I was threatened with arrest for warning of a speed camera .

I was threatened with arrest for warning of a speed camera .

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Discussion

jjr1

Original Poster:

3,023 posts

259 months

Friday 5th October 2012
quotequote all
I was just doing my duty of using arm signals to slow a few drivers down, who I thought were going too fast and it was coincidentally, just around the corner from a speed camera van.

Next thing I know a group of three of our finest pull up in an unmarked car and tell me that I am facing a possible arrest. Ten minutes later and a few questions and they let me off with a warning.

Yeah, I know 'it was a cool story bro' but I thought I best warn others, they take great offence to having their revenues reduced, even for just a few minutes.

Geekman

2,863 posts

145 months

Friday 5th October 2012
quotequote all
I've heard of this happening before, and people being fined for it. I still do it though, after all, if the cameras are in dangerous locations, surely my actions should be commended as I'm slowing people down on a hazardous stretch of road?

Weyro

324 posts

151 months

Friday 5th October 2012
quotequote all
Crime prevention = Bad
Punishing people after they have committed the crime = Good

wink

14-7

6,233 posts

190 months

Friday 5th October 2012
quotequote all
The thing is you are not doing it to slow them down you are doing it to stop them being caught. A point quite obvious from your comment about reducing revenue.




Grenoble

50,289 posts

154 months

Friday 5th October 2012
quotequote all
I've always been bemused by that. It's a camera there for safety, so the road must have a dangerous point. You are merely recognising the same danger and alerting users that the road is dangerous at that spot and hadn't even seen a camera.

wink

Geekman

2,863 posts

145 months

Friday 5th October 2012
quotequote all
14-7 said:
The thing is you are not doing it to slow them down you are doing it to stop them being caught. A point quite obvious from your comment about reducing revenue.
The end result is the same though, the drivers slow down, which is surely what the SCP wants?

Honestherbert

579 posts

146 months

Friday 5th October 2012
quotequote all
It is ridiculous, and morally wrong that the police do this.

sodslaw

189 posts

138 months

Friday 5th October 2012
quotequote all
14-7 said:
The thing is you are not doing it to slow them down you are doing it to stop them being caught.
Whats the difference?

In this case its mutually inclusive.

jagracer

8,248 posts

235 months

Friday 5th October 2012
quotequote all
This is nothing new, I remember in the late 60s or early 70s the police would put a radar trap up near me on what was called The Mad Mile on the A20, one day a man was sitting in the layby prior to the speed trap holding a big warning sign, he was soon pounced upon by a squad car full of police.

streaky

19,311 posts

248 months

Friday 5th October 2012
quotequote all
s51, Police Act 1964 - Assaulting or Obstructing a Constable in the Execution of His Duty, namely: acting as a Revenue Agent for HMG. wink

Streaky

whoami

13,151 posts

239 months

Friday 5th October 2012
quotequote all
jjr1 said:
I was just doing my duty of using arm signals to slow a few drivers down, who I thought were going too fast and it was coincidentally, just around the corner from a speed camera van.

Next thing I know a group of three of our finest pull up in an unmarked car and tell me that I am facing a possible arrest. Ten minutes later and a few questions and they let me off with a warning.

Yeah, I know 'it was a cool story bro' but I thought I best warn others, they take great offence to having their revenues reduced, even for just a few minutes.
What evidence (of your supposed crime) did they present you with?

Furry Exocet

3,011 posts

180 months

Friday 5th October 2012
quotequote all
sodslaw said:
Whats the difference?

In this case its mutually inclusive.
The difference is the OP wouldn't do it if there wasn't a camera or speed check round the corner

10 Pence Short

32,880 posts

216 months

Friday 5th October 2012
quotequote all
14-7 said:
The thing is you are not doing it to slow them down you are doing it to stop them being caught. A point quite obvious from your comment about reducing revenue.
How could he tell they really were speeding? They may not have been, in which case what obstruction would he be causing? I would have thought his intent is immaterial in that instance.

Milky Joe

3,851 posts

203 months

Friday 5th October 2012
quotequote all
10 Pence Short said:
How could he tell they really were speeding? They may not have been, in which case what obstruction would he be causing? I would have thought his intent is immaterial in that instance.
This is PH & SP&L no less, that makes you all experts.

clunkbox

237 posts

139 months

Friday 5th October 2012
quotequote all
Playing devil's advocate, there are three things you could potentially cause you to want to warn other motorists.

1) To stop them being caught (illegal)

2) To warn them that they are entering a dangerous bit of road (bit tenuous)

3) To warn them of the hazard caused by the speed van's presence...

Ok, I'm clutching at straws here but hear me out..
2009 ish ... somebody I know was driving a up the a9, doing 60mph - speed limit for the van on that road. A Skoda overtakes him, and suddenly veers of the road into a light pole, dies while the van driver is holding his head straight. Only explanation I can see for why it happened is the fixed speed camera right at the crash spot, the the driver saw it, panicked, locked up and ended up the road furniture.

2012, a82 loch lochy side. I was in a car with somebody who was overtaking a long line of cars. He sees a speed van in the distance and panics, starts braking without thinking about how he is going to complete the overtake. I say something along the lines of "you're caught already finish the fking overtake for fks sake!!!!!", and we go about our day. In the end he never got done for it.

While none of these incidents should have happened if people had their heads on straight, to me they demonstrate that a speed camera in itself causes a hazard. I'm not suggesting that they speed cameras are dangerous killing machines, but they are a potential hazard.

...I'm not sure that argument is going to work on a traffic cop somehow though!

Edited by clunkbox on Friday 5th October 19:19


Edited by clunkbox on Friday 5th October 19:20

Mermaid

21,492 posts

170 months

Friday 5th October 2012
quotequote all
Grenoble said:
I've always been bemused by that. It's a camera there for safety, so the road must have a dangerous point. You are merely recognising the same danger and alerting users that the road is dangerous at that spot and hadn't even seen a camera.

wink
So why don't "they" take other measures to increase the safety of that location for scamera van is not there all the time?.

Red Devil

13,055 posts

207 months

Friday 5th October 2012
quotequote all
Silly me, I thought the purpose of the police was the prevention as well as detection of offences/crime. Since the mantra is safety (the S in SCP) then one might be forgiven for thinking that it would be public spirited of the OP to get people to slow down. Getting all heavy about it suggests a certain degree of hypocrisy. Especially given the active encouragement given to MoPs to engage in local Speedwatch campaigns/activities. To me that is simply double standards.

Effectively what they are saying is "What you're doing hasn't received our 'kitemark'. Ipso facto your end product must be dodgy/unsafe."

Caulkhead

4,938 posts

156 months

Friday 5th October 2012
quotequote all
Furry Exocet said:
sodslaw said:
Whats the difference?

In this case its mutually inclusive.
The difference is the OP wouldn't do it if there wasn't a camera or speed check round the corner
Not true. Only today I waved at oncoming motorists to slow them down as I had just passed a horse and rider in the road which they could not see round the bend.

As for the police, best be careful if you get between them and some revenue.

Pints

18,444 posts

193 months

Friday 5th October 2012
quotequote all
Weyro said:
Crime prevention = Bad
Punishing people after they have committed the crime = Good

wink
Exceeding the posted speed limit is not a criminal offence.

Mill Wheel

6,149 posts

195 months

Friday 5th October 2012
quotequote all
I flashed several drivers the other morning who had no lights on in fairly thick fog.

There were no police cars in the vicinity.

Should I go and hand myself in and confess to warning oncoming drivers of a danger they presented?