ST_eely
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 posted on 22/3/14 at 10:08 PM |
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nabbed by the Po po
Ok, so after dropping my mate off and generally having a fun drive out on friday night, I was still in "race" mode and may have slightly
exceeded the speed limit while traveling back home (ahem). Trouble was, because it was dark and as you know being that close to the road in a locost,
that following cars headlights in your mirrors basically make everything behind you a blur. I hadn't realised that a patrol car was following me
as I made my way back from Newcastle and onto the A1. As soon as the blue lights came on I immediately knew I was in the sh*t!
Turns out I had been followed for the last few miles and had undertaken 1 taxi (he was bimbling about in the RH lane of a dual carriageway!) and was
videod at 85 on the 50 mph area of the A1 (which is bleeping ridiculous for that road btw) - anyway, was given the choice of :
taking 6 points and a fine.
a court appearance for careless driving/speeding.
An S59 and written warning for a year -get caught again and have the var taken off me!
so deciding upon option 3 and going home with my tail between my legs I'm now thinking that I cant go on owning this car anymore because I know
I cant trust myself to drive it sensibly, its just that kind of car.
to make matters worse, I also have a 270bhp Focus ST and a 2007 ZX10 that I am now in fear of giving some gas in case of the inevitible....
I'm starting to think I should have just taken the fine and points - at least they cant impound & threaten to crush whatever I'm
driving/riding at the time if I'm caught doing something that "may cause distress to the public"!
Fair to say I'm pretty bleeping hacked off this weekend and I only have myself to blame, especially in the time I've been driving/ riding
Ive never even had a caution. (17 years) and Im usually pretty switched on when it comes to police presence.
Anyone else had a weekend that sucked this bad?
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daniel mason
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| posted on 22/3/14 at 10:21 PM |
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85mph in a 50 is pretty stupid,but all id do is buy a cheap trailer and spend 12 months doing track days! that way you can learn how to drive it very
hard without braking any laws!
pop to blyton on friday and have some good fun as a passenger first!
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ST_eely
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| posted on 22/3/14 at 10:33 PM |
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to be fair my speedo was jumping around and I couldn't tell I was doing 85....lol.
This explanation didn't go down well in the back of the patrol car....haha
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Ben_Copeland
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| posted on 22/3/14 at 10:49 PM |
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Well hopefully you'll learn from the experience. 12months of careful driving might save your life maybe.
Only yourself to be angry with. At least they didn't take your car then and there or take you off to the police station.
As Daniel says, get down to track days and give the car the thrashing it deserves in the correct place.
Ben
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madteg
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| posted on 22/3/14 at 11:11 PM |
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Bad luck mate, not like we all don't speed at some time.
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Sam_68
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| posted on 22/3/14 at 11:16 PM |
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Looking on the bright side, at least you don't have points to declare on three sets of insurance (AFAIK, there is no obligation to declare a
Section 59), and it's not as if the threat of a vehicle being crushed is a regular outcome - they just drag it off down to the police compound
and charge you a ransom fee to return it (usually a couple of hundred quid plus so much per day storage, I think).
I'm afraid I can't bring myself to be all patronising and holier-than-thou: 85 in a 50 zone on a dual carriageway isn't
exactly suicidally reckless, in something that brakes, manoeuvres and accelerates as well as a 'Seven', if you have your wits about you
and you aren't being blatantly idiotic for the prevailing traffic conditions.
Sounds like the copper was a bit anti kit-car to be even offering the option of a Section 59. From what you've said, you were speeding, not
using a vehicle 'in a manner causing alarm, distress and annoyance', so the use of the S59 is inappropriate and smacks of prejudice:
S59's were introduced as a means of controlling yoofs doing donuts in housing estates and 'cruising' in residential areas with their
ICE turned up to a level that contravenes strategic arms limitations treaties, not as a means of dealing with conventional driving infractions.
