I have done anything then they should f
k off and leave me alone. If they had had a report of a car similar to mine being stolen or something then I wouldn't have been so annoyed - it was that they were straight up wasting my time, and I was completely exhausted.When I was about 14 I was walking into town with a friend on a dark evening. Two coppers stopped us and started asking lots of questions. Told me they'd had a report that two people fitting our descriptions had stolen a TV from a house. I asked him to get a senior officer down to us or take us to the station and confirm that.... then they told us to get lost. Bulls
tting and fishing... I learnt at a young age just how willing they are to do that. Funny thing was my dad was a copper too, retired now, and he freely admits that kind of thing went on all the time.
When I was twenty I worked for my old chap during the summer break from Uni.
My folks owned a haulage company and my job consisted of getting into work at about 3am , opening the yard and warehouses and checking that the loads were correct to go out at around 5 or so.
There was only one route I could take from my parents to the motorway, and at about the same time and place, the same policeman stopped me. After the initial two stops during which he asked me for my licence, where I was going etc, he routinely stopped me every morning, just strolling over from his car, saying,'Hiya, Jim.', and looking in the back of the car then waving me on. This went on for a couple of weeks, not every morning, but 3 or four mornings a week.
I can't think why I thought this was okay, but I had been brought to respect the police and I guess I was afraid of being arrested or something.
I've often wondered what the hell he was doing it for, from an older and slightly wiser perspective.
My folks owned a haulage company and my job consisted of getting into work at about 3am , opening the yard and warehouses and checking that the loads were correct to go out at around 5 or so.
There was only one route I could take from my parents to the motorway, and at about the same time and place, the same policeman stopped me. After the initial two stops during which he asked me for my licence, where I was going etc, he routinely stopped me every morning, just strolling over from his car, saying,'Hiya, Jim.', and looking in the back of the car then waving me on. This went on for a couple of weeks, not every morning, but 3 or four mornings a week.
I can't think why I thought this was okay, but I had been brought to respect the police and I guess I was afraid of being arrested or something.
I've often wondered what the hell he was doing it for, from an older and slightly wiser perspective.
Mk3Spitfire said:
It does make you wonder how some people manage to obtain sufficient HORT1s to wallpaper a room, having done nothing wrong. I have been driving for almost 20 years and never been issued anything, and only ever stopped once. Strange.
Go back to being a 17 year old, and then proceed to drive round in something fairly outrageous on a Friday or Saturday night, and let me know how you get on.I would put money on you being pulled at some point despite not breaking any laws.
NinjaPower said:
Mk3Spitfire said:
It does make you wonder how some people manage to obtain sufficient HORT1s to wallpaper a room, having done nothing wrong. I have been driving for almost 20 years and never been issued anything, and only ever stopped once. Strange.
Go back to being a 17 year old, and then proceed to drive round in something fairly outrageous on a Friday or Saturday night, and let me know how you get on.I would put money on you being pulled at some point despite not breaking any laws.
The issue for young drivers is not being tugged once or twice but repeatedly. Once the relevant checks have been made and everything found to be in order that should be the end of it. As another poster mentioned it's not as if it will all suddenly change. The only possible justification I can think of is if the car has a marker for drugs or other suspected/known criminal activity.
Red Devil said:
The issue for young drivers is not being tugged once or twice but repeatedly. Once the relevant checks have been made and everything found to be in order that should be the end of it. As another poster mentioned it's not as if it will all suddenly change. The only possible justification I can think of is if the car has a marker for drugs or other suspected/known criminal activity.
Or could it just possibly be that they are enjoying the car and driving a little too enthusiastically or drawing attention to themselves in some way? We've all been young, and driving any car at 18 turns most kids into Dominic Toretto!Markers, is another possibility.
Mk3Spitfire said:
Or could it just possibly be that they are enjoying the car and driving a little too enthusiastically or drawing attention to themselves in some way? We've all been young, and driving any car at 18 turns most kids into Dominic Toretto!
Some, certainly, but most? That's pure assumption/speculation on your part. Am I right in thinking you're BiB? If so, it might explain a lot if that PoV is rife throughout the service. 18 is a distant memory for me. No F&tF back then. In fact Mark Sinclair wasn't even even a gleam in his mother's eye when I was that age.Red Devil said:
Mk3Spitfire said:
Or could it just possibly be that they are enjoying the car and driving a little too enthusiastically or drawing attention to themselves in some way? We've all been young, and driving any car at 18 turns most kids into Dominic Toretto!
Some, certainly, but most? That's pure assumption/speculation on your part. Am I right in thinking you're BiB? If so, it might explain a lot if that PoV is rife throughout the service. 18 is a distant memory for me. No F&tF back then. In fact Mark Sinclair wasn't even even a gleam in his mother's eye when I was that age.Mk3Spitfire said:
Red Devil said:
Mk3Spitfire said:
Or could it just possibly be that they are enjoying the car and driving a little too enthusiastically or drawing attention to themselves in some way? We've all been young, and driving any car at 18 turns most kids into Dominic Toretto!
Some, certainly, but most? That's pure assumption/speculation on your part. Am I right in thinking you're BiB? If so, it might explain a lot if that PoV is rife throughout the service. 18 is a distant memory for me. No F&tF back then. In fact Mark Sinclair wasn't even even a gleam in his mother's eye when I was that age.But in my experience it has happened for no good reason at all, even when not still a yoof.
Of course police need powers to be able to pull people over if there is a justification, the same for searching people on the street. But I strongly disagree with anyone being forced to have any contact with the police unless the police have reasonable grounds for suspecting they have committed a crime. Being young or out late at night is not IMHO reasonable grounds.
Yes, I know the police can pull anyone they want, but I strongly disagree with the idea that they should be able to.
spookly said:
Mk3Spitfire said:
Red Devil said:
Mk3Spitfire said:
Or could it just possibly be that they are enjoying the car and driving a little too enthusiastically or drawing attention to themselves in some way? We've all been young, and driving any car at 18 turns most kids into Dominic Toretto!
Some, certainly, but most? That's pure assumption/speculation on your part. Am I right in thinking you're BiB? If so, it might explain a lot if that PoV is rife throughout the service. 18 is a distant memory for me. No F&tF back then. In fact Mark Sinclair wasn't even even a gleam in his mother's eye when I was that age.But in my experience it has happened for no good reason at all, even when not still a yoof.
Of course police need powers to be able to pull people over if there is a justification, the same for searching people on the street. But I strongly disagree with anyone being forced to have any contact with the police unless the police have reasonable grounds for suspecting they have committed a crime. Being young or out late at night is not IMHO reasonable grounds.
Yes, I know the police can pull anyone they want, but I strongly disagree with the idea that they should be able to.
Vehicle use is different because it's a licenced activity & they can therefore check compliance at anytime.
Gassing Station | Speed, Plod & the Law | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff