AndrewW

Hi All,

Just spent a fantastic weekend up in Inverness and Orkney.

On the way back from Inverness on the A82 I was being followed by a black Volvo estate.

I was making decent progress (in a 1.4L Rover 25 hire car, don't laugh, it handled pretty well), and was makeing swift progress overtaking the usual mix of caravans and plonkers who refuse to overtake.

The Volvo was keeping up, but didn't seem interested in overtaking me.

I was being quite sensible, crusing at about 70-80 and at one stage hitting approx 90 overtaking a couple of cars at once on a long clear straight.

The volvo followed for approx 30 minutes and when I came into a little town my heart almost stopped when I saw the blue lights behind the grill

I pulled into a little chef carpark (only the second time ever ) and he followed me in.

I got out of the car to meet the, and they had big grins on their faces. Oh oh I thought, I'm done.

First words out of the copper's mouth were 'You are an excellent driver' (I'm not joking) but this was followed by 'but, we have been observing you for a while and you have been over 80 three or four times'. He then went on to say that I could have lost my license, IF THEY CHARGED ME It was at this point that I realised I was OK.

They even noticed my Subaru fleece and asked if I normally drove an Impreza.

I promised that I would stick to the limits on the way home, and they said something to the effect of 'don't worry about that, just keep it below 80'

So anyway, to sum up, not all traffic police are *******, and they can exercise judgement and common sense.

Andrew.

Brynweb

A lot of it has to do with the mood of the copper at the time. I used to work with Devon & Cornwall Police, and if you've had a rough day, you're like the next man - it's difficult to remain neutral with everyone. On the other hand, if you're having a successful shift then it goes the other way.

Everyone's human (nearly everyone)

robin ledger

suspect they were near the end of thier shift. they just give you a fright to slow you down a bit.

V. Lucky.

bioforger

iTrader: (1)

Yes. Also I found that if u lick **** and literally get on your knees, and make them feel like a god, they will also let you off eventually I got fined once, but he was well in hes right to take my license, and was going to initially

Chris T

Can you ask them to move to surrey please - could do with some more of this type of policing round these parts.

divecon

Andrew,

Doubtful that would lose your license for driving at 70-90MPH unless you have a pack of points on your license already. The basic rules go that if you're clocked over the ton then you will probably say goodbye to your pink-slip for a minimum of three months, although this isn't guaranteed either. Because of the inherent inaccuracy of the speedo you are 'allowed' +/- 10% so, in general, traffic won't pull you for anything around the 80 to 85MPH mark.

It's the 85+ mark where it gets a little grey, most traffic divisions will pull you for speeds around this. If you are weaving or causing annoyance to other traffic then the possibilities of a stop increase significantly, if the roads are quiet and you are blasting down the inside lane not annoying anyone then they will probably leave you alone.

A lot of it is down to perceived danger to other road users, in their eyes if you kill yourself that's your own problem.

I speak from a semi-professional knowledge for what its worth.

Neil
Sussex

WRX_280

Now imagine you were driving your Scooby at 80+MPH, you would've got done!

Neil XR

iTrader: (1)

he's lucky since the A82 speed limit is a 60mph, its a good hunting ground for them as always out in force during bank holidays

Phill

I must admit i have had a simular experiance driving around box hill in Dorking and indeed, it was two in the morning, involving three figures.

I saw this Astra (unmarked)come right up me Chuff and on a clear road which has two lanes and i know well, and i decided to gave it lot's 5 miles later in Dorking and the chap pulls up behind me and says very well driven of course you should lose your license but you were not speeding until i enticed got up your tail, so he would let me off, from there in he wanted to talk about the motor as he had not seen a quick Golf before !!!

It was a similar story on my bikes, often pulled never charged !!

They are not all bad, all..........

Phill

Scoobychick

iTrader: (1)

Just checked the date of this thread - April 2, if you'd posted it yesterday I would've thought it was an April fool!

You're a lucky boy Andrew but then again most coppers are just normal folk like you and me and have a good deal of common sense. ( I know 'cos I've got 2 in the family ) If you'd been doing those speeds but taking unneccesary risks and being a pratt then I'm sure they would've thrown the book at you. Nice to see that your driving skills are recognised though eh?

Sal

mutant_matt

Which is of course what Gatsos can't do - they will just nick you for the terribly dangerous speed that you are travelling (just before you kill someone - speed kills don't you know )

Matt

Robertio

iTrader: (1)

Glad to hear they let you off Andrew, I had that same (I assume they still only have the one) Volvo behind me on that road yesterday, it followed me for quite a while at around 70, but obviously got bored and turned off.

WRXBOB

I think a lot of the experienced traffic cops are quite sensible when it comes down to it.
If you take risks and are cutting people etc then they will nick you. If you are driving over the speed limit but are driving in a safe and considerate manner then you will get away with it.

I had a similar thing in a hire car a few years back.
Going home down the A19 from 'Boro doing well over the limit but slowing down where required. In my mirror I could see the headlights of a car which came close up to me when I slowed down for traffic etc but then dropped further back when the traffic cleared and I sped up to over 80. After a good 20 mins of this, I was in the inside lane(its a dual carriageway)doing 85 ish when this car decides to overtake me, but instead of passing it pulled level with me and stayed there, I glance accross and see its a Volvo estate Police car fully marked up with the reflective square things I cr@p myself and ease off the throttle, the officer in the passenger seat nods at me and then they speed off doing well over 90....phew!

All I can think is that although I was speeding, my driving standard was still pretty good/safe and they decided the sight of their car was enough to convince me to slow down a bit...which I did all the way home...I had 9 points on my licence at the time!

BOB