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unijacko67
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| posted on 22/3/14 at 11:17 PM |
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Sorry to here you've been caught out.
Get it on the track and when you see what it can do you won't even want to use it on the road again. I'm thinking of taking mine off the
road for exactly the same reason as I don't want points or a ban.
http://www.kittenkitcar.co.uk
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Slimy38
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| posted on 22/3/14 at 11:25 PM |
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Let me guess, the taxi hogging the right hand lane didn't even get pulled over?
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morcus
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| posted on 22/3/14 at 11:34 PM |
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Sounds like you got off lightly. I'm not entirely sure how an s59 works out but if it only lasts a year and all they'll do is seize your
car for the second offence. Even if you lost the car, unless they charged you seperatly for the other offence you'd still probably be better
off.
Take it as a wake up call and make sure you don't get caught again. If you;d picked court you could have lost ypur license.
In a White Room, With Black Curtains, By the Station.
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ashg
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| posted on 22/3/14 at 11:50 PM |
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Don't worry about it. There were a couple of chaps in one of the club's I belong to who got s59's for doing donuts in an empty
carpark, a year goes quickly and Tbh it didn't slow them down one bit.
What did it say as the reason for getting it on the paperwork? That's what you need to avoid doing again. Tbh you were doing 85 in a 50 the s59
was throwing you a big bone, you should have been preparing for a court appearance usually anything over 70 in a 50 is a trip to court.
Let's face it if he didn't pull you and give you some kind of penalty he's not doing his job. I got tugged for speeding a while
back, I had a brake light out too, I was given a choice. £30 fine for the brake light and a telling off. Or 3points £60 fine and a warning about the
brake light. Guess what I picked.
There are a couple of lessons here, always be vigilant coming off roundabouts and going past slip roads especially in the dark as it's rather
tricky to spot the outline of a plod wagon in the dark. Second lesson make sure your aware of the penalties and where a small fine and small points
become a big fine and court. I tend to limit my speed exploration to empty roads these days.
Anything With Tits or Wheels Will cost you MONEY!!
Haynes Roadster (Finished)
Exocet (Finished & Sold)
New Project (Started)
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splitrivet
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| posted on 23/3/14 at 12:14 AM |
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Undertaking in a 7 deserves a kick in the b@lls, if it was a 4x4 and their mirrors were set high or a nob who didnt check his inside mirror then they
pulled back in you'd have been toast.
Then you wouldnt have been able to brag about it.
Cheers,
Bob
[Edited on 23/3/14 by splitrivet]
I used to be a Werewolf but I'm alright nowwoooooooooooooo
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Sam_68
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| posted on 23/3/14 at 01:16 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by splitrivet
Undertaking in a 7 deserves a kick in the b@lls, if it was a 4x4 and their mirrors were set high or a nob who didnt check his inside mirror then they
pulled back in you'd have been toast.
Then you wouldnt have been able to brag about it.
Cheers,
Bob
There's a pedal in the middle of your footwell. Almost every car has one these days. It activates a newfangled contraption they call
'brakes'. If you push it when you see someone drifting across lanes either from your left or from your right as you're
overtaking them, you can use the 'brakes' to decelerate strongly, thus avoiding a collision. Clever, huh? 
Ironically, the only time I've ever come close to this sort of thing happening was when an elephant racing artic decided that he wasn't
going to be able to manage the overtake after all and pulled back in rather abruptly and without any indication, forgetting (understandably -
it had been some hours since he commenced his overtaking manoeuvre with a speed differential of 0.003mph) that there was me alongside the
nearside of his cab, slipstreaming the wagon he was trying to overtake at a steady 50mph 'cos I was low on fuel. Clipped and broke my wing
mirror and ran me off onto the hard shoulder of the M42. Speed kills, eh? 
There's a risk of an inattentive muppet pulling out (or in) on you as you pass (or are passed) regardless of which side you're
attempting to pass on, but let's not be judgmental, guys - we weren't there, so we're not in a position to say how dangerous the
manoeuvre was, or how much room there was to play with (I suspect a reasonable amount, on the A1).
