How to spot an unmarked police car
Discussion
nicanary said:
When I'm following what I think might be an unmarked car, but want to overtake, I look for a towbar (nil) and anything "personal" in the car, such as a dangling air freshener or some sort of Poundland mascot or sticker. Plod never have anything in or on their cars to show private ownership.
Prevention isn't necessarily greater for safety. Greater safety can be achieved through more permanent behaviour modifiers such as points / fine, as opposed to preventing one event through visibility.
yonex said:
the internet said:
One of the letters on the plate is mirrored so the camera can see through
And how is that legal?I can confirm they do have a few more ratty cars out there. I found out the hard way after passing a tired looking Passat diseasal estate on the A5 ... he did just about manage to keep up with me in the subsequent 10 miles of fast progress, foolish of me I know. I won't be doing that again.
Dave Hedgehog said:
Marty Funkhouser said:
A surveillance car is unlikely to be used to pull people for speeding?
Fair points on the others - this is from my limited experience!
it may not be actively hunting them but if you blat past it doing many leptons they may take an interestFair points on the others - this is from my limited experience!
HantsRat said:
PoleDriver said:
That's really useful info, being as that's my local car! 
I can assure you they have more than 1 
And not all BMW's/Skoda's either SS2. said:
cbmotorsport said:
I've got a white Octavia VRS Estate, it's clean and relatively new, I often get the car in front slowing to the speed limit, and checking their rear view mirror far more than they normally would.
Same here, although mine's Race Blue. Happens quite frequently, especially if I have a hi-viz draped over the passenger seat.
kerish thing to do... Good luck. There are thousands of unmarked plod cars driving about with few distinguishing marks and people in normal clothes. I saw Leeds CID a few years ago when a stolen car of mine was recovered, the police looked like a slightly chavvy darts team out for a night and 3 of them got in a very plain Astra. If you are goi8ng to slow down every time you see a grubby Astra with 3 blokes in it wearing hoody tops then you may as well give up and drive at something approximating to the speed limit. I've also seen Leeds Homicide Investigation Dept out in a plain car, or at least I'm told on good authority that I have, suffice it to say that I didn't notice them. Mind you a few seconds later I went through a Toyota Starlet's windscreen, so I had better things to worry about than a few coppers, especially since I've never killed anyone.
yonex said:
TooMany2cvs said:
Because it looks indistinguishable from a normal plate. It's not like it's a big spangly shiny silvery letter. They didn't mean "mirror". They meant one-way-light-transmitting.
You mean like every other modified number plate is legal, ah, I see.HantsRat said:
Long gone are the days where lights are drilled into body panels. Most of our unmarked cars now have the blue integrated into light clusters and wing mirrors, near on impossible to spot. Moving away from the dash mounted light too.
Many of the ones I see still have lights on the bumper. I was approaching a navy 5 series on the m4 while making "considerable" progress. As I approached I noticed something stuck on the side of the bumper. As I got closer noticed it was an led drilled into the bumper. Long story short, good ABS in an AstraI'd like to turn this topic on its head so to speak:
How can I convince other road users that I am undercover old bill, without doing anything illegal? I don't want to go the whole hog & install blue LED strobes/flashing lights & sirens, or carry a fake warrant card or anything like that, but it would be really nice to somehow get one over on some of the muppets who cut you up on the motorway, & when hooted, simply give you the middle finger & mouth 'fk off'....
How can I convince other road users that I am undercover old bill, without doing anything illegal? I don't want to go the whole hog & install blue LED strobes/flashing lights & sirens, or carry a fake warrant card or anything like that, but it would be really nice to somehow get one over on some of the muppets who cut you up on the motorway, & when hooted, simply give you the middle finger & mouth 'f
k off'....A tactic I also watch out for (on motorways and duals) is something tearing up behind me, yet then when within proximity slowing down and not overtaking. I usually spot this one, except the one time about 6 years ago, speedo at 90ish on the A46 - 'I'm just going to ease off a bit I think that's an unmarked........ blues on ...... oh st!'
t!'Biker 1 said:
I'd like to turn this topic on its head so to speak:
How can I convince other road users that I am undercover old bill, without doing anything illegal? I don't want to go the whole hog & install blue LED strobes/flashing lights & sirens, or carry a fake warrant card or anything like that, but it would be really nice to somehow get one over on some of the muppets who cut you up on the motorway, & when hooted, simply give you the middle finger & mouth 'fk off'....
Not sure if trolling?How can I convince other road users that I am undercover old bill, without doing anything illegal? I don't want to go the whole hog & install blue LED strobes/flashing lights & sirens, or carry a fake warrant card or anything like that, but it would be really nice to somehow get one over on some of the muppets who cut you up on the motorway, & when hooted, simply give you the middle finger & mouth 'f
k off'....Biker 1 said:
I'd like to turn this topic on its head so to speak:
How can I convince other road users that I am undercover old bill, without doing anything illegal? I don't want to go the whole hog & install blue LED strobes/flashing lights & sirens, or carry a fake warrant card or anything like that, but it would be really nice to somehow get one over on some of the muppets who cut you up on the motorway, & when hooted, simply give you the middle finger & mouth 'fk off'....
White ovlov t5 and high vis on parcel shelf. Job doneHow can I convince other road users that I am undercover old bill, without doing anything illegal? I don't want to go the whole hog & install blue LED strobes/flashing lights & sirens, or carry a fake warrant card or anything like that, but it would be really nice to somehow get one over on some of the muppets who cut you up on the motorway, & when hooted, simply give you the middle finger & mouth 'f
k off'....Gassing Station | Speed, Plod & the Law | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff