Dash Cam Footage / Photos of Satnav / Data Log - Racing?

[Red Devil]

Loaghtan Target said:

Let's just say that you and I are discussing a particular road somewhere, and I am foolish enough to post up a photo of my sat nav which shows I travelled from A to B on it, at an average speed that could still be below the speed limit for that road, but would involve driving fairly quickly to achieve - entirely plausible. And let's just say you're foolish enough to post up a photo of the same - that's the bones of a road rally whichever way you slice it. As I say, I assume the police would only take an interest if other issues arose, but I think the basic premise would be there if they did.

The intent of the original legislation (which goes way back in time) was to prevent people competing with each other by racing/conducting trials of speed on public roads which remain open to other traffic. Hence the 2015 Act giving the necessary structured enabling powers for the relevant authorities to close roads so that such competitions can take place.* The concept of a race/trial of speed is competitors pitted against one another in a single homogenous event not isolated acts occurring weeks or months apart.

If our respective journeys were done in tandem then your argument might hold a thimbleful of water. If they took place weeks/months apart it would never fly imo. Either way.in the real world the prosecution would have a hard time proving to the criminal standard that any form of competition was being enagaged in whether as promoter and/or participant. It is unlikely to be tested because I can't see the CPS even running with it in the first place when there are other avenues which can be pursued and yield positive results.

 * There isn't the slightest chance of that happening until the FAI into the Jim Clark Rally has concluded. I realise that that is in Scotland but it will for sure affect E&W.

I agree that we will have to disagree because I still think you're constructing castles in the air.

[Loaghtan Target]

Red Devil said:

...The concept of a race/trial of speed is competitors pitted against one another in a single homogenous event not isolated acts occurring weeks or months apart.

I agree that we will have to disagree because I still think you're constructing castles in the air.

Ya, we just see it differently. I don't see how the time between any competitive trial has any relevance at all. If I set a time over a course and you set out to beat it (beating it could simply be getting closer to a target time, not necessarily the fastest) that's a competition - doesn't really matter when you or I do it. I acknowledge it's not a competition in form we would normally recognise it, but that was the essence of my query - unauthorised / organised. I wasn't hoping that it would be the case, I was just wondering if it ever had been. Seems not. As you were.

[V8 Fettler]

The "Atom speeding on country roads in North Wales" shock,horror article refers to "special software" to analyse speed, that seems to be a first in court.

[Hol]

Many car ECU's these days will hold a value for the peak (highest) road speed noted since the ECU was last reset. Easily read from the ODB port.

Proving who actually drove that car at XXX miles per hour and also that it wasn't on a track day/private road somewhere would be the happy problem for the prosecutor.

[V8 Fettler]

I interpreted the poorly written section in the poorly written article as "The wondrous and expensive software analysed the fillum footage to identify speed beyond all reasonable doubt".