RR

I would have thought he should of at least cleared it with the people above him and informed them then he needed training with the new vehicle. Just going out and doing 160mph aint legal for me so it should not be for him either. I reckon for 160mph we would be seeing a spell inside.

Luminous

iTrader: (3)

Oh, and a little tail wind would easily add a few mph to your top speed.

OllyK

Odly enough one Police Force is doing pretty much just that. They are no longer allowed to speed whilst carrying out their duties. Think there was a thread on that a couple of weeks ago.

http://bbs.scoobynet.co.uk/showthrea...t=police+speed

http://www.sport.telegraph.co.uk/new...0/ncops220.xml

mad_dr

Forgive my ignorance but would the tail wind not have to be over 160mph to make any difference to the top speed?

hedgehog

Interestingly to note that the oxygen wasn't sucked from his lungs, he didn't die, he didn't cause total destruction of the nearby countryside and no one else died.

It looks like he is living proof that speed doesn't kill. Bad driving kills.

I wonder was he eating a donut on his way to a lodge meeting at the time? "I'm sorry your honour but I was on my way to a lodge meeting" should be sufficient to get him off.

Harry_Boy

Interesting point....

I would have thought that, provided the wind wasn't pushing against the front of the car, it would have a "beneficial" effect on the top speed.

In other words, if there is a head wind of whatever speed, it would slow the car to a greater or lesser degree. Conversely, if there is a tail wind of whatever speed, it will lower the resistance at the front of the car, and hence raise the top speed by a greater or lesser degree also.

All IMHO etc.....

Gastro

What utter rubbish ...... What advanced test are you talking about ?

That advanced test developed by the IAM is designed to allow people to drive safely within the speed restrictions designated by the road. That was what I was told when I sat it ? http://www.iam.org.uk/

Wasn't aware that they did a formula ford test before they are let loose and I can't imagine they would be let loose on a motorway at 150mph even if they do undergo some extensive pursuit training !?

Gastro

fatherpierre

I think he was referring to the police test where very high speeds are met during the training/test.

Duck_Pond

He should face the same penalty as anyone else. If he wanted to test the top end of the car, why not use a race track?

There's no excuse, and he's an eejit for not switching off the recording equipment.

sti-04!!

Eejit maybe

The only thing he did wrong was not turning off the recording system.

I hope he gets off with it but then again its just another shambles due to bLairs Britain

BillyBong

AFAIK this "test" was totally unofficial and something he decided to do on the spur of the moment. Therefore I don't see y he should get away with doing over 60 in a 30 and 159 MPH on the motorway. Admittedly you would expect him to have superior driving skills with the training he has been given but I don't think saying "Yes officer but I've passed my IAM test and have had professional tuition on numerous trackdays" would get us out of being nicked for 100+ MPH on the motorway if we got caught. Hang him I say ! Dirty Pig Barstewards !!

Nexuas

I don't think the issue should be the 160MPH on a motorway, the 100 in a 60 zone and 60 in a 30. By all means test the car out on a deserted strech on motorway at night, (The M54 is not the busiest motorway in the world, I have driven down it in the small hours of the moring and only seen three cars from one end to the other...) But there is no defense for doing 60 in a 30 (actually I nearly did that on the way home from work last night...but that is not the issue)

I am quite looking forward to my life as a car criminal, once I know the police are not going to chase me once I exceed 35mph...

Rioja

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/s...re/4458527.stm

I originally saw this in 'Metro' today. In mitigation he stated that it was early in the morning and no-one was endangered etc.

Even if he has been trained to police standards, this would see any 'normal' individual off the road for a very long time!

I simply can't believe that this wasn't more than a jolly. If these guys want to explore these vehicles in a safe environment and 'learn' there charictaristics, they should hire a track day or road test environment like Gaydon. Not explore it on the public roads.

This should anger alot of people, and even more if he gets off.

pslewis

He'll get off .........

But, come on, you lot look for any loophole you can when you've been caught being naughty!!

He's just doing the same .... in fact his job is probably on the line (more to lose than 3 points and £60) .... but you lot fight tooth and nail over just £60 and 3 points!!

Pete

chris's scooby

Most people caught doing those speeds have ended up getting between 3 and 6 months.

Rioja

As a generalisation, yes; we moan and groan about speeding fines and look for a get-out, but 999 times out of a thousand it's begrudgeingly paid and we know we've done wrong.

This chap is paid, by the (community) taxpayer to protect our society, and set an example to us 'lesser' drivers. The use of excessive speed by the emergency services should be in an emergency situation only; be it to get someone to hospital or catch a criminal. Any employer has a duty of care to ensure it's employee's are trained in the use of equipment in a safe environment, and an employee has a duty of care to ensure his actions are as safe as possible to himself and others. This individual has not followed this rule by puuting himself and others at risk.

pslewis

I agree he is wrong ...... I hope he gets the book thrown at him.

