Aquittal being challenged for speeding policeman

[FunkyDexter]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/s...re/4664592.stm

A few months ago this policeman was aquitted of dangerous driving after he drove at 159 mph on the moterway and 90mph in a 30 zone. He was let off because he argued he was familiarising himself with the car. That aquittal's now being challenged (quite right too) and the verdict is due in tomorrow. I can understand the police need to familiarise themselves with a vehicle but shouldn't they be hiring a race track for the day rather than doing it in the town center where I might be staggering home drunk from a club?

[thegreatone]

Actually no, i agree to some extent they should do alot of testing on a test track, but since when has that been realistic ?

Think about it, 90mph on a track, its flat, no speed bumps, no nasty odges to be made, nothing. Wheras a street in the middle of a town, probably has a dozen speed bumps and obstacles to sharpen his driving skills with.

Its all a case of realism.

[MasterBlaster]

a 159 mph cop car. I want one of those.

[big blue alien]

If he had his lights on then its fine, as long as he dosnt crash. if he didnt then its just normal speeding an he should get in the same trouble as anyone else

[MasterBlaster]

wow, 90 mph in a 30 mph zone in the US and you're going to jail for a while. I wonder what the penalty in the UK is.

[grilkip]

"Excessive speed alone is not a basis to convict for dangerous driving,"

What the heck is this?? Breaking the law is breaking the law.

Police officers can only 'bypass' traffic laws if it is warranted, otherwise they also have to stop at the stop-sign and are not allowed to speed. The public road is not a training ground.

Actually no, i agree to some extent they should do alot of testing on a test track, but since when has that been realistic ?

Think about it, 90mph on a track, its flat, no speed bumps, no nasty odges to be made, nothing. Wheras a street in the middle of a town, probably has a dozen speed bumps and obstacles to sharpen his driving skills with.

Its all a case of realism.

He was testing the car not the road. He was on a motorway, as I understand there are no speed bumps and obstacles there. (?)

All modern police forces have very realistic and thought through training facilities, if yours does not then arrange it.

[thegreatone]

Plenty of obstacles, lots of danger.

My point was that the 90mph was done in a 30 zone, which, by all accounts would be a care zone with plenty of bumps.

[grilkip]

Oh, ok. Just the more dangerous I would think (he didn't use sirens)

I'm saying using the public road for practice is abuse.

[Rattled_Cage]

i think the funny thing is it was the incar police video recorder that got him into this mess

[demotivater]

Aren't all (if not most) of the UK's police driving training courses done on public roads? From what I recall, the UK police do around 6 weeks of training, most of which is on public roads. The "final exam" (at least the one I saw) was on a public, and by no means vacant, road. Speeds reached over 100mph in moderate traffic. In the US, most training is done on closed courses and lasts all of 2 to 5 days, depending on the academy.

I think the UK driver training is superb, this dude knew exactly what he was doing and was probably the best driver on the road at the time. However, if it wasn't officially sanctioned, that's another story.

[yrwyddfa]

As an aside - and I don't know how true this is - the only vehicles which are legally allowed to contravene the Road Traffic Act are postman's vehicles.

That's because they are always considered to be on the Queen's business. If you assault a postman the courts will consider it as an assault on the Queen.

[FunkyDexter]

Think about it, 90mph on a track, its flat, no speed bumps, no nasty odges to be made, nothing. Wheras a street in the middle of a town, probably has a dozen speed bumps and obstacles to sharpen his driving skills with.

Good point but there'd be nothing to prevent you setting up obstacles on a test track. I still think it'd be better to keep this soprt of thing away from the public wehere possible.

However, if it wasn't officially sanctioned, that's another story.

As I understand it it wasn't sanctioned (otherwise it would never have gone to court) and he didn't have his lights or sirens going. Sounds to me like he was basically on a jolly.

As an aside - and I don't know how true this is - the only vehicles which are legally allowed to contravene the Road Traffic Act are postman's vehicles.

That's because they are always considered to be on the Queen's business. If you assault a postman the courts will consider it as an assault on the Queen.

All the posties round Southampton either walk or ride push bikes. I've now got a wonderful image of a little old fella doing 150 up the street on a sixties style push bike with flames kicking up from the rear wheels.

[Shaggy Hiker]

As an aside - and I don't know how true this is - the only vehicles which are legally allowed to contravene the Road Traffic Act are postman's vehicles.

That's because they are always considered to be on the Queen's business. If you assault a postman the courts will consider it as an assault on the Queen.

That's funny, in this country we seem to worry more about postmen assaulting us.

[MasterBlaster]

That's funny, in this country we seem to worry more about postmen assaulting us.

[capsulecorpjx]

Once a cop passed me cause I wasn't speeding fast enough.
While he was driving by, he rolled down the window and called me a *****.

Well second part isn't true.

[vbcode1980]

I think the police should be all-beeping-mighty in doing whatever they want!
THey're the police, man! THey should be allmighty!

[capsulecorpjx]

Actually no, i agree to some extent they should do alot of testing on a test track, but since when has that been realistic ?

Think about it, 90mph on a track, its flat, no speed bumps, no nasty odges to be made, nothing. Wheras a street in the middle of a town, probably has a dozen speed bumps and obstacles to sharpen his driving skills with.

Its all a case of realism.

I hope you're kidding.