Caught doing 125mph over 0.63 miles
Caught doing 125mph over 0.63 miles
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Discussion

Rickgray88

Original Poster:

3 posts

257 months

Monday 25th October 2004
quotequote all
I was over taking some cars on the A31 doing around 95mph, a car came up behind me at a rapid speed so i put my foot down to pass the cars then proceed into the slow lane to let him past... What i didn't know, that this car was an unmarked saab. he followed me into the slow lane where i slowed down to 89mph for a couple of miles.. After I checked out the Saab to see what on earth this guy was doing (road rage, police etc)i started to feel a bit intimedated as he was sooo close behind me. I eventually proceeded to put my foot down to get away from the car (stupid I know) and he proceeded to follow me still sat up my arse, (no lights were shown) he decided to pull me when I got to 125mph. Once in the car he had me on 4 different ocasions. 1st. 107mph (why wasn't i stopped for that..?) 2nd. 89mph (just after pulling in to let him past..!) 3rd. 117mph as I proceeded to put some distance between us..!) 4th 125mph this was the stage where he decided to stop me. All of these were done over a certan distance. I have a court date for the 11th of November, I have an SP30 and Dr10 from 4 years ago, can anyone give me any advice at all, or can the police actually intimedate me that much..? and what can I expect..?

kurgis

166 posts

266 months

Monday 25th October 2004
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Get a good brief, or polish out the old suit and go along and explain all that in plain english to the court especially the tailgating bit.

You may get the minimum, would help if you've got some sort of advanced driving qualification, but expect a hefty fine and lengthy ban.

gh0st

4,693 posts

281 months

Monday 25th October 2004
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And the most important thing for the court case to remember is

ITS NOT THE "SLOW LANE" - ITS THE INSIDE OR LEFT HAD LANE!!!!!!!!!"

plotloss

67,280 posts

293 months

Monday 25th October 2004
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Lane one...

llamekcuf

545 posts

277 months

Monday 25th October 2004
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Rickgray88 said:
and what can I expect..?


It sounds like 'bend over' time im afraid..

GregE240

10,857 posts

290 months

Monday 25th October 2004
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Get a good solicitor and be prepared to beg.

Otherwise, you're ed, to put it bluntly.

Don

28,378 posts

307 months

Monday 25th October 2004
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Yep 125mph in traffic is going to see you banned for a good period, I'd imagine.

Lesson for the day: Never allow the car behind to intimidate you into behaviour you'll regret later.

It doesn't sound like Plod is going to come out of this smelling of roses either - but don't expect any "mercy"...

IOLAIRE

1,293 posts

261 months

Monday 25th October 2004
quotequote all
Rickgray88 said:
I was over taking some cars on the A31 doing around 95mph, a car came up behind me at a rapid speed so i put my foot down to pass the cars then proceed into the slow lane to let him past... What i didn't know, that this car was an unmarked saab. he followed me into the slow lane where i slowed down to 89mph for a couple of miles.. After I checked out the Saab to see what on earth this guy was doing (road rage, police etc)i started to feel a bit intimedated as he was sooo close behind me. I eventually proceeded to put my foot down to get away from the car (stupid I know) and he proceeded to follow me still sat up my arse, (no lights were shown) he decided to pull me when I got to 125mph. Once in the car he had me on 4 different ocasions. 1st. 107mph (why wasn't i stopped for that..?) 2nd. 89mph (just after pulling in to let him past..!) 3rd. 117mph as I proceeded to put some distance between us..!) 4th 125mph this was the stage where he decided to stop me. All of these were done over a certan distance. I have a court date for the 11th of November, I have an SP30 and Dr10 from 4 years ago, can anyone give me any advice at all, or can the police actually intimedate me that much..? and what can I expect..?



If this is an accurate account it is utterly bloody disgraceful.
The first thing you do is enter a plea of not guilty to give you some time to deal with procedure.
The single most important tenet for all traffic officers is road safety. Any individual who is a traffic patrol officer and doesn't view that as their number one priority shouldn't be in the job.
They are NOT there to enjoy themselves by playing stupidly dangerous games with other motorists who are quite clearly totally unaware of their existence as police officers driving a police vehicle; that incidentally, is my prime argument against umarked cars.
If the view is taken that driving at over 100 mph is illegal and unsafe you should have been prevented from doing so immediately.
Being an unmarked vehicle there will be a video of the whole incident from beginning to end; ask for it NOW, don't wait. You may find that it will be conveniently erased or partially erased or even lost.
On receipt of this video I would raise a complaint against these officers and take it to the highest level.
I have done this in Scotland in very similar circumstances and had the case dropped because the video demonstrated that the police driver, by prolonging the pursuit quite clearly usurps his authority by sustaining and prolonging high speed driving way beyond the real need to do so.
I therefore insisted that the police driver be prosecuted for exactly the same offence as the accused.
I even went as far as to inform the Fiscal that if they didn't prosecute the police driver I would raise a private prosecution.
The case was dropped.
Having said that, it has to be shown that your driving in all other respects was outstanding, it would help if you were an advanced driver.
DO NOT lie down to this; e-mail me and I'll do everything I can to help.
This is the very essence of what is completely wrong with the concept of speed enforcement.
It is assumed that it's ok for the police to do it, but you will be prosecuted and have your licence removed for doing exactly the same thing.
Totally unacceptable!

leosayer

7,686 posts

267 months

Monday 25th October 2004
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How would it help your case if you're an advanced driver??

