blubell

Have to say I bought 5dr as I thought it was the least 'obvious' and quite like being incognito. Have never had any major problems with old bill - being femail helps! Having driven all sorts of loud and sporty cars over the years imagine my surprise when current MY01 appear to act a s a magnet to police cars

Havnt been stoped yet... but getting a bit paranoid.

dustbin hoffman

Astraboy

Good suggestion.

Here's another:

Next time a pork chopper pulls you over and start giving you a load of grief, pull out your gat and bust some caps in his fat ****....oh no...
....I'm beginning to think I'm a gangster again!
Sorry.

Mr Leigh

Mr Leigh

It's like an out of control craze sweeping the nation, from the dirty joyriders in Kappa jump suits, Housewives in there Land cruisers all the way up to the Managing Directors in the office of there multi nationals. They are all learning to hate the Police. I might start selling T-shirts

[This message has been edited by Mr Leigh (edited 07 August 2001).]

JoeyDeacon

Just had an experience last night that makes me

Having just cleaned the car I had to pop over to my mums (a 2 minute drive) to pick something up and I needed to get some petrol on the way.

About 50 metres away from the petrol station there is a marked police Volvo waiting to pull out of a road and as I go past they pull out behind me. I check my speed and I am doing 25MPH, indicate to pull into the petrol station and surprise, surprise they follow me.

I stop at a petrol pump, open the filler flap and get out of the car when they start to drive really slowly alongside my car (about 1 foot away). The passenger gets out, and the conversation went like this :

Policeman : "Do you know why I would like to have a word with you?"

Me : "No, I have absolutely no idea"

Policeman : "Do you have any ID?"

Me : "No"

Policeman : "Does the owner of the car know you are driving it?" (Really agressive and in my face)

Me : (Getting slightly annoyed now) : "I am the owner of the car."

Policeman "So you will have read the owners manual for this vehicle?"

Me : "Yes"

Poiceman "Cover to cover?"

Suddenly the penny dropped and I realised that when I had cleaned the dash I must have accidentally switched the front fog lights on. I explained this to him and turned off the switch.

Policeman "You might want to explain that to the magistrate when he gives you 3 points." (Still being agressive)

Now half of me knew that you only get a £30 fine for foglights and I wanted to tell him this, but the other half of me wasn't too sure and was telling me to just shut up.

He then gave me a lecture about how foglights blind motorcyclists and cause them to crash (Still being agressive and treating me like a fool)

Now I admit that I was in the wrong for having my foglights on (even if it was an accident) but is it really such a serious crime that it warants that type of agression from the police?. I have been stopped loads of times in the past for real offences (Not in the Impreza) and they have always been fair and let me off. I would much rather he gave me the £30 fine and a producer than making me feel like a criminal in a public place (all the other people in the petrol station were watching)

So did I get this sort of attitude because I am a young bloke driving a W reg Subaru Impreza Turbo and the policeman didn't like it? Was me having the foglights on just the excuse he needed to give me grief?

Shame about the one or two bad apples that spoil their otherwise spotless reputation.

Markus

jeez, no wonder you're a bit mad.

Don't suppose you got the officers badge number did you? if so then I'd report him to his superiour for being agressive towards you, explain you were polite and courteous and had made a genuine mistake.

If you don't have the officers number then if you have the reg number of the car you could quote that to the police and they should be able to work out who is on shift in the car at that time.

As you say, a few bad apples n all. Tis a pity as the police do a great job and tend to be there when you need them. and more often than not when you don't want them there

father_jack

What a bunch of *******. It is just a fine - no points.
I had the complete opposite experience. I got pulled for having front fogs on in me Integra. Turns out it didn't have fogs fitted and they ripped up the ticket. I'd been happy to take the ticket as I'd been rather naughty beforehand - hence the tug.
They also said I'd failed the breath test until I said - see that light that says "pass" that means pass doesn't it.
Fools.

EVOVI

I think it was just bad timing on your part.I see loads of idiots driving around with there foglights on and I don`t really think the rozzers can be bothered with them.You happened to go past them and pull in straight away,if you had carried on driving I bet they would have followed for a bit to make you cac your pants and then turned off.
On the other hand you can tell them you have been through loads of fog,Might be the summer but how can they prove you have not??????
The bit about blinding motorcyclists is a load of crap.What about them driving around day and night with full blinding beam on,if they are coming towards you,you get blinded,if they pass you,blinded in your mirrors.

DazW

iTrader: (1)

.....when theyre being nice you've had it.....when theyre being b@stards you know they cant do jack!

evo kid

i would not bother making a complaint as you would have to give your name and the time/place it took place and i am sure they would have put your reg in to the computer in the patrol car and you will get hastled every time they or one of there mates sees you.

camk

Always take their number, first thing to ask is can I take a quick note of you number. Be nice but always write it down. That usually diffuses any Nice guy/ Bad guy stuff.

Regards
Cammy

dustbin hoffman

Am I dreaming, or do I just live in a different country to everyone else on this thread?

What's this crap about the Police having a spotless reputation and always being there when you need them?

From mine and my friends experiences, the Police are absolutely F*cking useless.
On top of that, they are a f*cking pain in the **** for motorists.
This aggressive behavior you have described is just typical of traffic police in general.
The amount of times that I have been pulled over in my life just for having a fast car and being young, and they always speak to you like sh*t, even though you've done nothing wrong.
Then, when your car gets stolen, they do nothing. I had a cavalier sri nicked a few years back. It was caught on Police CCTV, but they told me the image wasn't good enough to see anything on. Two weeks later my mates spotted the car outside someones house 5 miles away. I called the police and told them.
I watched them arrive at the house, look quickly round the car, jotting down a few notes, and then drive off. They didn't even knock on the persons door, let alone prosecute them. Useless!
I was tempted to take the law into my own hands, but I'm sure the Police would've suddenly become pretty efficient if I had!
Anyway, like ya man says - don't bother complaining, or you'll be pulled over every time you leave the house!

stevencotton

I think the switch positioning for the front fogs are in a silly place, on my MY98 anyway. From my driving position the steering wheel completely occludes that switch so I can't easily tell if they're on or not unless I actually make a point of looking, which I do each time I get in the car now.

Steve.

JasonHook

I really wish these dinosaurs would stop these guessing games.

"I've stopped you because you have your fog lights on and because the visibilty is currently greater than 300 yards..." is better than "Can you guess what I'm thinking..."

Write a letter to the Inspector at your local traffic garage expressing concerns about the manner in which you were spoken to. He'll probably know that the blokes rude but if he's getting complaints he will at least have to acknowledge your complaint and have a chat to him.

Jason

JoeyDeacon

dustbin hoffman,

I agree with everything you say, the line "Shame about the one or two bad apples that spoil their otherwise spotless reputation" was me taking the p!ss (Hence the ), its actually a line fron The Young Ones!

There is absolutely no point me complaining as I live in a reasonably small town and have to drive past the local police station at least twice a day. Think how many times they could stop me if they wanted too! The car is completely and utterly legal and I know there is nothing they can do but both my mum and uncle have been prosecuted by the police for things they didn't do (Mum for running a red light and uncle for driving over a pedestrian crossing when nobody was on it). Think of all the things they could make up such as crossing double white lines, going into a ghost island etc. etc. if they wanted too.

Several times I have been waiting at traffic lights and the police have pulled up slowly alongside me staring at me. I have even had them change direction to pull up behind me at lights, do a PNC check (I am guessing this is what they are doing) and once the lights change and I pull away they go off in a completely different direction.

Due to recent events I have had less and less respect for the police and I have to say that this experience has destroyed any remaining respect I did have for them.

