Dangerous plod on M40 . . .
Dangerous plod on M40 . . .
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George111

Original Poster:

6,930 posts

281 months

Saturday 11th July 2015
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Heading up the M40 on Thursday afternoon enjoying the sun and the great countryside, in the middle lane overtaking some trucks in lane 1 when a van pulls into lane 2 so I lift slightly and wait for a chance to overtake. Three cars come past in lane 3 at about 80-85 mph (I'm doing about 65 in lane 2, down from my previous 70) . . . there's a fourth car at least 10 car lengths behind the first three so I pull out into quite a large gap, accelerate to about 75 then get ready to pull back in only to find the fourth car chose to accelerate and is now about an inch away from my bumper . . . had he kept his speed constant or even just lifted gently I'd have easily been back in lane 2 by the time he arrived.

Pretty typical actions of a kno&ber you might think ? I did . . . so as I pulled back in I gave the coffee beans sign . . . only for that car to be an unmarked police car.

I got pulled over and cop1, the driver, who looked about 14, started babbling on about needing to give 100m to every vehicle as that's the stopping distance at 70mph. So I asked why he was a matter of inches off my bumper and he then launches into a spiel about how he was chasing the dangerous driver ahead and how I'd interrupted his pursuit. (Like I'd forced him to stop) He also said he didn't like being called a wan*er but didn't disagree that his behaviour would lead people to think he was driving like one.

He also said that in the USA I'd have been shot for doing that but, fortunately, reassured me that he wasn't going to do that today ! (Oh good smile )

The conversation carried on for a few minutes but he didn't ever have an answer why he was inches away from me and instead offered to give me a ticket for speeding and public order offence but was obviously never going to do that because his driving would be criticised in court when he submitted the on board video. (I didn't get a ticket for anything)

So once again, another disappointing interaction with plod, why do they feel the need to act like a complete tw*t ? Everybody else was simply going about their business and even the car he claimed to be chasing was a good distance behind the car in front (not 100m) and they were only doing 80ish which is common and perfectly safe, especially in the good weather on a reasonably clear motorway - far worse happens every day.

When he pulled away he immediately moved to lane 3 and was bullying a Prius which he pulled over about 30s later, probably for speeding at a very dangerous 75mph which lane 3 was doing at that point.

So be careful on the M40, dark grey Volvo S80 D5 driven by a knob*er who's got a tremendous ego and seems to believe in zero tolerance. Lets hope he grows up a bit over the coming years.

(Yes, plod fanboys, shoot me down . . . sticks and stones smile )


supertouring

2,228 posts

263 months

Saturday 11th July 2015
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Zero tolerance, but you did not get a ticket? Isn't that One Tolerance?

Mk3Spitfire

2,921 posts

158 months

Saturday 11th July 2015
quotequote all
George111 said:
Heading up the M40 on Thursday afternoon enjoying the sun and the great countryside, in the middle lane overtaking some trucks in lane 1 when a van pulls into lane 2 so I lift slightly and wait for a chance to overtake. Three cars come past in lane 3 at about 80-85 mph (I'm doing about 65 in lane 2, down from my previous 70) . . . there's a fourth car at least 10 car lengths behind the first three so I pull out into quite a large gap, accelerate to about 75 then get ready to pull back in only to find the fourth car chose to accelerate and is now about an inch away from my bumper . . . had he kept his speed constant or even just lifted gently I'd have easily been back in lane 2 by the time he arrived.

Pretty typical actions of a kno&ber you might think ? I did . . . so as I pulled back in I gave the coffee beans sign . . . only for that car to be an unmarked police car.

I got pulled over and cop1, the driver, who looked about 14, started babbling on about needing to give 100m to every vehicle as that's the stopping distance at 70mph. So I asked why he was a matter of inches off my bumper and he then launches into a spiel about how he was chasing the dangerous driver ahead and how I'd interrupted his pursuit. (Like I'd forced him to stop) He also said he didn't like being called a wan*er but didn't disagree that his behaviour would lead people to think he was driving like one.

