GC8

That was a little sharp; sorry.

BedHog

Good luck day tripper. If a marked car catches you speeding then bad luck. But that was just not on, especially as Scoob carjackings are common.

I recently had to 'evade' a car that was suspiciously following me after several strange turns (Another Scoob in fact) so I appreciate how you must have felt.

Just explain to the Police you did them a favour - if you were hijacked and killed it would be another unsolved crime, whereas now they can do you for speeding and put the money towards the Christmas Ball

Brian the Sn@il

theres a few Un Manned police stations as well, you park up outside run to the Door and the poxy place is locked up for the Night, with a sign outside saying please ring -08-084-084-0 by this time goodbye car.

The police talk rubish sometimes. I would have done exactly the same. And not stop even when the blue lights came onm as theres cars out there with blue strobes on.

SyHightower

iTrader: (1)

hope your not done for dangerous driving

http://www.safe2travel.co.uk/speeding/speedlimits.html

SyHightower

iTrader: (1)

from pepipoo

"If it is an unmarked car ask how fast they were going and whether that is allowed without warning lights - get them to explain their procedures to you. As we have already said there is a great deal of difference between the law and police procedure and you need to understand that. For example, some Constabularies instruct their officers to perform a one mile "follow check" - under the law that isn't strictly necessary."

matty01

Sorry to hear this Day Tripper,if it does go to court it may be worth making it known to the court that you are an enthusiast and use this site and are as such much more clued up as to the current trend of car-jackings @ gunpoint as maybe joe public might be,thus putting into focus any suspected paranoia as forward thinking.Sometimes people on the road can just spook one,it's a complex thing in this case the cops driving was unusual in one respect as he was not(or at least should'nt have been) driving as your average joe,his pursuit driving training may have shown through as agrresive/unusual against the backdrop of your concerns regarding car-jacking.It would only help your case if the court was to know that the Impreza is probably the no.1 target for this type of offence and that you knew this fact.
Obviously it may not go to court and the copper ticking the wrong box MAY just be a loophole you could exploit ,if he changed his mind,personally i think you'll be ok especially if the copper thought his driving was a bit pushy in retrospect,keep us posted,
Matty.

SiPie

Hope you get it all sorted ...

The only worrying but is that you didn't completely loose the accord in the first place

Iwan

DayTripper i was faced with almost the same scenario about 6 years ago, except with an unmarked proton. I overtook them in a 40 (doing about 45) and they started following me VERY closely (2 big blokes). After about 20 minutes of them following me, and me getting more and more paranoid, i put my foot down and lost them (bet they loved that!)

It later transpired the reason they hadn't pulled me over was that they didn't have blue lights or uniforms as they were CID (one was ex-traffic). They had called in a traffic car to assist but it took ages to arrive and catch up with us (around Swindon - built up area???), originally all they were going to do was warn me or charge me with speeding. After i decided to lose them (successfully) they had enough evidence from what they'd seen (not on camera) to charge me with dangerous driving when they finally tracked me down, to be honest i was driving dangerously to get away.

After speaking to a decent road traffic solicitor and being interviewed at the police station, my solicitor reckoned if i fought it at crown court I could possibly get it down to careless driving (9+ points and a big fine) with an estimated legal bill of up to £1000 for 3 court appearances. Even when he approached the prosecution solicitor at court and offered that we'd plead guilty to the lesser charge of careless that they were also offering, they still wouldn't drop the dangerous driving charge. Basically it was the word of 2 'respected' policemen against mine.

I thought it through and ended up pleading guilty to dangerous (and said sorry) at the magistrates court. In view of my apology and promising never to drive like that again (ahem ), they were "lenient" on me and gave me a 12 month ban and £850 fine.

The chances of my getting off were slim and i was still able to get lifts to work so it wasn't too bad. It's debatable whether i saved any money overall, i didn't have to pay legal fees to fight a losing battle at crown court, but my insurance was pretty horrendous for the next 5 years with a DD40.

