smokingkills

iTrader: (3)

0800pm Saturday evening whilst motoring along a local "A" Road I got flashed down by blue lights which appeared to come from an unmarked car (a Dark Nissan, poss Skyline or 200sx). I had been in a rush & I thought I was in a world of bother with the law. I pulled off the A road onto a slip road & the "unmarked car" flew by at a rate of knots.

It transpires that it was just a fool (no, not a copper) with blue lights in his grill. Well this got me thinking & googling. It seems like it is a favourite for car jackers to use to stop a vehicle & get the driver to surrender the keys. There have been a few instances in Manchester of late.

My question is... If you get "blue lights" from an unmarked car, what should you do?? Do you drive straight to a Police station with the "blue lights" in tow?? OR do you stop & hope that it is the real Police & not a car jacker??

This could have been a very lucky escape for me.....

What's your view guys & gals??

5parky

stop but stay in the car and when they come over wind the window down a little bit and see what they want...

Littleted

Normally i think a coppers car everything flashes as well hazards headlights, not just the grill

But i cant be sure

Jekyl

Personally I would have done the same thing as if they were genuine officers driving on to the local constabulary would probably worsten matters. Would be good if any persons familiar with traffic law answered this.

Simon C

Got passed by an unmarked Audi A3 on the A1 thuis morning. Not only had blue grille lights, but flashing alternate headlights too.

Never seen an unmarked car withough flashing headlights and grille lights.

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

Wind the window down a little bit, then wind it back up when you see the gun........

Personally, I'd drive to the copshop. No way would I stop for an unmarked. That's their problem.

arumdevil

If you do stop, as said wait in your car for them to come speak to you, keep your doors locked and window closed (mostly) and don't comply with anything until they have satisfied you that they are an officer of the law. If that means scrutinising their ID and even calling in to the police with the number then so be it, if they are a real police officer they should understand (do it all very politely, but explain why you're doing it). If they're not legitimate then the probably won't have ID to show you and if they do they probably won't want you looking at it too closely.

urban

iTrader: (1)

Yeah - thats right.
Don't comply with anything until they stick the baseball bat through the fecking window.

Dazza9t9

iTrader: (2)

This is not always the case. Some unmarked cars simply have l;ights in the grill.

most of the time unmarked cars would be what you would expect, depending where you live octivas, vetras, volvos. Some forces do use the odd different car. For example in West Yorkshire most cars are Vetras/BMW 330D or volves, however there is a few odd cars such as a suabru, audi a4 and a focus st. All these cars are at most a few years old.

So if you get someone coming up behind you in a 1999 200sx with blue lights i would say it was either some c**k or car jackers.

As stated stay in your vehicle let the person approach your window then if they are in plain clothes ask to see a warrant card. Be aware car jackers may have police looking uniforms. If unsure drive to a local police station

smokingkills

iTrader: (3)

It's an interesting dilema......

Admittedly, 99 times out of 100 it will be a genuine copper. However like Alcazar inderectly states, it could be all over if you do stop.

Winding the window down a little to see what they want could make a genuine copper more suspicious & they could go through your car with a fine tooth combe.

Or... You could end up making things worse by ignoring the blues & driving to the cop shop. Knowing my luck they'd use a stinger.

maxi2009

all unmarked cars have flashing head lights aswell as the blues

Dazza9t9

iTrader: (2)

I beg to differ, 9 times out of 10 they do but not always. It depends what the the car is used for. Most traffic cars will have flashing head lights as well as blue's however some specificly used vehicles only have blues in the grill.

this will only be specific cars tho not just general unmarked cars

Taffy223

Incorrect

arumdevil

Personally, if there's just blue lights and the headlights aren't flashing too, I'd either pull over somewhere nicely populated or go to the nearest police station or something. It is a tricky one.

Steve_PPP

iTrader: (3)

Do what?

wrx287

iTrader: (8)

You are entitled by law to drive to the nearest well lit area if an un-marked car puts it's blue lights on behind you. Or if your near to a Police station drive straight there.

I know a couple of the welsh guys have cheeky blues in their grill Handy for middle lane hoggers at night.