But lets not slag him off because he is fighting the charge .... his job is on the line, maybe his family, house and car!!

Pete

Rioja

Agreed, I don't necessarily want the guy to lose his livelyhood, he might be one of the good guys!

But what sort of message does this send to the likes of you and I, and the guy doing 80 on the M4! In this officers opinion, whilst driving fast, he was in control of his vehicle and of no danger to others. We all think this when we speed; if we don't crash and no-one is injured we were correct, if the worst happens we were wrong. He was caught by technology not an objective opinion, the objective opinion is being removed by the use of cameras not traffic officers

harvey

iTrader: (48)

The guy was testing the car, was he not? Hopefully a class 1 police driver knows what he is doing.
How can he be expected to drive at high speed, from time to time, in say a pursuit situation, if he does not practice occassionally and how would he know what his vehicle would be capable of or how it would handle?
In a Vectra...... If I was the defence first thing I would check would be the diff ratio, top gear ratio, pressumably sixth, tyre circumference, red line and any rev limitter. Then work out the top speed.
It would reveal if that speed was possible but in a Vectra I think it would need a strong tail wind or down hill.

Rioja

I've just noticed a thread was started some time ago on this subject, so excuse me for not doing a proper search. There were some good points raised on that thread, such as; if the 'test' was a valid one, it should have been approved by a senior officer and probably accompanied by an observer.

My opinion (however humble), is that this will be seen as a one-rule for the police another for ordinary drivers; as should be the case in 'emergency' situations only. This is especially true as the speeding campaign against drivers is so high profile at the moment.

I'm sure all drivers of high performance cars ie, impreza's, evo's and golf TDi's think it's important that we find and know the limits of our vehicles and ourselves; if this would stand up as defense for you or I? Not a chance!

harvey

iTrader: (48)

Any up date?
Pauleds was referring to the Class 1 police driver training/refreshers doing 150mph.
You cannot expect police drivers to be capable of driving cars at speed and knowing what they are capable of/what to expect, if they do not try them out or practice from time to time. Bear in mind that most of the powerful executive saloons are capable of and electronically restricted to 155mph.
At speed the aerodynamic drag becomes the biggest factor for the engine power to overcome. In still air, a car may do 160 mph and is penetrating the air at 160mph. With a 20mph tail wind it only has to penetrate the air at 140 mph for 160 mph ground speed. With a 20 mph head wind it has to penetrate the air at 180mph to achieve a ground speed of 160 mph. 20mph air speed difference around 150mph requires a tremendous force difference.

DJ73

just because he's police officer make's no difference if his job's on the line many other people's job's may also may be on the line when they get caught speeding that shouldn't be an excuse , how was he "testing" the car and can "we" also use that when we get caught speeding ????

FirebirdUK

If he was in pursuit with lights and siren going, then maybe you could understand him going that fast...

I've not seen any mention of that, sounds more like he was a bit bored and thought "let's see what I can get out of this then... not as if I can be done for speeding is it?"

Ban him and give him a desk job Perhaps make him take his normal test again

Steve vRS

I don't care about the motorway speed and even the 60 zone speed. It's the 60 in a 30 that he should be done for.

Steve

Leslie

That kind of speed on an unofficial test should have been done on a test track rather than the public roads.

He certainly cannot justify 60 in a 30 limited area either.

Harry_Boy

While I would never condone even a minor infringement of this country's laws it strikes me as ironic that a mere ordinary, mortal, normal, law-abiding, relatively untrained person off the street can do these speeds in Germany without fear of prosecution....

Hanley

If he needs to test the car then what about


TAKING IT ON A TRACK!!!!!!

Nathan L

159 out of a Vectra

Fair play to the man

FirebirdUK

Hehe - you can't take in on a track - they make too much noise!

peter_bailey11

It seems the Judge has problems with the issues of what exactly the police are able to 'get away with' on the public roads

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/s...re/4466449.stm

On Wednesday, the judge said he had heard evidence from one officer who would never advocate testing cars in built-up areas and would stick to 30mph and 40mph speed restrictions.

He said he had also heard from another, more senior officer who had said he saw nothing wrong with travelling well above these limits in order to assess a vehicle's limits and capabilities.

Judge Morgan told the court: "I have it in mind to ask the chief constable or whoever is in charge of the traffic department to come along and tell me what the position is... in view of the contradictory evidence from officers of the same force."

He added: "In some respect, West Mercia Police force is on trial."