Police Officer - did not like the way I passed him!
Discussion
I was accelerating down a slip road, as I normally do, onto a dual carriageway (A55, north wales, Brunstrum county) and there was a traffic patrol car parked up on the slip road on the left hand side.
I went past him and then joined the A55 carriageway which was still under the 50mph limit (no evidence though), even though the sign facing you states 70mph.
Anyway as far as i was concerned i did not break the speed limit. I have had a clean licence for over 17 years!!
The officer decided to chase after me and pulled me over. When I was sat in his car he asked me (and I quoted) "What was I hoping to achieve by passing him in the way I did?" I did not understand his question. He was referring to the way in which i was accelerating and claimed that I was driving inappropriately (it had certainly upset him). My car (350z) has a sports exhaust fitted and induction kit, it is not a quiet car, especially when accelerating and de-accelerating - combined with the fact that the slip road was built up with concrete walls on both sides, acting almost as a tunnel, the sound is magnified.
Anyway, he then claimed and showed me a hand held Pro Laser III gun which stated 59mph at 743.2yards, which according to the officer was still in the 50 limit, even though I believe I had actually passed the 70mph sign. £60 fine and 3 points!
I asked him to provide me evidence of how far his car was away from the 70mph sign, which he was unable to do.
What should I do? Anyone else had the same issue?
Is there any tolerance (in terms of distance) between 2 different speed restrictions?
I went past him and then joined the A55 carriageway which was still under the 50mph limit (no evidence though), even though the sign facing you states 70mph.
Anyway as far as i was concerned i did not break the speed limit. I have had a clean licence for over 17 years!!
The officer decided to chase after me and pulled me over. When I was sat in his car he asked me (and I quoted) "What was I hoping to achieve by passing him in the way I did?" I did not understand his question. He was referring to the way in which i was accelerating and claimed that I was driving inappropriately (it had certainly upset him). My car (350z) has a sports exhaust fitted and induction kit, it is not a quiet car, especially when accelerating and de-accelerating - combined with the fact that the slip road was built up with concrete walls on both sides, acting almost as a tunnel, the sound is magnified.
Anyway, he then claimed and showed me a hand held Pro Laser III gun which stated 59mph at 743.2yards, which according to the officer was still in the 50 limit, even though I believe I had actually passed the 70mph sign. £60 fine and 3 points!
I asked him to provide me evidence of how far his car was away from the 70mph sign, which he was unable to do.
What should I do? Anyone else had the same issue?
Is there any tolerance (in terms of distance) between 2 different speed restrictions?
Edited by simoncotton on Monday 3rd September 11:15
Edited by simoncotton on Monday 3rd September 11:17
Edited by simoncotton on Monday 3rd September 11:22
Are they following up the speeding charge, or is he 'leaving it'?
Firstly, he would have to have a very steady aim to get a *handheld* reading at 745 yards...
Secondly, as you say, it is easy to measure out the distance to ascertain where exactly you were.
Firstly, he would have to have a very steady aim to get a *handheld* reading at 745 yards...
Secondly, as you say, it is easy to measure out the distance to ascertain where exactly you were.
Edited by JustinP1 on Monday 3rd September 11:22
743.2 Metres is 0.46180 miles.
You know where the
was positioned so all you need to do is drive the route again and use your trip meter to measure the distance to the sign. If it's less than 4 1/2 tenths of a mile he's got you and the easiest route is to cough up. If it's over 5/10ths of a mile then you can defend your case in court.
In your case it's easy to work out if you're guilty or innocent as you have all the information necessary to do the maths.
Oh, and I'm taking it you mean a NSL sign? I wasn't aware of any 70 signs in the UK.
You know where the
was positioned so all you need to do is drive the route again and use your trip meter to measure the distance to the sign. If it's less than 4 1/2 tenths of a mile he's got you and the easiest route is to cough up. If it's over 5/10ths of a mile then you can defend your case in court.In your case it's easy to work out if you're guilty or innocent as you have all the information necessary to do the maths.
Oh, and I'm taking it you mean a NSL sign? I wasn't aware of any 70 signs in the UK.
JustinP1 said:
Are they following up the speeding charge, or is he 'leaving it'?
Firstly, he would have to have a very steady aim to get a *handheld* reading at 745 yards...
Secondly, as you say, it is easy to measure out the distance to ascertain where exactly you were.
Given me a £60 fine and three points !Firstly, he would have to have a very steady aim to get a *handheld* reading at 745 yards...
Secondly, as you say, it is easy to measure out the distance to ascertain where exactly you were.
Edited by JustinP1 on Monday 3rd September 11:22
The Griffalo said:
Einion Yrth said:
The Griffalo said:
I wasn't aware of any 70 signs in the UK.
You should get out more; plenty of them in Scotland.
Lost a lot of ours round here to 40/50mph limits.
simoncotton said:
cptsideways said:
Prolaser III is way more accurate & infallable then the LTI but handheld at that distance 
I had heard that the Prolaser III is not that reliable at long distance? Also, how can anyone prove that the camera was actually pointing at my car at 743 yards anyway?tigger1 said:
The Griffalo said:
Einion Yrth said:
The Griffalo said:
I wasn't aware of any 70 signs in the UK.
You should get out more; plenty of them in Scotland.Lost a lot of ours round here to 40/50mph limits.
Einion Yrth said:
The Griffalo said:
I wasn't aware of any 70 signs in the UK.
You should get out more; plenty of them in Scotland.simoncotton said:
cptsideways said:
Prolaser III is way more accurate & infallable then the LTI but handheld at that distance
I had heard that the Prolaser III is not that reliable at long distance? Also, how can anyone prove that the camera was actually pointing at my car at 743 yards anyway?You have it 'on trust' that it was your car targeted at that time. Indeed, it is theoretically possible to get a reading from any car (or a stationary object... but thats another argument...!) intentionally or otherwise and then sit in the car and pick and choose which car to pull over. The accused driver would have little or no way of disproving.
okay I have measured the distance from where the police vehicle was postioned and it is exactly 0.2miles away from the 70mph sign, which based on my rough conversions means that its approx 431 metres away. On the penalty notice it states 743.2 metres, which then proves I was actually in the 70 limit and not 50?
Edited by simoncotton on Monday 3rd September 17:51
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