Hi,

ok here's the story...


I turned right at a set of lights,and accelerated hard and there happend to be a marked police car sat in the traffic on the road I had just turned onto,obviously facing the opposite way to which I was traveling...I over took a car but it was clear to do so,and kept on driving...

I eventually turned right around 3/4 of a mile after I got onto this road,and continued on...the police car came up behind me and pulled me,then drove in front and blocked me in.

The officer then told me the car was being recoverd as I had been given some warning before for having some fun in the snow...and the officer told me he was going to 'do me' for reckless driving...I asked why was it reckless driving and he said' Well I can do you for dangerous driving if you want'?

a few mins later,the officer said He can't 'do me' for wreckless driving,and was going to give me a speeding ticket instead,He said I can either accept it or take it to court where I will be given 6 points and a big fine, so he started to ask me questions,and he then said 'here's your get out clause' and asked me how fast I was going,so i replied with 35 possibly 40.

the other officer then went to my car,and came back a few mins later,and said I have searched your car and your girlfriend ( both male officers by the way) and he said he will search me as they think I have something to hide,nothing was found and the car was recovered.

so thinking back,the officer has bullied me into taking a speeding ticket,as he couldn't have done me any other way,I'm wondering whether to take it to court? I mean telling me I have something to hide,and searching my car and girlfriend,which I'm sure is illegal? and basically bullying me into accepting the ticket.

Obviously there's no way the officer could know how fast I was going,the only witness could be a burger van in a lay bye on the road.

what do you think I should do?

all in all it's cost me 150 to get my car back,and 3 points and 60 for speeding.


thanks,Ben

 

Pay up I'm afraid - try not "accelerating hard" in future, that way you won't draw unwanted attention to yourself

 

If you don't believe that taking it to court will result in more points, a bigger fine, costs AND a victim surcharge, I suggest you try it.

I found out the hard way

Magistrates would take the coppers' side if they said little green men made them do it

TBH, you got off light. Accept it, move on and drive more carefully, LOOK for cop cars
Oh and trust the police, magistrates etc about as far as you could chuck them AND their fekkin cars. The WILL lie to get you done

 

yeah I see what your saying,lot's of variables to consider...

 

he has the right to search you if he has any reason to believe you are carrying drugs etc.
if the search was just a empty your pockets then they dont need a female officier for this.

 

In future never accept any charge until they prove it to you, ie show you a recorded speed of your car and back it up with a calibration ticket to show their device was checked that day and is correct. If they can't prove your speed they can't do you for it.

 

Did they actually get your speed on camera ? I personally dont think you have got off lightly i think your being screwed

 

If it goes to court it is your word against his and i am sorry to say the judge always beleives the police officer.
Trust i have just been through the courts with my son and we thought there was reasonable doubt. 9 times out of ten you are screwed over by over enthusiastic cops that want to be the new gunslinger of dodge city.

 

So what was the speed limit of the road with the traffic lights you screamed off down?

 

personally i would of asked him to show proof of speeding and then when he couldnt , throw in this statment just for fun .. I WAS UNAWARE OF ANY TIME LIMIT ON THIS ROAD SORRY OFFICER. he would say what do you mean . you reply with . i didnt realise there was a 0-40mph time limit on this road sorry officer . i knew the speed limit but hadnt realised the goverment/police had now intraduced time limits on traveling. basicickly saying politly YOU CANT PROVE ANYTHING SO JOG ON GO ARREST A BURGALAR OR DO SOMETHING CONSTRUCTIVE

 

as above they need proof as evidence before they can give u any ticket. They tried this with me once and i said prove i was speeding and prove i did anything wrong to which he said i cant and i said well good bye then. Dont let them bully you as the law is on your side

 

If the speed limit was 30 and you've admited to 35-40 your screwed in court. He can't prove it without a speed camera or vascar evidence but you've already admitted the offence if it's a 30mph limit. The police will lie in court, i've seen it done. You should have told him to prove it and kept your mouth shut. As you've already had a section 59 on the car there's not much you can do about him recovering it and it will defo go against you in court.

 

As above what speed limit you were in will make a difference.

If they have done you for 35-40 it sounds as if it was a 30 zone.