A friend of mine got knocked off his motorbike a few months ago and the driver left him lying in the road and just drove off. My friend got his registration number and a guy coming the opposite way was a witness and still the police did nothing. After a lot of pressure from my friend they sent the driver a letter which he had 28 days to respond to, obviously nothing happened and after a lot more pressure from my friend they finally sent someone to the address (8 weeks after the incident). The guy who answered the door said he had never heard of the guy and that was it case closed, nothing more they can do.

Seems to me that if you are an honest motorist who pays his insurance, road tax etc. then you are more of a criminal than the person who goes around mugging old ladies.

astraboy

Next time an agressive copper stops you, just be over nice to him. Be courteous and polite, no matter how aggro their getting. As long as you know you are in the right then they can do nothing cos you aint getting aggressive.
It just gives them an excuse to get even more aggro if you get agressive.
astraboy.

Boost II

iTrader: (1)

MY00's rear foglight switch trips off when you turn the ignition off, same as the rear window heater, meaning you can't leave it on by accident for long. Why doesn't the front fog switch do this?

Neil F

I think your response should have been,
"I may have inadvertantly left my foglights on (for which I've apologised) and given you cause to stop me, but when did that give you the right to talk to me like I'm a piece of ****?"
That said in front of an onlooking crowd would have been most satisfting.

I had a gripe about 2 weeks ago;
I was pulling on to a large multi-laned roundabout when I spotted on the outside lane (closest to the island) a motorcyclist picking his bike up off the floor. I decided to go right round and see if I could help.
I pulled up behind the guy who was now waving traffic around him and his bike. I stopped a safe distance back from the bike but far enough off of the bend and on a straight section so that anyone rounding the corner could easily take the necessary action. I also needless to say had my hazards on.
It turns out the guy's chain had snapped and locked up his rear wheel so that he couldn't move the bike. His friend had gone off to phone the fuzz so I stayed and tried to help him.
When the choppers turned up, a short policewoman sauntered up and just launched into us about what a stupid place it was to stop!
It took 3 attempts to try and point out that we couldn't move the bike because the chain had snapped and locked the wheel;

"why don't you push it to the side of the road, this is a very dangerous roundabout?!"

"becuase the chain has snapped and...."

"well push it to the side then!!"

"we can't because the chain has snapped and..."

"WELL JUST PUSH IT!!"

(Me now pissed off) "WE CAN'T BECAUSE THE CHAIN HAS SEIZED UP THE REAR WHEEL!!! and actually, I thought it would better for a car to hit my car than plough into this poor guy (motorcyclist)!!!"

I was seething that I had had to raise my voice above hers to explain this and the fact that I was trying to shield a vunerable motorcyclist wearing dark leathers in poor visibility (early morning misty haze) hadn't even been considered.
In fact if she'd had the decency to ask what was going on in the first place, she'd have saved herself from looking a complete ****.

And, she never even apologised, she just said "oh, I thought you'd had an accident and just stopped here..." at which point she turned and walked away saying "can't you lift it then?" (dopey tart!).

I was left standing there without a "thank's for your help" or anything (although the cyclist did thank me).
I just walked back to my car glaring at the other officer (a proper 'male' one) and shaking my head.

It really inspires you to be public spirited when the first thing they do is talk to you like you're a *****.
At what point after giving them their uniform did they tell them it was alright to do that?

Neil.

Ricky Budlight

Its good to see the TAXPAYERS money spent on GOOD customer relationships....

JoeyDeacon

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:<HR>Originally posted by Neil F:
<B>I think your response should have been,
"I may have inadvertantly left my foglights on (for which I've apologised) and given you cause to stop me, but when did that give you the right to talk to me like I'm a piece of ****?"
That said in front of an onlooking crowd would have been most satisfting.
[/quote]

Thing is the police would have absolutely loved that wouldn't they!! Excellent excuse to arrest me for assaulting a police officer or some other trumped up charge.

At first I was angry with myself for not having the guts to argue with him but now I am pleased I was as polite to him as possible. He was obviously trying to goad me into having an argument with him so me just being calm and answering his questions must have really annoyed him. At the end of the day I am the one earning far more than him and driving a Subaru Impreza Turbo and if that makes him jealous and angry enough to hassle me in this way then I have one over on him.