Having said that it's off the license now and I can insure a Scooby

Sorry to say but with the word of 2 coppers, and video evidence you're probably screwed. My advice would be to take the advice of a decent road traffic solicitor (rather than court appointed) and work out your best option. Be wary of people recommending clever ways to get out of charges, the courts have usually heard it all before and aren't impressed.

I suppose if you can get a copy of the video and it shows the police driving like tw@ts then you might have an angle to work...

Good luck mate, you'll need it!

Gary C

When it comes down to it, they should have put the lights on after the first offence, and made it known at the traffic lights that they were police. They probably though it was a stolen car and they may have been as worried that you had a gun as much as you were worried about them.

Maybe he should have reacted differently, but the important thing is what to do next.

If they ticked verbal advice, they may have wanted to scare you a bit and do not wish to take it further, if so, a formal complaint against the officer may have been a bit premature ?

Get a good solicitor, if you don't and you get accused of dangerous driving it can result in a prison sentence.

Iwan

It CAN result in a prison sentance, but as he didn't have any accidents etc he might be ok. It also helps to have a previously clean license too, so you can honestly say "i've never done anything like this before". My solicitor mentioned prison was a remote possiblity which scared the hell out of me, when i went to court the beak told me that if i drove whilst banned for DD i could be banged up. For a first offence it's 'unlikely', especially with the prisons being so full. Look at the mount of ******* on Police Camera Action who are still out driving after being banned, once, twice etc.

Just my opinion of course, i'm not an expert.

Iwan

Dream Weaver

Terrible state of affairs - once again the UK rears its ugly head - shambles

Those 2 coppers should be laid off for doing that. I hate the Police - sorry to all coppers on here but they are the biggest bunch of crims I know (including my mates that are coppers as well) - nasty power mad egotistical people

Advice for anyone in this situation again - just pull over, lock your doors and see what they do. If they stop and get out then boot it, if not just sit there and ring the Police on your mobile.

SiPie

.... and remeber to duck as the shrouds of broken glass or a bullet zips narrowly past your head

TIGGER555

What a complete MORON So in your eyes its ok to increase your speed to more than double the road speed limit, because you dont like the look of the guys following you or they are going the same way, before anybody starts defending him just ask yourself how you would feel if a member of your family stepped out infront of this lunatic doing 90mph.

I can laugh at these people saying sorry, Sorry for what getting caught you idiot. Funny how these people never come face to face with the family`s they destroy by killing someone. How selfish can you be risking other motorists and pedestrians by driving like that. Why did you not use your mobile phone at a sensible speed and inform the police by dialing 999. God sake it safer to do that than terrorise the public roads they would of sent a marked car to stop the both of you.

Another question is what had you been doing to attract their attention in the first place. Would be really ncie to get the police offcers opinions rather than listen to a self confessed Psycho

It is a good point you make why did the police not make an effort in deploying the blues and two when they spotted you doing 70mph. Maybe because when a car theif or joy rider has a police vehicle behind him trying to stop him it encourages him to drive more dangerously and at higher speeds. I mean they weren`t gonna let you go for 70mph in a 30 were they.

You mentioned they had made no attempt to stop you. You even said that at the traffic lights they looked across and never made any attempt to get out. What did you expect them to do follow you a bit more then stop u with sawn offs. How many people do you personally know that this has happened to. God sake any of our family`s could of been using that road you idiot.

The car is only a piece of metal. Human life is certainly more precious. So what if they rammed you? They would have probably burst their rad so wouldn`t go much further where as you would be able to drive off. Were you gonna stop and get out to exchange details.

I hope you get sent down and for complaining about the Police officer I hope he remembers your registration and keeps his eye on you or a mate of his does. Maybe you should sell up and change cars. As your life will be made hell. or suppose you had better hope hes never on his way to your road accident or carjacking.

P.S. I aint a copper I am a Paramedic. I also believe everybody has a right of their own opinions and those are mine. IF anybody wants to try a night shift with us just save your self the hassle go and sit in an A/E department for a weekend and see how many destroyed families you spot. Then try the same at a scrap yard. Like I said they are all normally insured and its only metal.)