If so accelerating hard from the lights and then overtaking a car.....

A would say you got off lightly mate and take the fine.

 

I think you landed yourself in it by admitting you was over the limit. If you had said 30 he might not have had anything to do you for as I'm sure there's no way he could have clocked your speed sitting in traffic in the oppostite direction.

On a side note, why would you want to cause attention to yourselfby accelarating hard and over taking a car knowing that you have a section 59 for anti-social driving already? (showing off to the girlf no doubt) but that's just asking for trouble.

 

Find out where he lives!

 

Well it was 35-40 on your speedo, speedo's aren't accurate so you were probably still within the limit

 

LOL at all these warriors who think the law is on THEIR side.

As I said: go to court and see whose side it's on

 

well i was bullied into admitting it,he said if you don't admit it it will go to court as reckless driving and get 6 points and a big fine... the speed limit was 30 while I was accelerating,and changed to 40 a few hundred meters up the road.

there was no cameras or anything,the police just saw me in their rear view mirrors.

 

So you have admitted that your over the speed limit, even with a 10% speedo inaccuracy (of course if your over this then thats a fine too ) your still 20% over the speed limit, not a bright idea in a 30 zone

Tony

 

I possibly was over the speed limit,but they have no idea how fast I was going...I was forced into admitting it,well forced into saying i was...otherwise I would have faced reckless driving...or so they say.

I think they couldent do me for anything,so had to try and get me to say I was speeding,

 

You do know that you wont get any sympathy off 99% of the members here dont you? you f**ked up, take it on the chin and dont do it again, of course if you want to take it to court and be hit with a reckless driving charge then really cop a big fine and lots of points, go for it, I think the police officer was doing you a favour really

Tony

 

i'm not looking for sympathy...I am looking for advice.

I feel I have been treated like some vandal no insurance chav,by accelerating past this police car at speed's they can only guess. They were obviously trying to do me for anything they could,and forced me into saying I was speeding,if I would have said I wasn't speeding I'm confident they wouldn't even take it to court,they have no evidence,and only think I was speeding as I was accelerating,and our car's make a lot of noise when accelerating.

 

They could have done you for having a noisy exhaust

Tony

 

To quote your first post "accelerating hard"

 

This is what you could have gotted, worth remembering that

When endorsements and penalty points can be removed from a driving licence : Directgov - Motoring

Basically you dont have a leg to stand on, if you have been deemed to be reckless and endangering other road users or pedestrians then you would cop the full force, and you wouldnt like it

Tony

 

you drive like a pillock get warnings and still do it,you deserve everything you got in my opinion and got off lightly

 

If you are genuinely looking for advice then take this - accept it as you got off likely.

I mean imagine a judge and the evidence he would be presented with - previous conviction for wreckless driving, admission of being over the limit and a visual from the police officer who saw you accelerating hard and overtaking another car in a 30 zone.

To me on the surface of it you got lucky - they could have been another 200yards further up and then what speed would you have beein doing after 'accelarting hard'

take it on the chin an learn from it - its a gift

 

Unless the cops were traveling in the same direction of traffic as you, there's no way they should be able to get a claim of speeding to stick in court (by law they would need either a record from purpose-designed speed measuring device, or to have followed you for a long enough distance while using their car's speedometer to make an accurate estimate of your speed). So if this part of your story is exactly the way it happened,

"a few mins later,the officer said He can't 'do me' for wreckless driving,and was going to give me a speeding ticket instead,He said I can either accept it or take it to court where I will be given 6 points and a big fine"

you should have stood your ground, in theory. Backed up with a good brief who could quote chapter and verse of the right points of law, your chances in court would have been very good. Without one though, you might well have been at the mercy of potentially biased pro-police magistrates, as others have pointed out.

Also, suspicion of speeding isn't sufficient grounds to demand a vehicle search, so you would have been within your rights to refuse to allow them to do that. They can ask, but unless there's obvious signs of you being in possession of anything illegal (looking stoned, having a recent criminal record for burglary, drugs etc), you can just tell them 'no, get a warrant'.

 

I'm sure having a section 59 against the car didn't help the officer's better judgement on the driver.

 

Sorry totally agree pay the fine and learn from this