Nice one BIB (NOT)
Discussion
Was doing a regular drive to Sunday training session on the M4 today...light traffic, clear, bone dry. Kind of conditions that one COULD (theoretically...) safely cruise along at 15 or 20mph over our antique motorway speed limit. A few cars were 'making progress' (Rover GTi, MR2 etc.) - plenty of distance between them, no problems. I was enjoying the drive and looking forward to training.
Then...approaching a bridge, I slowed down (funny how everyone does that these days...wonder why???) and while (for once) there was no SCAM there, I saw a marked police car join the motorway ahead of me. No blue lights, but he shot off (well over 100 judging by the way he pulled away...two sets of rules!) blasting down a long straight, but then seemed to slow down around a mile ahead, staying out in the middle/outside lanes. Traffic bunched behind him.
Went through some bends after the straight, and he was no longer visible...normal 'progress' resumed for said Rover and MR2 etc. Me (being a suspicious sort) held back and scanned the road. Funnily enough, said BiB was (just) visible in front of a lorry in the inside lane doing 50odd (must have been over the hard shoulder line and was VERY close to the wagon, who had to back off). Then when I didn't close on him, he accelerated away
(more to come - see next post)
Then...approaching a bridge, I slowed down (funny how everyone does that these days...wonder why???) and while (for once) there was no SCAM there, I saw a marked police car join the motorway ahead of me. No blue lights, but he shot off (well over 100 judging by the way he pulled away...two sets of rules!) blasting down a long straight, but then seemed to slow down around a mile ahead, staying out in the middle/outside lanes. Traffic bunched behind him.
Went through some bends after the straight, and he was no longer visible...normal 'progress' resumed for said Rover and MR2 etc. Me (being a suspicious sort) held back and scanned the road. Funnily enough, said BiB was (just) visible in front of a lorry in the inside lane doing 50odd (must have been over the hard shoulder line and was VERY close to the wagon, who had to back off). Then when I didn't close on him, he accelerated away
(more to come - see next post)
This continued for another 20min or so miles until I turned off, the guy speeding up for a few miles then slowing right down in front of HGVs. He caused a lot of people to (borderline) panic brake in order to dump speed. Several cars came up behind pretty quickly (but safely enough), an Impreza STi and Boxster S included. My hand might have slipped and its even possible that I may have accidentally flashed my lights as they passed me (clumsy me!) Luckily for them, both slowed.
This to me is not sensible policing OR driving. The guy driving the car was erratic and induced dangerous behaviour in following traffic by altering his speed so radically. Must have been absolutely desperate to bag some 'maniac' driver doing 85odd. There was absolutely no need to influence perfectly sensible driving in this way. On top of that he broke the limit considerably on several occasions.
To top it all, he drove past 2 cars that were broken down on the hard shoulder with people in/near them. I thought they were supposed to render assistance to drivers in this situation. So much for helping road safety!
REALLY not impressed...occurred to me that anyone behaving like that must be a complete tosser and shouldn't be in this role. I'm sure there are a lot of decent BiB out there on the roads...but somehow I never seem to see them - it's only rodents like this guy and SCAMS. Great use of taxpayers revenues. NOT!
This to me is not sensible policing OR driving. The guy driving the car was erratic and induced dangerous behaviour in following traffic by altering his speed so radically. Must have been absolutely desperate to bag some 'maniac' driver doing 85odd. There was absolutely no need to influence perfectly sensible driving in this way. On top of that he broke the limit considerably on several occasions.
To top it all, he drove past 2 cars that were broken down on the hard shoulder with people in/near them. I thought they were supposed to render assistance to drivers in this situation. So much for helping road safety!
REALLY not impressed...occurred to me that anyone behaving like that must be a complete tosser and shouldn't be in this role. I'm sure there are a lot of decent BiB out there on the roads...but somehow I never seem to see them - it's only rodents like this guy and SCAMS. Great use of taxpayers revenues. NOT!
It's really not a technique I've seen being used very often to catch speeders. It may be used to try to encourage a scrote car to pass, or to check the activity of an HGV driver.
Speeders are 10 a penny, and can be detected in many easier ways than this.
What you describe sounds like the trafpol had a specific target in mind.
Doesn't sound like he was making a very good job of trying to conceal himself if he was causing all this trouble.
Of course you would have caused yourself no trouble at all had you simply glided through at 70mph
[/devil's advocate]
Speeders are 10 a penny, and can be detected in many easier ways than this.
What you describe sounds like the trafpol had a specific target in mind.
Doesn't sound like he was making a very good job of trying to conceal himself if he was causing all this trouble.
Of course you would have caused yourself no trouble at all had you simply glided through at 70mph
[/devil's advocate]Ditto, I think nothing of gliding past in situations like this at anything up to high 70's, never had any bother. As long as he hasnt allready got his eye on you (i.e. you've been driving like a 2@) I wouldnt worry at all.
AFAIK, all they could do would be to pace you and get your average speed, if you suspect that's happening just slow down. It's be a lot of effort for a fairly petty collar and anything short of that is just an ear-bashing from someone in a bad mood worst case. (standing by to be corrected..)
AFAIK, all they could do would be to pace you and get your average speed, if you suspect that's happening just slow down. It's be a lot of effort for a fairly petty collar and anything short of that is just an ear-bashing from someone in a bad mood worst case. (standing by to be corrected..)
I kept it to between 65 and 75, and every time the string of cars got near to him at that speed, he accelerated away then slowed back down a mile or two ahead. Agree - I've cruised past trafpol at 75odd in traffic several times without being pulled.