He also said that in the USA I'd have been shot for doing that but, fortunately, reassured me that he wasn't going to do that today ! (Oh good smile )

The conversation carried on for a few minutes but he didn't ever have an answer why he was inches away from me and instead offered to give me a ticket for speeding and public order offence but was obviously never going to do that because his driving would be criticised in court when he submitted the on board video. (I didn't get a ticket for anything)

So once again, another disappointing interaction with plod, why do they feel the need to act like a complete tw*t ? Everybody else was simply going about their business and even the car he claimed to be chasing was a good distance behind the car in front (not 100m) and they were only doing 80ish which is common and perfectly safe, especially in the good weather on a reasonably clear motorway - far worse happens every day.

When he pulled away he immediately moved to lane 3 and was bullying a Prius which he pulled over about 30s later, probably for speeding at a very dangerous 75mph which lane 3 was doing at that point.

So be careful on the M40, dark grey Volvo S80 D5 driven by a knob*er who's got a tremendous ego and seems to believe in zero tolerance. Lets hope he grows up a bit over the coming years.

(Yes, plod fanboys, shoot me down . . . sticks and stones smile )
Are you mates with Black Mamba?

bitchstewie

68,162 posts

240 months

Saturday 11th July 2015
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Moral of the story seems to be don't act like Gareth Hunt?

johnS2000

458 posts

202 months

Saturday 11th July 2015
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So basically , you cut up a car that happened to be an unmarked cop !!

And got away with it .

Durzel

12,999 posts

198 months

Saturday 11th July 2015
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George111 said:
So once again, another disappointing interaction with plod
Funny how it's always the same people who end up being pulled, and by bizarre coincidence also have an anti-Police attitude? I haven't been pulled for years, and never been threatened of having a public order offence. I must just be lucky I guess.

ORD

18,205 posts

157 months

Saturday 11th July 2015
quotequote all
johnS2000 said:
So basically , you cut up a car that happened to be an unmarked cop !!

And got away with it .
Not what the OP said at all! We might think he isn't giving a fair account, but he makes pretty clear that there was no cutting-up involved.

Mk3Spitfire

2,921 posts

158 months

Saturday 11th July 2015
quotequote all
ORD said:
johnS2000 said:
So basically , you cut up a car that happened to be an unmarked cop !!

And got away with it .
Not what the OP said at all! We might think he isn't giving a fair account, but he makes pretty clear that there was no cutting-up involved.
He's unlikely to say he did, now is he?

heebeegeetee

30,206 posts

278 months

Saturday 11th July 2015
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ORD said:
johnS2000 said:
So basically , you cut up a car that happened to be an unmarked cop !!

And got away with it .
Not what the OP said at all! We might think he isn't giving a fair account, but he makes pretty clear that there was no cutting-up involved.
Agreed. The cop represented the type of driver who baulks overtakers, which is why we have so much lane hogging.

Sheepshanks

41,246 posts

149 months

Saturday 11th July 2015
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I always wonder what would happen if you cautioned a cop?

One nearly crashed head-on into me and then spun round and stopped me. I don't think anyone under about 40yrs old would get away with it, but I gave him a massive bking about his driving and he backed down completely.

Countdown

49,519 posts

226 months

Saturday 11th July 2015
quotequote all
heebeegeetee said:
ORD said:
johnS2000 said:
So basically , you cut up a car that happened to be an unmarked cop !!

And got away with it .
Not what the OP said at all! We might think he isn't giving a fair account, but he makes pretty clear that there was no cutting-up involved.
Agreed. The cop represented the type of driver who baulks overtakers, which is why we have so much lane hogging.
OP says the Police car was 10 car lengths behind, so roughly 50 yards? I suppose it depends on what the speed differential was between OP and PoliceCar but, if the PC was in pursuit there could have been a significant speed differential between the two.

Playing devil's advocate - how many times do we see people changing lanes with a "tough 5h1t here i come" attitude?

Bigyoke

152 posts

162 months

Saturday 11th July 2015
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[quote=Sheepshanks]I always wonder what would happen if you cautioned a cop?

Not much, unless you then intended to attempt a private prosecution. THE caution is a warning that anything you say can & will be used in court, A caution is low level disposal which involves the offender accepting their guilt. If it's not accepted the matter can then go to court and you're back to a private pros.

swisstoni

24,158 posts

309 months

Saturday 11th July 2015
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Personally I'm delighted to hear about a police patrol on a motorway actually doing something.