Surely if you advanced driver you should 'know better'.

IOLAIRE

1,293 posts

261 months

Monday 25th October 2004
quotequote all
leosayer said:
How would it help your case if you're an advanced driver??

Surely if you advanced driver you should 'know better'.



Exactly. The police officer is an advanced driver.

mybrainhurts

90,809 posts

278 months

Monday 25th October 2004
quotequote all
Don said:
Yep 125mph in traffic is going to see you banned for a good period, I'd imagine.


Are you suggesting this is dangerous?

PetrolTed

34,464 posts

326 months

Monday 25th October 2004
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IOLAIRE is speaking sense. Ask for a copy of the video (you are entitled to this). A good solicitor will give the CPS a hard time over it and you may find that lesser charges are brought.

DanL

6,585 posts

288 months

Monday 25th October 2004
quotequote all
mybrainhurts said:

Don said:
Yep 125mph in traffic is going to see you banned for a good period, I'd imagine.



Are you suggesting this is dangerous?
Without wishing to put words into his mouth, I suspect he's suggesting that the Mags will say it's dangerous...

Whether it actually is or not depends on the situation, naturally.

Dan

Don

28,378 posts

307 months

Monday 25th October 2004
quotequote all
mybrainhurts said:

Are you suggesting this is dangerous?


It certainly can be. Weaving in and out of much slower moving traffic at that sort of speed is.

I am NOT suggesting that this is case here...just that there was, from the original post, plenty of other traffic around doing ninetyish...so it could have been dangerous.

I wasn't there. I don't know one way or the other.

Its just that the "defence" of it being a totally clear motorway with no traffic around for miles at 5:00am on a summer morning with good visibility in the dry isn't there, now is it!

Don

28,378 posts

307 months

Monday 25th October 2004
quotequote all
DanL said:

Without wishing to put words into his mouth, I suspect he's suggesting that the Mags will say it's dangerous...

Whether it actually is or not depends on the situation, naturally.

Dan


Exactly! Thanks, Dan.

llamekcuf

545 posts

277 months

Monday 25th October 2004
quotequote all
I think the point is, it matters not how good a driver you are or rather perceive yourself to be. There at some point comes a threshold where others around you should put a limitation on your driving, thats why people in the know always stress that it is proper to drive at a speed that is appropriate for the conditions. Granted we do not know the conditions, but in busy traffic, can you honestly say that advocating 125mph is a clever idea? Can you safely anticipate and react to the unknown actions of other, perhaps less skilled road users at this speed in heavy traffic? Would you do so whilst clearly being followed by another car at a set distance?

It seems to me that supporting an (extreme?) argument that 125 is safe wherever, whenever, even in heavy traffic conditions is the type of view that brings most damage to the anti camera argument.

Rickgray88

Original Poster:

3 posts

257 months

Monday 25th October 2004
quotequote all
I'd like to thank all of you for responding... I over took around 5 cars in the "INSIDE" lane, the wether the policeman has put down is, Clear, dry, fine and light... This was on a daul carriageway at around 11.00am hardly any traffic.. IOLAIRE it will be good to catch up with you as regards to listening to the full story, can you send me your number so i can call you later rickgray88@hotmail.com or let me know whens good for you.



supraman2954

3,241 posts

262 months

Monday 25th October 2004
quotequote all
mybrainhurts said:

Don said:
Yep 125mph in traffic is going to see you banned for a good period, I'd imagine.



Are you suggesting this is dangerous?
Never heard of numpties?

I always keep differential speeds low (then blat it when clear)

TripleS

4,294 posts

265 months

Monday 25th October 2004
quotequote all
IOLAIRE seems to me to have the right response to this, and I hope the maximum benefit can be extracted from that stance.

In the current climate 125 mph is a fairly cracking pace, but even with some other traffic around it need not be dangerous. If the other traffic was travelling at 90 mph or so, the speed differential is perhaps not too outrageous, but it does depend on how much time and space is available around you, and seemingly the police driver was no help in that respect.

To be fair it needs all of the circumstances to be taken properly into account, and I hope they will be, but we weren't there so we do not have all that information.

If the description of the incident is accurate I would think the behaviour of the police driver is seriously open to question. Quite frankly I do feel it could be argued you were tricked into using the higher speeds, but you fell for it unfortunately.

Good luck anyhow.

Best wishes all,
Dave.

GregE240

10,857 posts

290 months

Monday 25th October 2004
quotequote all
On reflection I'm inclined to agree with the later posters.

As you did not know that you were being followed by an unmarked car (and they made no effort to indicate they were indeed TrafPol), what are you supposed to do?

....exactly what you did, I think. I agree with IOLAIRE, it sucks.