Oh and if you do go to caught dont mention scoobynet. We aint all sad pathetic lunatics that deserve locking up.

matty01

tigger555,well you were there with him so you'll know exactly how many risks day tripper took/didn't take, and the road conditions, and how many pedestrians were about/not about and the particular stretch of road he touched 90odd [sections of 30 limit are safe for that speed sometimes,i know of one urban WALLED OFF 30 limit in particular so don't be so eager to rush to judgement please]tigger ,you do seem a bit of a plank mate , and have obviously never been followed/chased in such a manner or maybe because you are perfect this wouldn't have happened to you,or maybe you'd have been shot in your neck as an aspiring bank robber stole your car as you calmly gave the police your dob and indide leg measurement so they could decide to maybe free up a car sometime tonight to 'take a look' for you,chill out and give the guy some credit as he's no spotty teenager,and as for paramedic drivers ....

matty01

tigger555,and anyway you double standard toting fool,i guess you never speed doing your job eh you can do that to save someone elses life or to help someone with a twisted ankle ffs but day tripper can't do it if he thinks his own safety is in jeopardy,you know how experienced a driver he is so what's the problem how long have you held a licence and more importantly how many miles have you driven to give you the authority do judge his driving..eh?

day tripper

Yes I do get scared when im driving through Longsight, possibily one of the most notorious gun crime areas in Manchester, at 1am, chased by a Type R driven by thugs, when driving a high performance car??? You tool you have no idea.

Of course I was **** scared, however paying attention to the road, and its conditions, at 1am in brightly lit area with no one around whatsoever, my driving skills are more than competant. Yes I was driving fast, the police advised it peaked in the 90's which hasnt been proven to me yet, this was not intention by all means.

Using a phone at a sensible speed? How the hell can I use a phone without a handsfree kit. Driving with 1 hand, wouldnt that be more dangerous, surely you should know?

Terrorising the public roads? It was the speed and manner of the police car which led me to speed. Why the hell should I need to speed? My girlfriend works in a bar in town, finishes at 2.30am, im on my way to my friends at 12.30am, half a mile from my friends house before the police gave chase. Why should I drive at brake neck speeds to travel half a mile while when I get there Im going to be sitting around for 2 hours anyway?


"Another question is what had you been doing to attract their attention in the first place. Would be really ncie to get the police offcers opinions rather than listen to a self confessed Psycho " -Driving a high performance car in Longsight at 1am, perhaps? "

At the 2nd set of lights when they looked across and didnt do nothing I then reverted back to 30mph AS USUAL.

Your words are wise in an ideal situation. If I was to have driven at 40 say for example, and that Honda had real car jackers in, they would have caught up with me no doubt. What could they have done? The possibilities are endless.

Your seem to be stereotyping me as an irresponsible boy racer, that has no consideration or experience for public roads. You are sadly mistaken. Please do not assume, you was not there.

j joyce

Did you try visiting the officers involved since.The judge will ask if you apologised or not afterwards.I realise its hard to swallow but it may help, it did when i was up for a ban and i had a clean record. Good luck, you're gonna need it!

jaf01uk

Well, I am also a paramedic (with more than 1 post - so I could probably call myself a Scoobynetter ) and having read the thread properly regarding the area that he was in would have probably done the same but maybe not the speed, at the end of the day it was the manner that the Honda was being driven that spooked him, they were no doubt on a fishing trip. I would like to point out that not all paramedics are sad pathetic lunatics, and Matty we do drive fast and do extensive training to allow us to do it safely,
Gary

SUBTYPER

Wow never seen a paramedic Fight LOL Utter respect to you guys as you might need to sort my sprained ankle out. LOL. Strange you phone an emergency ambulance Matty for a sprained ankle.(Do you realise its our tax payers money you wasting LOL) Quite strange how everybody has jumped onto the band wagon saying who was right and who was wrong. Think all poor Daytripper wanted was some advice.