All that jazz

7,632 posts

176 months

Saturday 11th July 2015
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swisstoni said:
Personally I'm delighted to hear about a police patrol on a motorway actually doing something.
yes The heinous crime of doing 80mph on straight well-sighted motorway in perfect weather conditions must be stopped immediately before any more small children, bunnies and kittens are killed. Presumably all burglars have now been caught and locked up, right?

allergictocheese

1,290 posts

143 months

Saturday 11th July 2015
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swisstoni said:
Personally I'm delighted to hear about a police patrol on a motorway actually doing something.
Indeed. I was tempted to call BS on this one because you never see any BIB on the motorways these days. They've all been replaced by grey boxes on gantries...

petkar

79 posts

201 months

Saturday 11th July 2015
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allergictocheese said:
Indeed. I was tempted to call BS on this one because you never see any BIB on the motorways these days. They've all been replaced by grey boxes on gantries...
Try going between J12 of the M1 and watford (either direction)and you will see plenty any day of the week usually during rush hour of course.

LoonR1

26,988 posts

207 months

Saturday 11th July 2015
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Glad you got pulled for the coffee beans if nothing else. Hopefully one day someone will smash your face in for doing it too. It amazes me how often people do it (or the middle finger) just because someone is travelling faster than them.

Oh and I know it was because the car was "inches off his bumper", except it won't have been. He'll have been annoyed at the first three getting through and then quite happy that he blocked the fourth and trundled past the van. He'll never admit it, everyone will now flame me amd so on, but there will be more than a smidgen of truth to what I've written.


ORD

18,205 posts

157 months

Saturday 11th July 2015
quotequote all
LoonR1 said:
Glad you got pulled for the coffee beans if nothing else. Hopefully one day someone will smash your face in for doing it too. It amazes me how often people do it (or the middle finger) just because someone is travelling faster than them.

Oh and I know it was because the car was "inches off his bumper", except it won't have been. He'll have been annoyed at the first three getting through and then quite happy that he blocked the fourth and trundled past the van. He'll never admit it, everyone will now flame me amd so on, but there will be more than a smidgen of truth to what I've written.
How on Earth did you get to that conclusion? You think he wanted to obstruct the car? There's nothing whatsoever in his post to suggest that is what happened!

Your post also seems to suggest that tailgating (which can cause very serious accidents) is less bad than gesturing at someone for tailgating (which, at worst, might hurt some cry baby's feelings).

LoonR1

26,988 posts

207 months

Saturday 11th July 2015
quotequote all
ORD said:
How on Earth did you get to that conclusion? You think he wanted to obstruct the car? There's nothing whatsoever in his post to suggest that is what happened!

Your post also seems to suggest that tailgating (which can cause very serious accidents) is less bad than gesturing at someone for tailgating (which, at worst, might hurt some cry baby's feelings).
Come on, stop playing barrister (which you are) and think about it as a normL person. We've got one side of the story. Anyone who believes that giving the wker sign is acceptable has a lot more to consider about their driving style.

If you want to take everything at face value then fine, but I doubt very much we've got anything like the full story. As such, I reserve the right to wish ill on any knobhead who wants to give the finger, V sign or wker sign to another driver and have a little chuckle when it happens.

Mk3Spitfire

2,921 posts

158 months

Saturday 11th July 2015
quotequote all
ORD said:
LoonR1 said:
Glad you got pulled for the coffee beans if nothing else. Hopefully one day someone will smash your face in for doing it too. It amazes me how often people do it (or the middle finger) just because someone is travelling faster than them.

Oh and I know it was because the car was "inches off his bumper", except it won't have been. He'll have been annoyed at the first three getting through and then quite happy that he blocked the fourth and trundled past the van. He'll never admit it, everyone will now flame me amd so on, but there will be more than a smidgen of truth to what I've written.
How on Earth did you get to that conclusion? You think he wanted to obstruct the car? There's nothing whatsoever in his post to suggest that is what happened!
.
Do you really think that the OP is going to admit to any wrongdoing? Seriously? Or is it more likely that he's going to play down any wrongdoing on his part and exaggerate the poor driving of the other party? Say what you like about Loon. He usually has a point.
As per Black Mamba's post earlier; if the driving of the Police was as terrible as the OP says, then use the time more wisely. Make a complaint and maybe the driver will be educated/retrained and everyone wins. Or come on here, hand a moan, create a pro/anti police battle, and be in exactly the same position tomorrow. It does make you wonder why someone would go to the trouble of writing an essay like the OP, but not tell the people who can actually do something about it.