myblackwrx

iTrader: (1)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/s...re/5284962.stm.

bit of a joke really

Rabid

Sounds reasonable, all we need now is a similar approach taken for the rest of us.
Last time I was back in the UK I was lucky enough to be driving a foreign registered car and I can confirm that it's great fun tanking along at high speed 'familiarising myself with the vehicle' while all the other saps are dawdling at 60 or 70. Even better than that I excchanged my driving licence for a non UK item so they can't even ban me anymore.

jasey

But not a surprise

unclebuck

New Labour Police State.

Leslie

I presume you are joking Rabid, I hope so anyway.

Les

compshack

This is beyond belief, not only was he caught with his own camera doing 159mph on a motorway he also clocked up 131mph on an A road. AND HE GOT LET OFF, what a ******* joke. What kind of society are we living in?
I'm a advance driver, so whats the differance between me doing that and the policeman if he's not bluelighting?(an emergancy) nothing?
Apart from I'd be send down for 2 years for dangerous driving and banned.

And his excuse was that he was getting to know the car. The law is the law, I don't mind if everyone sticks to the same law but there seem to be 2 or 3 working at the moment and where on the crap one.

Rabid

Of course I'm not joking. 968CS+spanish plates+ foreign licence=2 fingers to UK law. I was careful to make sure I didn't do anything that wouldn't get me locked up though.

I really don't believe that doing 100 (ish) on a more or less empty road is any problem at all. Certainly not now I can't really get done for it.

We should be glad this guy got away with it. What we need now are a few more 'ordinary' people getting off.

brumdaisy

absolute discharge

looking on the bright side I think I'll just go familiarise myself with my car's performance

cw42

iTrader: (1)

are you doing the same through France now? Instant on the spot driving ban if caught a certain amount over the limit now

Rabid

I don't live there any more but interestingly before I left I was flashed by some gendarmes as I was doing 3 figure speeds on an N road. Unluckily for them this was near an unguarded portion of Spain's border. They didn't bother following me across. Perhaps they should consider getting some faster cars around the Hendaye area?

Anything over 160kph and they'll look at confiscating your car if they think they can.

Danny B

I can't see the problem?
Driving at 159mph at 3am on an empty motorway is not exactly crime of the century is it? I think a lot of you are just jealous that he got away with it.
What annoys me more is that The West Mercia Police Federation actually prosecuted the poor man for doing his job.
I'd rather he do it at 3am then at 3pm.

Jaybird-UK

remember his face and name, if you ever get pulled over for speeding by him you know what to say

jasey

It's not jealousy !

It's the "We're pigs we can operate outside of the law" that's the problem.

It was bad enough when he was found not guilty. Now he's been found guilty and let off !

Danny B

Mate, go to South America then you will really know what operating outside of the law means.
I bet Police forces around the world are laughing at us stupid Brits for dragging this on for so long. I've never heard of anything so ridiculous in all my life. Prosecuting a Traffic Cop for speeding...this country has gone nuts.

jasey

I want to stay in the UK thanks.

And I'd like the same Laws for everyone if you don't mind .

David Lock

Nice suit, shirt and tie though - must have impressed the judge

RoShamBo

iTrader: (1)

In a statement read out in court, he said: "I was advised to familiarise myself with vehicles, so when there was a need to respond at speed you were aware of its performance."

How many police chases ever go near that speed ? Hardly any I would guess.

He was obviuosly doing a "I wonder how fast this car goes" type of thing & got caught. We have all done it, usually at a similar time to when he did it, on a motorway in the early hours when there is nothing about.

R.

Gymbal

"Some animals are more equal than others"

as for just doing his job..... where were the criminal and the pursuit? Get on a track like the rest of us.... Familiarise himself there. Now for the disciplinary procedures. though it says West Mercia will appeal, leniency or severity?
As for Rabid, hmmmm, dont get caught!

JayPSC

http://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?...umentid=837438

Says he got convicted in this story ???

OllyK

Yes but no sentence.

turboman786

Sentence was an absolute discarge..ie 'it is inexpedient to impose punishment'(thats the legal definiton of an AD).....Im puzzled how no reference has been made to the minimum 12 month MANDATORY driving ban that Dangerous driving carrys....

Nick100

Maybe not, but they might crush your car !!
http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/news/au...s_crushed.html

Rabid

Keyword there is persistent. I borrowed the vehicle I was here in last time and change my car on whim every few months (especially if I've set off a camera or two).

Nick100

Do you change your name and license this frequently as well ?

Chip Sengravy

I saw one of those 3.2 vectras on the M1 today, nice motor

wrx_yank

last time i "familiarized myself" i got a ticket!!!! fvck that idiot.. he could have killed someone. like me or my wife who is pregnant... his *** should burn for that....sorry for my american rage..lol

Rabid

Name remains the same. License is with a non-european country. Problem is when/if the UK authorities track down the registered foreign owner of the car he denies it's ever been there.

"The onus of proof remains with the authorities"




car cloning is rife these days

Kieran_Burns

iTrader: (1)

if it was anywhere near Notts it could've been my wife... she has the 3.2 GSi - with full Irmscher body kit. Which is a little scary as she only 25 and is tiny!!!

Adrian F

I don’t see the problem with the speed he was travelling at. Go to the Autobahns in Germany and many people drive at this speed.

As far as I can tell most of the comments above are about the fact he got no serious punishment!

Though he will probably lose his job or get transferred to a dead end post and have his career ruined.

Maybe a better complaint would be that they should raise the limit for the rest of us on empty roads in good conditions.

Why we can’t drive at 100mph on a dry empty motorway I don’t understand. You see lots of people doing it already so why should we risk losing our licences and jobs for something demonstrated to be safe, instead crack down on the people who sit in the middle or right hand lanes block traffic flow and tail gate especially in rain or fog etc.

The number of people caught exceeding the speed limits each year prove
1) Its safe to speed (well they are still alive to pay the fine)
2) Many of the speed limits have no credibility with the motorists so are just blatantly ignored.

If they actually had creditable limits rather than allowing a vocal minority like Brake to dictate policy people would in general obey the limits allowing the traffic police to focus on the dangerous drivers.

Brit_in_Japan

As Adrian said, I wouldn't regard what he did as dangerous. It was autobahn speed, he was described as the creme-de-la-creme of high speed police pursuit drivers and it was 3 a.m. on a motorway. And 131mph on good standard dual carriageway in similar conditions is the same.

The anti-speed fanatics have made some daft comments on the case, it's as if they think all police drivers should never go above the speed limits and go to race tracks if they want to practice high speed driving. That's imptactical and naive.

The biggest problem is the message it's sent out:-
- there's one rule for the police and another for us

IMHO it was a mistake to ever take this to court. We all expect that police traffic cops will have to drive at high speed as part of their training. When we really need them to put their foot down, it's in all our interests that they do it safely. So maybe an intenal bollocking would have been more appropriate than dragging this through the courts for 2 - 3 years.