Advice re: circumstances of being caught speeding
Discussion
7db said:
Have learnt myself how law enforcement is abused to raise cash...
By which I assume you were caught doing something illegal?
Yep - have reeled the old anecdote off a few times but once mistook a 30 for an NSL in Scotland in '98 and learnt the Lamp Post rule first hand courtesy a couple of Bib hiding in the bushes.
Later found out from the locals and a friend from back home who'd also been done on that stretch a few years earlier that the police regularly put traps there (straight road running across heathland with one or 2 houses a long way back from the road). Would have though some additional signing would have prevented the carnage if road safety was such an issue. But that's not the law is it?
Boss was outraged with the police by this - wrote a couple of stinking letters to various authorities and payed my fine (£120 - kerching).
I'm sure the Procurator Fiscal could afford some lovely flock wallpaper with the proceeds!
Don't know if this helps, but when I was on my IAM driving test I overtook 3 cars who were doing around 40mph on a single carriageway NSL. I followed all the rules about safe overtaking and was quite pleased with myself until I pulled back in and looked down at my speedo which was reading 70mph (ie 10mph over).
I thought the examiner (a class 1 police driver) might fail me for that, but instead he said 'That was nice' and gave no indication that he had noticed my speed.
He had of course, and at the end he commented on it and said he had expected me to go a lot faster! He passed me
Moral of the story? Well if you can get a police driver on-side and there is some proof of why you had to exceed the limit (photos) then maybe a sympathetic magistrate will dismiss the charge. Chances are you'll end up with 3 points and a bigger fine though.
It's obvious now that you should have simply rammed the cock off the road for attempting to block your overtake.
I never look at my speedo while overtaking (only before).
I thought the examiner (a class 1 police driver) might fail me for that, but instead he said 'That was nice' and gave no indication that he had noticed my speed.
He had of course, and at the end he commented on it and said he had expected me to go a lot faster! He passed me
Moral of the story? Well if you can get a police driver on-side and there is some proof of why you had to exceed the limit (photos) then maybe a sympathetic magistrate will dismiss the charge. Chances are you'll end up with 3 points and a bigger fine though.
It's obvious now that you should have simply rammed the cock off the road for attempting to block your overtake.
I never look at my speedo while overtaking (only before).
leosayer said:
Don't know if this helps, but when I was on my IAM driving test I overtook 3 cars who were doing around 40mph on a single carriageway NSL. I followed all the rules about safe overtaking and was quite pleased with myself until I pulled back in and looked down at my speedo which was reading 70mph (ie 10mph over).
I thought the examiner (a class 1 police driver) might fail me for that, but instead he said 'That was nice' and gave no indication that he had noticed my speed.
He had of course, and at the end he commented on it and said he had expected me to go a lot faster! He passed me
Oh I do like a story with a happy ending.
Best wishes all,
Dave.
I checked ahead twice by moving over almost to the lines. The road was clear ahead.
Nothing was going to overtake from behind.
The car in question, which I didn't get the reg of because I didn't think for a minute I had been flashed by the camera in the van, was full of junk meaning that the van ahead probably wasn't visible anyway to me. And a white van doesn't immediately strike me as potential danger even if I had seen it. Of course, it would have posed no danger to my licence if the car in question had not intentionally speeded up. All the signs up to the point of coming alongside the car were of a successful overtake with no worries about breaking the law.
I did not accelerate hard because the circumstances did not warrant it, and I was in fifth gear so when he accelerated, even with a TVR, I wasn't going to just blast ahead. If I had dropped down a gear, it would have been more than likely I'd have been clocked at 70 and not 64.
Nothing was going to overtake from behind.
The car in question, which I didn't get the reg of because I didn't think for a minute I had been flashed by the camera in the van, was full of junk meaning that the van ahead probably wasn't visible anyway to me. And a white van doesn't immediately strike me as potential danger even if I had seen it. Of course, it would have posed no danger to my licence if the car in question had not intentionally speeded up. All the signs up to the point of coming alongside the car were of a successful overtake with no worries about breaking the law.
I did not accelerate hard because the circumstances did not warrant it, and I was in fifth gear so when he accelerated, even with a TVR, I wasn't going to just blast ahead. If I had dropped down a gear, it would have been more than likely I'd have been clocked at 70 and not 64.
GI said:
I checked ahead twice by moving over almost to the lines. The road was clear ahead.
Almost to the kerb lines on the RHS of the road, or just to the centre line? If just the centre line, then can I suggest you were about 10 feet too far in?
>> Edited by 7db on Saturday 6th August 08:53
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