I think the other people at the petrol station were on my side because as soon as the policeman was getting into his car again I turned round to the guy behind me and mouthed "W@nkers" and he just smilled at me. When I went to pay for the petrol even the cashier asked me "what the hell was that all about"

My ignorance of the law is really starting to annoy me now, has anybody got any links to websites which tell you exactly what the police can and can't do when they stop you.

davyboy

This made me think when I got pulled over in my mums car, towing an empty bike trailor. The rozzers pulled me over and walked up to the Window of my car. I wound it down by about 1cm and said (loads of attitude, I was young)"........what!" (knowing that I was totally legal and there was nothing he could do). he calmly replied.."your trailor board is on upside down, when you car indicates right, your trailor indicates left!" I felt such a T*at!

dustbin hoffman

I can tell you that they can't do much if you pull out your Uzi 9mm and start to spray..........oh no.....

.....it's happening again.....

...you're NOT a gangster Dustbin...NOT!!!!!

Sorry.

Try typing in "Speed Cameras" on ask.co.uk.

All sorts of links come up, each with links to other sites.

Here's a tip: If you are ever followed by police, try and drive past a donut shop......

Neil F

"Thing is the police would have absolutely loved that wouldn't they!! Excellent excuse to arrest me for assaulting a police officer or some other trumped up charge."

Your quite right Joey.
Just amend the last line to something constructive and polite like "...and I would consider it a personal honour if you didn't address me with such wanton licentiousness, you facking trumped up power freak"
Mmmh, maybe I needto work on that a bit more.....


Neil.

Lushman

Neil if you use big words like that you would only confuse them.

I have also been stopped by the Police for having my fog lights on.
I had recently purchased the car and told them this. There were 3 officers, the youngest giving me abuse and when they asked me what type of car it is. I told them 'I'm Not stupid you know what type of car this is that is why you stopped me and because I can afford one and you can't!'
and Voila I receive a £30 Fine for Unecessary use of Lights.
I was going to appeal, but could not be bothered with the hassle.

ozzy

Hmm,

You do get some right to$$ers in all walks of life, it just a shame some of them are in the police force.

I got pulled on Friday afternoon coming home from a quick browse around Halfords. I've just renewed my Road TAX and forgot to put it on display hence why plod decided to check me out.

Unlike you, they were pretty decent. I explained what had happened they were quite happy with it.

The only hassle was that I didn't have any ID (fatal mistake), so I had to take all my documents to the local station last night.

I must admit if I were in their shoes and saw some a young bloke with his fogs on I'd probably give him some grief as well - after all their all at it

Funnily enough, my mum got pulled a couple of years ago for having the fog lights on and she got a £20 spot penalty. The Police even had to point out where to turn the things off - I guess they just don't believe people can make honest mistakes anymore.

Anyway, just remember you could have been £30 out of pocket if you'd started to get lippy.

Stefan

Luke

Joey

Always better to Listen... say very little.
let them get an erection.Live to see another day

Luke Deacon

ps. Dont park in disabled bays......

boomer

JoeyDeacon,

maybe the Policeman's wife, new born child, and disabled grandma had just been forced to park miles away from Tescos because some Scooby drived had selfishly parked in the mother and baby spaces

Just a though?

mb

boomer

Bugger,

Luke beat me to it!!!

mb

alexf

Am I doing something wrong? Not been stopped by the police in the year I've had the Scooby but I have had a few stares of them. This is a bit surprising, seeing as my route to/from work takes me through some dodgy areas of Manchester.

I totally agree with the above posts re being very polite to the police - don't give them any reasons to prosecute you.

Alex

g man

Luke [nice one] as you said just say nothing m8 best way.. Ive been stopped so many time`s now yes ive lost count ..Best thing show them your ID and let them get on with it if everythings sweet cool if not GET THOSE £100 POUND NIKE AIRS WORKING !!! cya..