Not that i condone that sort of thing

smokingkills

iTrader: (3)

It was dark at the time & it must have taken several miles for him to catch up after we first met at traffic lights At the time I didn't know what make or model of car that was pulling me, it was dark & type r tinted rear windows don't help. The only thing I could see were the emergency blue lights flashing on a unmarked car. When I pulled over onto the slip road the blues went out & the nissan sped by. Phew I thought.

Glowplug

iTrader: (8)

Even if it is an unmarked car, the 'officers' inside should be in uniform. Plain clothes or CID officers would not generally be interested in doing roadside checks.

If i was to stop for an unmarked, which i wouldn't do btw, (unless i could see the uniform). If the 'officer' stepped out of his car in plain clothes then i would definitly be gone to the nearest cop shop.

When i was carrying 'high value' loads, we would carry a sign in the cab that read, "I AM UNABLE TO STOP FOR YOU, BUT WILL FOLLOW YOU TO THE NEAREST POLICE STATION". I used it 3 times, only once was i taken to a VOSA weigh bridge for inspection. Not saying the other 2 where not plod, just that they propably could not be doing with the hassle.

smokingkills

iTrader: (3)

So if you couldn't see iniform would the law protect you if you drove to a local station & ignore instructions to pull over? I could see someone in even more trouble on the way to the cop shop if they turned out to be genuine old bill.

arumdevil

yeah but what if they're hardcore hi-jackers and they want to kill you for your car?

smokingkills

iTrader: (3)

It will certainly make me think twice about stopping or getting to a police station.

Dirk Diggler 75

Most unmarked police cars have small blue flashers on the corners of the front and rear bumpers and an electronic board in the rear window that comes on to inform you its the police...........
Keep em peeled........

Glowplug

iTrader: (8)

As i said, we'll sort that out when we get to the cop shop.

Dazza9t9

iTrader: (2)

again not all unmarked cars have officers in uniform. CID and alike would not generall conduct road side stops however there is many many teams tht do use unmarked cars and are not in uniform, well not full uniform that may stop you. Even fire arms officers may stop vehicles from time to time.

Anyways this is getting off point. If you have any resivations if it is a real cop car drive to a well lit well populated area keep door locked and ask for id.

a total fail to stop would be an offence and may result in your tyres getting spiked lol

Glowplug

iTrader: (8)

Have you not read the previous 23 posts???

Dazza9t9

iTrader: (2)

I have yes, i was making reference to someone saying that all unmarked cars that conduct stops are by uniformed officers. I was pointing out this is not always the case!!!

Glowplug

iTrader: (8)

Ahhh, thats ok then.

And here's me thinking you where just repeating previous posts and going off subject by suggesting that it would esculate into a full scale chase senario, concluding in the police using a stinger.

Terminator X

iTrader: (7)

I wouldn't stop in the pitch black. Only in daylight or get to a well lit area if it's dark. You'd know if they were jackers as soon as they exit the vehicle 99 times out of a 100.

TX.

Dazza9t9

iTrader: (2)

No not at all. I was simply stating that sometimes unmarked cars are driven by plain clothes officers. The stinger part of it was a bit of tongue in cheek humour.

markjmd

iTrader: (11)

Pulling up to a junction a few weeks ago (off a busy-ish B-road onto a single lane A-road), I had a few cars in front of me waiting to turn off and a couple more behind, slowing up to join the queue. Matey comes running up to my window from one of the cars behind, says 'your main brake lights aren't coming on, only the center tailgate one'. I was 99% sure they were fine as I'd only checked them a week before, and thought "yeah, yeah, whatever", and had no intention at all of getting out to check as I would have been holding up the traffic in any case. Once I got onto the main road I decided the smartest move would be to just hammer it (within safe limits for the road conditions ) to the nearest halfrauds or supermarket, whichever came first, and pick up some new bulbs if I actually needed them. Sure enough, both bulbs working absolutely fine when I checked them in the car park (and the next day when I checked them again at home, and again the week after, etc), so the busy-body was either blind or pulling a scam