Driving ban

cyclonebri1

pendulum wrote: »

Although I generally agree with what you say, there are exceptions which you haven't considered.

What about the cop who parks his vehicle by the side of a building at night, so that it cannot be seen by oncoming traffic, then crouches down (so his reflective jacket cannot be seen) in the shadows by the side of a hedge? I regularly see a cop do this on the A13 (residential part) and I assure you that by the time he is visible to a motorist, he's already got a speed reading.

We all know to be wary of BMWs, Volvo's and newer Skoda's, and as we are overtaking some on dual carriageways or motorways we can even glance left to see if the driver is in uniform (I used to do this all the time on the A12 and it saved me once), we also can learn to notice unmarked cars that regularly patrol the same roads e.g. the silver BMW that's always on the A130 for example... but what about the cop driving a 12-year-old white banger of a Skoda? I have seen a taxi driver pulled up by a cop driving one of those and thought "Wow, I would NEVER have expected them to be driving that". If I was say driving safely at a few miles over the limit, I wouldn't be particularly wary of an old Skoda keeping up. It doesn't fit the usual profile.

Recently I was driving at around 2am on a Friday night, well over the limit I have to say, at least 20mph over. I noticed another car coming up RAPID behind. At the speed I was going that can only mean one thing and I knew straight away. But by the time you realise and brake it's too late you see! They already know you're speeding. That time actually ended well for me and he let me go with a warning, but not before thoroughly checking me out.

An obsevant driver can spot the vans above the bridges, the vans at the side of the road, the GATSOs and the Truvelo's, the unmarked cars and most of the other things they throw at us, I definitely wouldn't have a license now if I wasn't good at that believe me, but sometimes you just have no chance because they aren't "sporting". They can and do put themselves in a position where they can get a speed reading before you can see them.

No wonder he "checked you out", 2am in the night, 20mph over the ?speed limit, in the dark.

You were lucky I think to get away with a warning.

I'm no killjoy and like a bit of speed at time myself but you could try picking a safer time next time.

Er, I don't think the intention is to be sporting all the time, the big camera signs are a good clue for most of us.:rolleyes:

cyclonebri1

NatD1978 wrote: »

So, whenever the speed limit on a road is 20 / 30 / 40 / 50 / 60 / 70 you can stick to that limit to the exact mph?

If you can sir, then I take my hat off to you.

It's not difficult to stick within the speed limit if you have a mind to, car speedos will alltypically have an over speed tolerance built in (typically 10%) to prevent litigation should you becaught doing 31 mph and your speedo reads 30.

But as said, you have to intend to;)

sebdangerfield

pendulum What about the cop who parks his vehicle by the side of a building at night, so that it cannot be seen by oncoming traffic, then crouches down (so his reflective jacket cannot be seen) in the shadows by the side of a hedge? I regularly see a cop do this on the A13 (residential part) and I assure you that by the time he is visible to a motorist, he's already got a speed reading.

As a good driver comming up to buildings, i'd be slowing down to the speed limit anyway. And an officer going to that much trouble to not be seen is 10 very rare and 20 agianst ACPO guidelines.

pendulum We all know to be wary of BMWs, Volvo's and newer Skoda's, and as we are overtaking some on dual carriageways or motorways we can even glance left to see if the driver is in uniform

This isn't quite what I meant to be honest. Obviously, theres the cars that stick out like a sore thumb but I meant it easy to spot the drivers. The way a highly qualified driver executes manuvers and positions him/herself on the road and its this that's possible to spot. Anyone who takes an advanced course would see that although i'm aware this is only an option for those of us who are geeky about driving! Having a read of roadcraft wouldn't hurt anyone though, and you really do see the drivers who are doing more than just following the one infront.

NatD1978So, whenever the speed limit on a road is 20 / 30 / 40 / 50 / 60 / 70 you can stick to that limit to the exact mph?

If you can sir, then I take my hat off to you.

Thats quite a poor post to be fair. I've already said just the post before that;

I wouldn't ever try to say I don't break the speed limit. Just driving back from the inlaw's this evening found me in the mood and on a decent bit of road so I had some fun.

so no, I often....make progress what I said is,

Why do I manage to keep an idea of exactly how fast im going and the limit of the road in my concience?

In reply to someone saying its unlucky to be caught when you dont know the road speed. I'm simply saying why do I seem to be able to know the road speed and therfore not get caught like that, not that I never break it. :rolleyes:

pendulum

sebdangerfield wrote: »

This isn't quite what I meant to be honest. Obviously, theres the cars that stick out like a sore thumb but I meant it easy to spot the drivers. The way a highly qualified driver executes manuvers and positions him/herself on the road and its this that's possible to spot.

Haha! You've entered the realm of make believe if you think you can spot an unmarked police car in a few seconds just by the way it's being driven.

And as for slowing down when coming up to buildings, we're talking about a row of shops where this copper hides, and they're always shut (this is night remember) with huge pavements and paved areas outside the shops where it is possible to see all pedestrians, except for those deliberately hiding and obscuring themselves in the shadows of the hedgerow which is itself a long way from the road.

cyclonebri: A "safer" time? Just how do you know my speed at the time wasn't safe? You don't know the road or lighting conditions or anything. The coppers are trained to drive at a safe speed at all times and that copper was driving faster than I was to catch up with me, so my speed can't have been that unsafe huh? The cop never claimed my speed wasn't safe either.

