Paul P

Cheers,

I use that route regularly so thanks for that info.

A couple of years ago I had an argument with a traffic cop. What had happened is that a brown Astra, a real wreck of a car, had from out of the blue undertaken me, I was travelling at 80mph with my wife and young daughter in the car. Now the car I was travelling in was my wife's car, a lovely white Peugeot 106 Rallye, the car really stood out with speedline wheels etc. Anyway this Astra must have shot past at what appeared to be 95mph+ and I just let him continue on his merry way.

About 1/2 mile later near the Sunderland turnoff, I noticed a police car on the bridge and as I went past, I noticed the police car joining the A19. Good I thought, he is going to catch the driver who had undertaken me at an excessive speed. I had maintained my speed at 80mph so you can imagine my surprise when I was pulled over by the cop car. I was even more surprised when he told me that I had been travelling at 98mph. Now they say as you get older, the coppers look younger, well I am still young (30ish) but this traffic cop looked about 12!!! So when I told him that he must have made a mistake, it was the brown astra he had caught, he gave me a reply as if I was trying to get out of it. I told him over and over again that I was doing 80mph all the way along the A19 and he had only pulled me over as my car was easier to spot. By the time I was pulled over, the astra had dissappeared into the cars ahead.
Anyway to cut a long story short, I had to accept 3 points and a fine otherwise I was going to be arrested, taken to court and face a possible ban.
I would just love to meet this copper off duty for a proper chat, so it would be interesting to see if this copper is still patroling the A19, now where was that brown astra!!!?!!

hooksin

Travelling North on the A19 last night (Wed)@ about 5:00pm and spotted an unmarked car on the bridge above with a camera perched in the front seats. BE WARNED....

Don't know if it got me, I may have been a bit over the limit .....Santa Plods christmas gift a little bit early for me this year then

hooksin

Yeh, it really annoys me when things like that happen, escpecially when you think of all the IDIOTS out there.....

I should have bought a Laser Blinder instead of a pressie for the wife, looked into them & a Valentine/Snooper, but undecided.

matt_d

What's the best way to respond in mistaken identity cases like this? There was another post a while back about someone getting mixed up with another car - if the copper has made a mistake, is there any way to avoid you getting convicted of a crime you never committed? And if not, isn't that pretty bloody worrying? (What if someone is doing 130 in the same make of car as you?)

How do the police make sure they get the right car, short of videotaping or photographing the car? Personally I can't see how you can avoid having to let people off in court on just eye witness testimony, because they can just claim it was another car, same model & colour that did the speeding.

ca

I'm amazed at the number of people who openly exceed the speed limit (but not by what they would consider excessively) in full view of police vehicles.

I thought the idea was to NOT bring attention to yourself? Surely the easiest way of dong that is to keep to the limit?

C

Paul_P

I always cruise on the motorway at 80mph, this is acceptable to all police officers I have spoken to. In fact if I try and stick to 70mph, I find myself driving continually monitoring my speed. If I am having to monitor all the time and slow down to 70mph, I don't feel as if I am driving as safely as I can. I drive on a road each day that is continually monitored by the police and I have never ever been stopped driving at this speed, so I cannot see how driving at 80mph draws the attention to yourself!?!
Anyway in the situation that happened to me, I was in the flow of the traffic, we were all moving at approx 80mph, it was the nutter in the brown astra that came up right behind me, undertook, moved right in front of me, then undertook the car in front. All I presumed was when the police were firing their laser gun, they caught his speed but when they looked back down, saw a nice shiny sporty white car and nabbed me instead.
All I am doing is stating the facts and believe me I had a go at the policeman because I knew I was right and I knew he was wrong.
When I turned up at the police station to hand in my driver's licence, I got loads of sympathy off the police men at the desk.
I won't repeat what they called the traffic police but I totally agreed with them on this one that I had encountered!!!!!

hooksin

CA - don't you find it's sods law when you do 30 in a 30 limit etc, you will get a pull because the police think you've either been drinking (which I absolutly condone), or think you've stolen it (that's when I have me puffa on and me 4 weekly no blade cut....hey I'm not joking).

ca

Paul_P

I'm not really sure what you are saying here. It seems to be that it is somehow easier for you to stick to 80 than it is to stick to 70. I don't understand (and I am not taking the p*** - I am genuinely puzzled)

I know of a IT engineer based in Teesside who was prosecuted for 79mph on the A19 about 6 years ago, so while 80 might be acceptable under normal circumstances, it is not guaranteed to be risk free.

hooksin

Remember I'm the sad one who doesn't actually own a Subaru. Sounds like you and me have the same barber. Puffa? (.fx blank look - Sorry, I'm showing my age there)

Anyway, r u still OK to let me have a mooch at your motor sometime in the new year?

C