Shame scoobynet is falling into a BBS for self righteous people wanting to slag other people off for doing something we would probably all have done. Its bloody unerving being followed by a car which has no reason to be following you Its even more unerving being followed by a Police car with markings. Altho I stop the car and ask them if they got a problem. Really upsets them and throws them off their speal. From what I can read into it. Obviously these thugs weren`t uniformed. Would be interesting to know why they were not uniformed as surely that will go in favour of Daytrippers story.

I think it is a good point that a car driven inside the speed limit whilst on the mobile phone even if it wasn`t hands free would be fine where as a 90 in a 30 is a bit dangerous and also more costly to the driving licence. I can see Tigger555`s point about it being a bit ott even if he has quite harshly put it LOL (Doesnt pull any punches does he). I certainly wouldn`t like to be crossing the road drunk (as we all are up Newcastle) LOL with two cars barrelling along at 90mph. Its like covering 1 and a half miles a minute, in a section that should take you 2 minutes to do a mile. (Not bad maths for a Geordie)

Like you said the Police were probably fishing as they all do at that time of night. They got nout better to do than have a go at Joe public in there own car. Its got to be easier than catching real criminals or maxed power Novas racing. Mind I would of loved to hear the conversation in there Honda after you drove off.

Surely a Registration check doesn`t take that long to perform. If there reason for not using there blue lights and hooters was that. Wonder why they pulled along side if they were going to do you and not stop you at the lights. Where surely it would be safe, that might also go in your favour. If I was Daytripped I would send a letter straight to the Chief Constable stating the two officers numbers and vehicle registration. Also mention the style of their driving was equally or not worse to yours and as the vehicle was displaying none of a police cars markings or lights and the officers were not uniformed then You generally feared for your life. Also mention your mobile phone was flat and you couldn`t use it. I would also mention the area and its high crime figures for hi power cars like yours.

Bet you wish you had just drove to a Police station. I also think you might of been better off with your case as then you could of stated to the front desk officer you were being chased by two goones in a red car. He would of seen your genuine panick. I wouldn`t of stopped even when they switched their lights on and hooters as in a previous post the equipment is on the general market and anyone can buy it. If they werent in uniform how did you know they werent going to shoot you and take your car in anycase?

I must admit I am a bit worried how come you did not lose the Honda. (LOL)They aren`t that fast LOL and they cant out handle a well driven Impreza. (Not that I have tried)

Would be genuinely interested to know what training and how long it lasts and what refresher courses you are offered for driving the Emergency Ambulances Gary as from what I understand its a Modified Police course designed for the Ambulance Service. Surely a Police car is lighter than an Ambulance and will handle differently.

Please nobody take offence some as comments are tongue in cheek and some are quite genuine questions and trying to be helpful to you Daytripper. Fingers crossed you will get off with it as you stated he only added Verbal rather than anything else might find as the form was incorrectly filled out then you might find a loophole.


Oh another good point if you do go down the complaint line of getting off with it then you will have to be a angel on the road or change your reg and car as the buggers will keep it in for you. They will have you every chance. I know this last comment is going to be hit upon by a police officer saying it never or very rarely happens but believe me one person or even a few people cannot speak for the whole force or the individuals concerned.

Hope this helps if not maybe lightens the mood slightly. Gary no offence intended and genuinely interested in your response

SUBTYPER

Oh one other question Day tripper Have you got a clean licence. If not what you got mate. As the court if it goes that far will look into your previous history. Think they go back five years. Hope you been a good boy before now. LOL

r32

Get urgent legal advice, if this goes through you could be staring at a prison sentance for those speeds in a 30 limit.
It does sound as though they acted improperly. Dont write to any one get a good solicitor first, you could prejudice your case by writing the wrong thing. This could have serious consequences.
STEVE........................

Tiggs

so much nonsense here!

bullets wizzing past heads! who car jacks someone buy shooting them in the drivers seat? wouldnt that make a mess of the car they want? not to mention the fact they now have a body to drag out the way!

maybe anyone that drives through iffy areas needs to st in their drive before they leave and do a little common sense check.

tell yourself that ppl are not likely to shoot you as you are sat in your car. lock you doors and oof you go.

i'd also love to know the difference between being followed and being chased.....these cops (or thugs as they seem to be know now) never tried to overtake so surley driving at 10 mph would have had the same effect as 90mph..ie, they still be behind you. what could they have done? overtaken you? just reverse away...or accelerate. if you doors are locked and you are ready it is very hard for someone to get in a moving car (unless they shoot you dead of course, as already covered)

this isnt really for the original poster- he has his own probs now- this is for the others who seem to be driving the streets as nervous wrecks....drive to work today....look in your mirror, all those cars behind you and no ones got a gun!