Your comment about the big camera signs being a clue to most of us is *almost* not worth replying to, but I will just say that those signs are useless as there are camera signs where there are no cameras and vice versa, they cannot be relied upon at all.

sebdangerfield

Haha! You've entered the realm of make believe if you think you can spot an unmarked police car in a few seconds just by the way it's being driven.

Okay mate, just trying to tell you how it works for me. Mabe you'd benefit from an advanced course?

And as for slowing down when coming up to buildings, we're talking about a row of shops where this copper hides, and they're always shut (this is night remember) with huge pavements and paved areas outside the shops where it is possible to see all pedestrians, except for those deliberately hiding and obscuring themselves in the shadows of the hedgerow which is itself a long way from the road.

In that case, its obviously a built up area, kids hang around shops at any time and the huge paved area would indicate to me, even though I don't know the area it was built up. That'd mean i'd be doing close enough to the speed limit so as it didn't matter if the officer caught me on radar. I wouldn't speed there.

cyclonebri1

pendulum wrote: »

cyclonebri: A "safer" time? Just how do you know my speed at the time wasn't safe? You don't know the road or lighting conditions or anything. The coppers are trained to drive at a safe speed at all times and that copper was driving faster than I was to catch up with me, so my speed can't have been that unsafe huh? The cop never claimed my speed wasn't safe either.

Your comment about the big camera signs being a clue to most of us is *almost* not worth replying to, but I will just say that those signs are useless as there are camera signs where there are no cameras and vice versa, they cannot be relied upon at all.

Because it was at least 50 in a 30, 70 in a 50 etc. And it was dark, and at a time when the idiots are out, why do you think you where stopped.

Also by safer I mean for you licence too. Out in the wilds, early morning, but not as early as you were out, clear roads, see see miles, thats safer:rolleyes:

Well I "almost" wasn't going to reply to that point, but those say, there is a speed limit, you have been warned. What they don't say by there absence is "there are no cameras on this road, feel free to break the speed limit";)

And the real reason they are there if my info is correct, is that after you have been warned by the relevant signage, if you are caught the police get some if not all of your recompence.

nexuss

I saw the light on the night that I passed by the A1
I saw the flickering shadows of fines on my mind
She was my woman
As she deceived me she threw away the letter and i went out of my mind
My, my, my, delilah
Why, why, why, delilah
I could see that fine was no good for me

pendulum

sebdangerfield wrote: »

... kids hang around shops at any time and the huge paved area ...

God, the point was that IF there was anyone hanging around there near the road, they would be seen before they are reached and speed could be adjusted accordingly. In my example with the cop in the shadows and the building, he'd get a speed reading before I saw him, as his laser gun has a huge range, but I'd still see him well before I actually got to him and be able to stop easily in the distance I can see to be clear.

And even if you were going to slow down before you got to the buildings, his laser gun would've got you before you even started to. His laser gun can get you while you're driving along the long straight bit with no buildings, driveways or junctions to worry about.

You're worse than the anti-speed brigade because you admit to speeding yourself but you think you're the only one on this earth with the common sense and observational skills to do so safely.

There's a section in Roadcraft about how to stop attitude and mood from affecting your driving. Read it again. Your attitude problem is that you're overestimating your skills as you think you can spot an unmarked policecar in seconds from the way it is driven, and you think you can judge my driving without even knowing the circs or how I drive. And by your comments about you feeling in the mood to speed on the way home from your inlaws, it seems that mood is affecting your driving in a negative way too.

sebdangerfield

Chill out fella, crikey!

All i'm saying is if you saw all those things, shop, built up area etc etc you'd be slowing down from higher speeds. I havn't criticised your driving in any way.

you think you're the only one on this earth with the common sense and observational skills to do so safely

Not at all, but i've probably put myself in a better position than most by doing plenty of further courses and being able to spot good driving and knowing when (as above) wouldn't be good time to speed.

and you think you can judge my driving without even knowing the circs or how I drive

How on earth have I judged your driving? I assumed the events your talking about above were hypothetical?

Your attitude problem is that you're overestimating your skills

In the same way, if you don't want people to comment on your driving skills when they havn't seen them!! you probably shouldn't comment on anyone elses!

I think you should chill a bit mate. Thats in roadcraft too.

pendulum

I made clear the events (copper, hiding in bushes) were real not hypothetical and I even said the road it happens on. I live nearby and whilst I normally do exceed the limit during the day when it is perfectly safe to (and I can see if he is there...), I never do at night just in case he is there hiding. I have never been caught there but seen loads who have. If you were to actually see that road you would agree the visibility is excellent, the road & pavement's huge, it's straight as an arrow and almost everyone drives quicker than 30, that's why he goes there with his radar, it's like shooting fish in a barrel.

It's like me asking you to describe the road you sped on coming home from your inlaws; if you said there's nothing, no pedestrians, no houses, no junctons or anything, just a few bushes and trees, I could say well you shouldn't be speeding there, what if you had a blowout and hit a tree... if I was a pedant like you that thought he knew it all.