Brit_in_Japan

BBC News

The police chief in charge of traffic in Greater Manchester has been caught speeding along a motorway at 104mph.
Assistant Chief Constable Steve Thomas was fined £450 and given six penalty points by North Staffordshire magistrates on Thursday.

He said he sincerely regretted his "error of judgement", but had thought he was driving safely at the time.

Mr Thomas said he remained committed to reducing the number of traffic accidents caused by speeding.

Assistant Chief Constable Steve Thomas
Magistrates heard that Mr Thomas had been clocked doing 104mph on the M6 Toll road near Birmingham.

After appearing in court, he defended his actions on the day.

In a statement he said: "On the day in question, the driving and road conditions were good, and I was part of a group of around 15 cars all doing around the same speed.

"I considered that my manner of driving was safe. However, exceeding the speed limit by this amount is unacceptable and I sincerely regret my error of judgement.

"Excessive speed is a contributory factor in many road traffic incidents and it's everyone's duty to drive safely and at a reasonable speed at all times."

He added: "I remain committed to reducing the number of serious road traffic accidents that occur in Greater Manchester."

Trauma and bereavement


A GMP spokesman confirmed: "Assistant Chief Constable Thomas has responsibility for traffic issues at GMP and those responsibilities will remain."

As well as being in charge of roads policing, Mr Thomas is head of divisional policing in Greater Manchester.

A spokesman for anti-speeding campaigners, Brake, said: "Driving at excessive speeds like this greatly increases the chance of a car crash.

"Someone in Mr Thomas' position, who has seen at first hand the consequences of speeding, should know better."

unclebuck

F**KIN' HYPOCRITICAL C*NTS!!!

Or to re-phrase... Another Chief Constable wants to *ban all* motorcyclists for being more than *5 mph* over any speed limit. It must be great being a mason. you can basically get away with anything.


UB

Mice_Elf

Was he the only one targetted?

The irony of him trying to reduce people speeding and then stating that he felt "safe" at 104mph is incredible.

Didn't realise there WERE any police on the M6 Toll, which is why the few who DO travel on it use it as a racetrack.

Butkus

I thought you got banned for anything over 100 mph? My friend was banned for doing 103, plus £600 fine.

Chris L

It depends on the Magistrate. I'm amazed they did him - most of the police seem to have their cases dropped - there are some amazing figures around somewhere showing how few prosecutions of police were actually carried through.

I was on the M6 Toll road yesterday - first time I'd been on it. Yep it was a racetrack So few people using it (and the best surface on any motorway I know), to be honest, it wasn't surprising.

Chris

Mice_Elf

It seems to be pot luck now. Some people get banned, others a hefty fine and loads of points.

Dazza01

might be worth printing his statement off, and quoting from it just in case ur caught doing this kind of speed ?

StickyMicky

to be expected, i would have been suprised if he was banned, a lot more so then him not being banned

Spoon

The thing is, he was more than likely safe at that speed otherwise I doubt he would have been doing it, but and it's a big but, if Joe Public gets dealt harsher sentences then it doesn't do a great deal for public confidence.

It also doesn't give much weight to his safety crusade argument either!!

Having escaped a ban for 133mph I'm alright Jack though.

tiggers

One rule for the police - one rule for everyone else - same **** - different day!!!

greasemonkey

That's beside the point as far as prosecution goes.

Exactly. I'm probably a better driver than this copper, (and yes, I probably have the paperwork to prove it). But, if I, a member of the public, stood up in court and claimed that I was driving "safely" at 105mph, what do you think the magistrate would do???

Ah, therein lies the paradox of the police officer being forced to parrot the one third lie while knowing full well that he was driving within safe limits at the time he was done. No doubt he's still picking the splinters out of his bum now. Must be painful being forced to sit on the fence in such a public manner.

Tiggs

get a grip ppl.....104 on a clear mway with a clean licence- his fine and points seem normal enough.

Spoon

I know full well it is but what I was pointing out is that the speed isn't dangerous in clear conditions with a good driver and the whole way the limits are policed is too severe.
He would say, "you of all people should know better than most....."
That's what he said to me anyway for 133.

wheelie_sti

Guys,

As strange as it may seem, it might be worth printing out the case details and indicating that a possible "legal precedence" has been set with such a pitiful outcome and use it next time we mortals are cought.

BTW the court is ALWAYS told the license is clean, I speak from experience from many years ago. 105mph M5 BAN - 146mph M1 3am BAN, no other cars were in sight on the M1 at the time many moons ago.

BTW RS500 Cosworth just in case you ask.

Just a thought

wheelie_sti

Spoon

6 points and a £450 fine wasn't pitiful though.

Being in charge of the speed safety campaign preaching one thing and practises another could be deemed so though.

NotoriousREV

What a pity that he didn't have the courage to say that the speed limits in this country are a joke. You can actually tell he's talking through clenched teeth in his statement, LOL.

Jerome

Apart from what's already been said, he stated that he was in a group of about 15 cars doing the same speed.

Firstly, why out of 15 cars did the Police traffic car pick him?

Secondly, I used to regularly drive at around an indicated 100mph (when conditions allowed), and I was usually the fastest car on the motorway. You would get the odd person overtake, but I've never known a group of 15 cars all doing around 100 mph.

Nathan L

Spot on.

Sounds about right, banning people @ 100mph on motorways doesn't happen as much as it used to.

Nathan..

sti555

seems pretty fair punishment to me, I recently got caught doing the exact same speed in similar circumstances and got 7 day ban / £450 fine / 0 points.

Can't really see anything to moan about

Danbo

To be fair.........most Police get a harsher punishment than most public in the same situation..........(most of the time)

And you have to remember that the Police are only a go between between the public and the courts..........they dont ever decide on the punishment themselves.......

And lets not forget that the uninsured no licence possessing burglars in stolen cars get less than this.............surely thats more unfair???

Sheepsplitter

I think he's making a statement.
He's saying 'In the right circumstances it's safe to drive at 104mph', which we knew anyway. He's most likely instructing his region to reset their gatsos to 116mph (+10%+2mph). What a fine chap!

tiggers

It's not the punishment that bothers me as that's fine.

It's the hypocritical bull**** that hacks me off. His statements are exactly the opposite of the dumbass crap his officers come out with when you are I are stopped for that sort of speed as I know from personal experience.

However that's probably OK as he's a copper hence obviously it's a different set of rules for him.

tiggers.

farmer1

Remember this was on the toll road, and I believe evrybody uses it as a race track.

GaryK

yes spot on tiggers!

I think *every* copper on the road makes two big assumptions:

1) They are a better driver than any joe public (sometimes true)
2) All joe public are morons who cant drive (sometimes true)

Leslie

Of all people to get caught for driving at such speeds, the last person should be a senior policeman. How can they expect the public to accept the need as stated by motoring law to obey the speed limits as set for our roads. He actually had the cheek to say that speed causes accidents while saying he felt he was driving safely at the time. That really is a prime example of a political answer when one has been caught out and as such is worth precisely nothing.

He should have got a heavy penalty to set an example to the rest of us. Too much of this "whitewashing" going on these days. He broke the law without an excuse for goodness sake!

DBY

Sanctimonious Tosspot!!

Spoon

It can only be a good thing though surely.

The more it happens the sooner they might amend their attitude to Joe Public driving over the stated speed limits.

greasemonkey- Your absence is noted.

misty

He's only human!!! Probably just had his scoob serviced and wanted to blow the cobwebs out!!
dave

Leslie

DBY

Do you really support the idea of policeman breaking the speeding laws while they take us to court for doing the same thing? That is what your rude and immature post means.