Eric Chadwick

Tiggs I don't think you understand how common car jacking and breaking down front doors for the keys is these days and Manchester is certainly a hotspot. A number of carjackings have been at gunpoint. Someone tried to break into our house for the car keys during the night recently in an organised night of, thankfully only attempted, car theft in our town. That sort of information certainly enters your mind if apparently pursued by a car acting very suspiciously. It should, being aware of a potential situation could save your life allowing you to decide on potential actions if and when a situation arises.

Must say that out of the times I've been suspicious of a car following me at night and have decided to avoid going straight home it generally turns out to be the police behind me. It's hard to tell even a marked panda car in the dark. They usually seem to give themselves away by driving up to you at probably about 50 in a built up area and then driving too close and annoying you - apparently inciting you to speed. I normally slow down a bit and make some last minute turn offs to try to see if they are really following so far they have always given up at that point. I don't think it would be safe to try and lose a car that is deliberately 'chasing' you in a built up area but if you give it a little boot and they chase after you it does confirm that they are either the police, dodgy or enjoy putting the wind up people. On the open road however it might be a different matter. I certainly wouldn't underestimate the effect a car behaving suspiciously and containing knuckle dragging no-necks in Longsight would have one someone late at night alone.

Hope it turns out ok for you day tripper. If it starts to go bad go to the papers - the Daily Mail would have a field day with that story. Don't bother with the Guardian.

MadMark

Some years ago I had the opposite scenario:

1am - I had just overtaken a bunch of about 10-15 cars all travelling close together and there was nobody in front of me for miles, and I was going FAST. As I went past an old MK2 Escort (who was doing 40-50 mph) he did a U-turn behind me!! I saw headlights sweeping the carriageway as they swerved to avoid him ....
This was on the westbound M4 (Junction 8/9) near Maidenhead and as the Emergency Phones were out and my Mobile was out of charge -I went in search of the police station ..... somewhat scared and shocked!!
Just as I get off the roundabout, a "Jam Buttie" overtakes me - heading into town (lone driver obviously coming off patrol).
Despite my flashing and the indicators being on - he wouldn't pull over - in fact he accelerated to over 90mph through 30 and 40 zones - only coming to a halt at a red traffic light near the town centre.
I screech to a halt, and he is revving his engine to take off - but winds his window down ..... and I am now so wound up that it takes me 30 seconds to get the words out and he shouts at me to calm down!
Anyway he then does a u-turn over the pedestrian crossing and roars off back to the M4 - no "sorry" or "nice one mate" ..... he is just gone.

I wonder if he was scared of some mad GTI driver / was busy requesting armed back up? I also wonder if any backup would have done me for my speeds??

Good luck!
MM

Eric Chadwick

I'm sure it does work both ways and you can see the potential for a misunderstanding. Hopefully both parties in day tripper's case will chalk this one up to experience.

zip106

Eric - "Don't bother with the Guardian" ...I like that one.....

matty01

Jaf01uk, i know ,i was just having a dig at the plank,
and as regards bieng shot in the neck ,if you are mad enough to carry a loaded gun to jack a car you probably won't get all logical when i comes to persuading someone out of their shiny scooby when they aint gettin' out...hopefully, when he puts the glass through with the barrel, his trigger finger won't squeeze a round off....and hopefully he's not so high that he doesn't give a s**t either way....blah blah blah ad infinitum

matty01

....and maybe he'll pop a cap in yo *** for trying to get away you dowg,damn homie you shot the dude,damn homie....foool !!
[sorry for the stereotyping]
[other criminal races are available ]

Eric Chadwick

Excellent!!!!