Fortunately, people very seldom change lanes so abruptly that you can't avoid them, or without giving some subliminal signs that they're
about to do so, but if you're that bothered about the risk, your only option is to never overtake...
Safe to say that if the OP's manoeuvre had been that blatantly risky and agressive, he would be up on a dangerous driving charge, not
what amounts to a ticking off.
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splitrivet
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| posted on 23/3/14 at 08:25 AM |
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These brake things seem like a good idea however 7 driving as riding a motor bikes Ive found that also have these brake things fitted tend to turn
you invisible.
Cheers,
Bob
[Edited on 23/3/14 by splitrivet]
I used to be a Werewolf but I'm alright nowwoooooooooooooo
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Sam_68
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| posted on 23/3/14 at 09:03 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by splitrivet
These brake things seem like a good idea however 7 driving as riding a motor bikes Ive found who also have these brake things fitted tend to turn you
invisible.
Cheers,
Bob
Yeah, it happen - even when you're driving large saloon cars (see above).
Fortunately, most cars also have a thing called a 'driver', who can exercise what we call 'personal judgment'. With a
little experience, this can be used to assess all sorts of useful things, from the behaviour of the driver you're overtaking, to prevailing
traffic conditions and the amount of space you have for evasive action if the vehicle you're overtaking begins to do something unpredictable.
'Personal judgement' is a wonderful thing, but it's very difficult to exercise from behind a computer desk, without having
witnessed the incident in question. In such circumstances, anyone with well-developed 'personal judgement' will tend to realise its
limitations and STFU, rather than being overly critical of a situation he was in no position to assess.
As a general rule, I'm very much in favour of allowing personal judgement, because the alternative is a nanny state full of mindless,
bleating, risk-averse and under-acheiving sheep, such as wot we increasingly seem to have in the UK these days.
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splitrivet
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| posted on 23/3/14 at 11:48 AM |
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Yep personal judgement along with brakes are good but personal judgement doesnt seem to help the loads of bikers who dont get seen in most accidents
and who are totally blameless but who end up as organ donors or having horrific injuries.
All I'm saying is if your using a bit of kit that doesnt afford the same protection or is as visible as your normal motor it seems a bit nuts to
take risks.
Cheers,
Bob
I used to be a Werewolf but I'm alright nowwoooooooooooooo
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Sam_68
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| posted on 23/3/14 at 12:26 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by splitrivet
...loads of bikers who don't get seen in most accidents and who are totally blameless but who end up as organ donors or having horrific
injuries... it seems a bit nuts to take risks.
Fair comment, but if you follow that logic, you wouldn't be taking the totally unnecessary risk of riding a motorbike or driving a
home-built, low slung-sportscar with minimal safety features in the first place...
So at what point in your risktaking do you, as you so eloquently put it, deserve a kick in the b@lls? And what gives you the right to pass judgement
on that point for other people?
People living in glass houses (or nanny states...) should take care when throwing stones.
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eddie99
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| posted on 23/3/14 at 01:18 PM |
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Sound dead lucky you got offered that 3rd option, i would have taken that over the 3 points and £60 fine i got...
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Matt21
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| posted on 23/3/14 at 01:33 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by ST_eely
to be fair my speedo was jumping around and I couldn't tell I was doing 85....lol.
This explanation didn't go down well in the back of the patrol car....haha
haha jumping from 50 to 85?  i like it
happens to the best of us, dont worry about it too much, and certainly dont sell up!
I got a section 59 for doing an absolutely EPIC handbrake turn into my road in a suzuki wagon R (seriously you would have thought i was ken block it
was executed that bloody well!)
a year passes fast.
and its much better than having to declare 6 points on whatever insurances you have! they last alot longer too!
just make sure next time you want some fun, wait until you know there are no coppers 
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craig1410
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| posted on 23/3/14 at 04:03 PM |
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Unfortunately we now have a system which is all enforcement and no education. It's much easier to catch and punish than to coach and educate so
that's what happens.
