Operation Snap - my speed was a little high
Discussion
Has anyone submitted videos through Operation Snap where the GPS record shows they were going over the posted speed limit? What happened?
The summary is:
1) It was night-time on an unlit A-road DC
2) A driver in a sign-written company van simultaneously indicated and pulled out whilst I was drawing level to overtake him, so I had to brake hard to avoid collision.
3) When I overtook him a mile down the road (it took him that long to overtake three lorries), he had his phone mounted directly in front of his face and was watching video. I'm not embarrassed to admit that I recognised the sort of skin tones and movements on the screen to be the sort of video a chap watches by himself. Dashcam shows he had a bright phone/table screen in front of his face and bright, but is more of an orangey pinky smudge)
4) There was time and space for me to finish my overtake before he moved out to overtake the lorry ahead of him. My speed was about 10mph more than his the entire approach (so he had opportunity to gauge when I would pass).
5) Besides his dodgy lane change and TV watching/onanism there was no silliness from either of us before, during or after. No road-rage, "I'll teach him a lesson" etc.
6) My speed is recorded on the video. The maximum is 77mph (GPS) but is mostly 73-74mph (apart from when he was in L2, when it was 64-65). So my max was below the threshold of prosecution, but above the legal limit.
It's bloody stupid, this isn't a momentary lapse of concentration, it was a totally negligent act that endangered my family all because he was at best watching TV, at worst pleasuring himself whilst driving. I want the book thrown at him, and I've got two options:
A) submit to the Police, in which case he faces prosecution AND his employer will find out
B) submit to just his employer.
As it was such a stupid thing to do, my preference is for A, but I don't know if they would reject it or even threaten me with prosecution because I'm clearly driving a few mph over the speed limit.
The summary is:
1) It was night-time on an unlit A-road DC
2) A driver in a sign-written company van simultaneously indicated and pulled out whilst I was drawing level to overtake him, so I had to brake hard to avoid collision.
3) When I overtook him a mile down the road (it took him that long to overtake three lorries), he had his phone mounted directly in front of his face and was watching video. I'm not embarrassed to admit that I recognised the sort of skin tones and movements on the screen to be the sort of video a chap watches by himself. Dashcam shows he had a bright phone/table screen in front of his face and bright, but is more of an orangey pinky smudge)
4) There was time and space for me to finish my overtake before he moved out to overtake the lorry ahead of him. My speed was about 10mph more than his the entire approach (so he had opportunity to gauge when I would pass).
5) Besides his dodgy lane change and TV watching/onanism there was no silliness from either of us before, during or after. No road-rage, "I'll teach him a lesson" etc.
6) My speed is recorded on the video. The maximum is 77mph (GPS) but is mostly 73-74mph (apart from when he was in L2, when it was 64-65). So my max was below the threshold of prosecution, but above the legal limit.
It's bloody stupid, this isn't a momentary lapse of concentration, it was a totally negligent act that endangered my family all because he was at best watching TV, at worst pleasuring himself whilst driving. I want the book thrown at him, and I've got two options:
A) submit to the Police, in which case he faces prosecution AND his employer will find out
B) submit to just his employer.
As it was such a stupid thing to do, my preference is for A, but I don't know if they would reject it or even threaten me with prosecution because I'm clearly driving a few mph over the speed limit.
zarjaz1991 said:
C) Forget about it move on with your life. It's extra stress you don't need.
I considered that option. Then I thought "Nah, f
k that guy."This isn't a case of "he was following me at 1.99 seconds separation" or "he was slightly cheeky". This was a near miss where he didn't see a pair of HIDs that had been gaining on him at +10mph for quite some distance because he was doing something that really shouldn't be done whilst driving. I want him to suffer.
Had someone do something similar to this to me a while back, he undertook me at high speed on a dual carriageway and nearly hit me. He wasn't watching a video mind...
I sent my camera footage to his company (it was written all over the van) and the owner called me, apologised and said he'd deal with it internally.
I sent my camera footage to his company (it was written all over the van) and the owner called me, apologised and said he'd deal with it internally.
EmailAddress said:
donkmeister said:
... It's bloody stupid, this isn't a momentary lapse of concentration, it was a totally negligent act that endangered my family...
Putting aside his actions for a moment. What are your takeaways for the situation you, yourself, put your family in?
And the learnings you'll be taking forward.
He at no point says he chased the van driver down and attempted to flip the van with a tactical police interceptor pit manoeuvre or put anyone in danger
flasher said:
Had someone do something similar to this to me a while back, he undertook me at high speed on a dual carriageway and nearly hit me. He wasn't watching a video mind...
I sent my camera footage to his company (it was written all over the van) and the owner called me, apologised and said he'd deal with it internally.
Very relevant user name.I sent my camera footage to his company (it was written all over the van) and the owner called me, apologised and said he'd deal with it internally.
donkmeister said:
Has anyone submitted videos through Operation Snap where the GPS record shows they were going over the posted speed limit? What happened?
The summary is:
1) It was night-time on an unlit A-road DC
2) A driver in a sign-written company van simultaneously indicated and pulled out whilst I was drawing level to overtake him, so I had to brake hard to avoid collision.
3) When I overtook him a mile down the road (it took him that long to overtake three lorries), he had his phone mounted directly in front of his face and was watching video. I'm not embarrassed to admit that I recognised the sort of skin tones and movements on the screen to be the sort of video a chap watches by himself. Dashcam shows he had a bright phone/table screen in front of his face and bright, but is more of an orangey pinky smudge)
4) There was time and space for me to finish my overtake before he moved out to overtake the lorry ahead of him. My speed was about 10mph more than his the entire approach (so he had opportunity to gauge when I would pass).