My problem with it is the erratic way he was driving, including at least one stint that must have been over 100mph, the fact that he influenced other driver's speed considerably several times, and the fact that he ignored people broken down in the hard shoulder.
I might have been a target I guess - fairly conspicuous car (black GT3 with sport exhaust), but I certainly wasn't driving in any sort of way to provoke attention, and he pulled on ahead of me so wouldn't have seen me coming unless it was on video (can't imagine they sit there scanning the cameras for 911's/Ferraris etc.!)
I reckon the guy was just out to bag someone driving past at something over 80mph. Utter waste of resources IMO, and badly done to boot.
My problem with it is the erratic way he was driving, including at least one stint that must have been over 100mph, the fact that he influenced other driver's speed considerably several times, and the fact that he ignored people broken down in the hard shoulder.
I might have been a target I guess - fairly conspicuous car (black GT3 with sport exhaust), but I certainly wasn't driving in any sort of way to provoke attention, and he pulled on ahead of me so wouldn't have seen me coming unless it was on video (can't imagine they sit there scanning the cameras for 911's/Ferraris etc.!)
I reckon the guy was just out to bag someone driving past at something over 80mph. Utter waste of resources IMO, and badly done to boot.
i had a traffic car trying to bait me once early one morning on the way to prescott, he kept overtaking, slowing down, speeding up and even driving quite close behind!
he followed me into a garage forecourt, and made a great show of standing by my car with his radio as i paid for my fuel.
when i came out, i asked if there was a problem, he said no, everything seems to be in order, so i asked him to leave a bit more distance behind me if he intended following me again, as i didn't fancy a patrol car sat in the back if i had to stop in a hurry!
then i think, to prove a point, he still followed me closer than i would have liked untill i turned off the main road!
he followed me into a garage forecourt, and made a great show of standing by my car with his radio as i paid for my fuel.
when i came out, i asked if there was a problem, he said no, everything seems to be in order, so i asked him to leave a bit more distance behind me if he intended following me again, as i didn't fancy a patrol car sat in the back if i had to stop in a hurry!
then i think, to prove a point, he still followed me closer than i would have liked untill i turned off the main road!
I am slightly puzzled about your description of the traffic cars antics.
He first joined the motorway and went off at around 100mph? To me that implies he had been called somewhere and was in a hurry. He has no need to show lights or siren when in a hurry particularly if the motorway os clear enough for him to make progress. His shout is then cancelled so he elects to patrol the motorway, however although a long way behind him, which you must be had you seen him go off at 100, you can tell the lorry behind him had to back off. Surely that lorry had the option of overtaking the police car rather than "backing off", unless of course he was having to back off to avoid breaking the speed limit?
It should not be necessary to panic break when there is a police car in the inside lane, as the traffic always bunces allowing the alert driver to notice the bunching, and look for the cause and said police car.
Of course the police driver could not win as if he did 70 he would have caused bunching as no one overtook!
He first joined the motorway and went off at around 100mph? To me that implies he had been called somewhere and was in a hurry. He has no need to show lights or siren when in a hurry particularly if the motorway os clear enough for him to make progress. His shout is then cancelled so he elects to patrol the motorway, however although a long way behind him, which you must be had you seen him go off at 100, you can tell the lorry behind him had to back off. Surely that lorry had the option of overtaking the police car rather than "backing off", unless of course he was having to back off to avoid breaking the speed limit?
It should not be necessary to panic break when there is a police car in the inside lane, as the traffic always bunces allowing the alert driver to notice the bunching, and look for the cause and said police car.
Of course the police driver could not win as if he did 70 he would have caused bunching as no one overtook!
Puzzled why??? My description is perfectly clear I think. You're missing the point completely - my issue is with the way the guy repeatedly altered his speed.
Maybe he was on a shout - quite possible I suppose - though it must have been cancelled pretty damn quick as he accelerated hard for about 2 miles then pulled in and slowed down to a point where everyone caught up with him (at a flow of 75mph odd).
He caused the lorry to back off (brake lights - that's how I know!) becuase he pulled in too close in front while decelerating.
The bottom line is, regardless of what he was doing, there was absolutely no need to repeatedly alter speed (between 50 and 90+), changing lanes regularly. This caused a succession of hazards, and is downright irresponsible. Really pi*ses me off when we're blighted by so many worthless SCAMS and then I see this kind of conduct from a marked car - CAUSING hazards not preventing them.
If he'd been doing a steady 70 as you say, then I wouldn't have posted anything despite the bunching that would occur. If he had been patrolling the motorway, having had a call cancelled, then he should have pulled over to assist the people broken down on the hard shoulder.
Maybe he was on a shout - quite possible I suppose - though it must have been cancelled pretty damn quick as he accelerated hard for about 2 miles then pulled in and slowed down to a point where everyone caught up with him (at a flow of 75mph odd).
He caused the lorry to back off (brake lights - that's how I know!) becuase he pulled in too close in front while decelerating.
The bottom line is, regardless of what he was doing, there was absolutely no need to repeatedly alter speed (between 50 and 90+), changing lanes regularly. This caused a succession of hazards, and is downright irresponsible. Really pi*ses me off when we're blighted by so many worthless SCAMS and then I see this kind of conduct from a marked car - CAUSING hazards not preventing them.
If he'd been doing a steady 70 as you say, then I wouldn't have posted anything despite the bunching that would occur. If he had been patrolling the motorway, having had a call cancelled, then he should have pulled over to assist the people broken down on the hard shoulder.
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