Personally, I would rather have drivers out there who do drive quickly from time to time, ideally backed by some professional instruction, so that
when a difficult situation is presented to them on their routine commute, they have the capacity to deal with it. There are far more accidents which
happen due to drivers not fully concentrating because most of the time they don't feel they need to. Then when they get onto some ice or have a
sudden deflation or something, they just don't have a clue what to do.
It's like going out for a run to keep fit. Yes, you might die from an undiagnosed cardiac problem, or you might break your ankle due to clumsy
footwork but on the whole it is likely to come in handy some day when you need to run for a bus or run for your life!
I got 3 points about 18 months ago for doing 72MPH in a 50MPH section of the M74 motorway. It's a perfectly good section of 3 lane motorway and
at the time I was on it, it was not very busy and the sun was shining. A mile or so further it is a 70MPH limit on the same road so when I asked the
police why that section was 50MPH the answer I got was because there had been some incidences of local people walking across the motorway rather than
use the footbridges or underpasses. If this was genuinely the reason then why the hell don't they prosecute the pedestrians or build fences to
keep them from getting a Darwin Award...
Don't beat yourself up too much, it's just another form of driver tax these days.
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Macbeast
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| posted on 23/3/14 at 04:43 PM |
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If you can't tell the difference between 50 and 85 mph without the benefit of a speedometer you shouldn't be on the road.
I'm addicted to brake fluid, but I can stop anytime.
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craig1410
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| posted on 23/3/14 at 05:18 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Macbeast
If you can't tell the difference between 50 and 85 mph without the benefit of a speedometer you shouldn't be on the road.
To be fair, 85MPH in my 535d feels very different to 85MPH in my V8 Locost which is why I have my BMW set to give audible warnings when I exceed 80MPH
whereas in my Locost this is not necessary.
Not saying you shouldn't be able to tell the difference by making allowances for the car but it's not as simple as you are making out
here. Besides, I think the OP had his tongue in his cheek when he said this.
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JoelP
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| posted on 23/3/14 at 06:03 PM |
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Just thought I'd pipe up and say that I don't regard 85 on a 50mph dual carriageway as at all excessive on the right occasion. And near
side passes happen from time to time, it's not the end of the world. In fact I do both, in my van, most days (on the private road sections
anyway...)
I set the speed pinger on my car to 115 to stop it going off all the time! It still annoys me
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Sam_68
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| posted on 23/3/14 at 06:25 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Macbeast
If you can't tell the difference between 50 and 85 mph without the benefit of a speedometer you shouldn't be on the road.
He didn't say he thought he was doing 50. He just said he couldn't tell he was doing 85.
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coozer
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| posted on 23/3/14 at 06:32 PM |
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I presume its the 50mph round the team valley and metro centre..
The plod and the scam vans are on there fairly constant, they will be making a mint! There is often a van just under the bridge before the team valley
turn off, north bound side(bottom of the bank just past the Angel if your going there and not familiar with the road/visitor) and the couple of times
I've seen it they must be struggling to keep up with the speeders in the outside lane!
Keeping eyes peeled front back and sides is the key to rapid/safe progress..
I keep the speed low if theres lights behind me to get them to pass then hit the load pedal when your sure.
1972 V8 Jago
1980 Z750
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Proby
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| posted on 23/3/14 at 07:15 PM |
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I think you got off lightly, Ive had a few close shaves with the po po in the past. Its very hard not to 'give it the full beans'
sometimes. Dont get blasting around in the dark, make sure you can see behind you in the mirror. Speeding on public roads is silly and dangerous, but
I for one admit Im not an angel when it comes to sticking to the speed limit when conditions are good. As said at least you got no points to declare
to the insurance company.
Visit GraphicMonster
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