5) Besides his dodgy lane change and TV watching/onanism there was no silliness from either of us before, during or after. No road-rage, "I'll teach him a lesson" etc.
6) My speed is recorded on the video. The maximum is 77mph (GPS) but is mostly 73-74mph (apart from when he was in L2, when it was 64-65). So my max was below the threshold of prosecution, but above the legal limit.
It's bloody stupid, this isn't a momentary lapse of concentration, it was a totally negligent act that endangered my family all because he was at best watching TV, at worst pleasuring himself whilst driving. I want the book thrown at him, and I've got two options:
A) submit to the Police, in which case he faces prosecution AND his employer will find out
B) submit to just his employer.
As it was such a stupid thing to do, my preference is for A, but I don't know if they would reject it or even threaten me with prosecution because I'm clearly driving a few mph over the speed limit.
C Send it to both without a shadow of doubt.The summary is:
1) It was night-time on an unlit A-road DC
2) A driver in a sign-written company van simultaneously indicated and pulled out whilst I was drawing level to overtake him, so I had to brake hard to avoid collision.
3) When I overtook him a mile down the road (it took him that long to overtake three lorries), he had his phone mounted directly in front of his face and was watching video. I'm not embarrassed to admit that I recognised the sort of skin tones and movements on the screen to be the sort of video a chap watches by himself. Dashcam shows he had a bright phone/table screen in front of his face and bright, but is more of an orangey pinky smudge)
4) There was time and space for me to finish my overtake before he moved out to overtake the lorry ahead of him. My speed was about 10mph more than his the entire approach (so he had opportunity to gauge when I would pass).
5) Besides his dodgy lane change and TV watching/onanism there was no silliness from either of us before, during or after. No road-rage, "I'll teach him a lesson" etc.
6) My speed is recorded on the video. The maximum is 77mph (GPS) but is mostly 73-74mph (apart from when he was in L2, when it was 64-65). So my max was below the threshold of prosecution, but above the legal limit.
It's bloody stupid, this isn't a momentary lapse of concentration, it was a totally negligent act that endangered my family all because he was at best watching TV, at worst pleasuring himself whilst driving. I want the book thrown at him, and I've got two options:
A) submit to the Police, in which case he faces prosecution AND his employer will find out
B) submit to just his employer.
As it was such a stupid thing to do, my preference is for A, but I don't know if they would reject it or even threaten me with prosecution because I'm clearly driving a few mph over the speed limit.
MrWideFit said:
EmailAddress said:
donkmeister said:
... It's bloody stupid, this isn't a momentary lapse of concentration, it was a totally negligent act that endangered my family...
Putting aside his actions for a moment. What are your takeaways for the situation you, yourself, put your family in?
And the learnings you'll be taking forward.
He at no point says he chased the van driver down and attempted to flip the van with a tactical police interceptor pit manoeuvre or put anyone in danger
TBH if he'd just stayed drafting the lorry I probably wouldn't have noticed him watching videos. It was only because of the previous driving that I was being extra observant passing him.
No shouting and swerving at each other, PIT manouvres etc
donkmeister said:
zarjaz1991 said:
C) Forget about it move on with your life. It's extra stress you don't need.
I considered that option. Then I thought "Nah, fk that guy."This isn't a case of "he was following me at 1.99 seconds separation" or "he was slightly cheeky". This was a near miss where he didn't see a pair of HIDs that had been gaining on him at +10mph for quite some distance because he was doing something that really shouldn't be done whilst driving. I want him to suffer.
Report it. This isn't really a "snitches get stitches" situation. That framing tends to apply to minor or victimless stuff. What you've described is someone not watching the road for the best part of a mile, on an unlit A-road, while pulling out into traffic. That's a genuine risk to other people, not just a moment of bad luck.
On the speed point, I wouldn't worry too much:
Most forces work to a de facto threshold of roughly 10% + 2mph before they'll act on a speeding matter (so around 68mph in a 60 zone, ~79-80mph in a 70). You were under that throughout, even during the overtake.
Completing an overtake you're already committed to, at a similar or slightly higher speed than the vehicle you're passing, is a pretty normal part of how overtaking works and is usually understood as such.
The team reviewing your footage will be looking at the primary incident, his lane change, not searching for a reason to flip the report back on you.
It's also not your call whether he gets prosecuted. That's for the police to weigh up based on the footage and their own guidelines. Your job is just to submit an accurate account.
For the submission itself: send the full clip covering the lane change and the overtake via Operation Snap (or your force's equivalent), and stick to the facts. The dashcam will show the bright screen in front of his face while driving, which is really the key point regardless of what was on it.
On the employer question, you probably don't need to choose between A and B. Report to the police first. If the case progresses, the employer usually finds out anyway once the vehicle and driver are identified.
On the speed point, I wouldn't worry too much:
Most forces work to a de facto threshold of roughly 10% + 2mph before they'll act on a speeding matter (so around 68mph in a 60 zone, ~79-80mph in a 70). You were under that throughout, even during the overtake.
Completing an overtake you're already committed to, at a similar or slightly higher speed than the vehicle you're passing, is a pretty normal part of how overtaking works and is usually understood as such.
The team reviewing your footage will be looking at the primary incident, his lane change, not searching for a reason to flip the report back on you.
It's also not your call whether he gets prosecuted. That's for the police to weigh up based on the footage and their own guidelines. Your job is just to submit an accurate account.
For the submission itself: send the full clip covering the lane change and the overtake via Operation Snap (or your force's equivalent), and stick to the facts. The dashcam will show the bright screen in front of his face while driving, which is really the key point regardless of what was on it.
On the employer question, you probably don't need to choose between A and B. Report to the police first. If the case progresses, the employer usually finds out anyway once the vehicle and driver are identified.
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