Speeding + Unmarked car - what will happen?

Paradigm

taffy056 wrote: »

With respects, drinking a coffee while doing 90mph past a speed camera, is not something most people do, and I did actually tell the OP to try pepipoo for this, but to be honest what excuse could he use if a ticket comes through the post, likely a court appearance if they have clocked everything.

Hey I'm not arguing the danger or legality of this (& your advice is sound), what gets my goat is the posters who suddenly swarm on these kind of posts with their "holier than thou" attitudes when I know/they know that none of them are perfect & have probably done something similar at some time but this gives them an oppertunity to spout off & suddenly become all righteous!

Keith

Which is safer, drinking a cup of coffee or lighting a cigarette? I remember my smoking days, flying along the motorway trying to light a cig.

Outpost

Paradigm wrote: »

when I know/they know that none of them are perfect & have probably done something similar at some time but this gives them an opportunity to spout off & suddenly become all righteous!

I don't claim to be perfect. But I haven't driven at 90mph on the motorway while drinking a cup of coffee, and take issue with anyone claiming that this is in some way a minor transgression as the OP be doing.

taffy056

Keith wrote: »

Which is safer, drinking a cup of coffee or lighting a cigarette? I remember my smoking days, flying along the motorway trying to light a cig.

Well of course it's illegal to smoke in company vehicles now, and I know someone who got done for it.

But I think they are as dangerous as each other

vikingaero

andyg_prs wrote: »

My friend has a Road Angel which he tells me would normally beep and warn him if a radar device were pointed at the car.

Your "friends" Road Angel will not beep and warn him if a radar device is pointed at the car. Road Angel does not sell a device that detects radar devices.

All Road Angel units are GPS units with a database of verified speed camera locations and the locations of possible sites of mobile units. The latest Road Angel Vantage can store the location of a mobile unit and use the mobile network to warn other Vantage users. Problem is that there are very few Vantage users.

Most Road Angel units are able to have an optional laser detector plugged in - it looks like an eyeball - but realistically if the unit warns you then you've been caught.

HO87

andyg_prs wrote: »

Hi,

So, about an hour ago a friend of mine was driving westbound between Junction 17 and 18 of the M4. He was doing about 90 mph. He was also sipping a coffee held in his right hand.

As he passed the layby he noticed a grey unmarked car parked perpendicular to the road with the driver aiming what appeared to be a camera from the open driver's window.

My friend has a Road Angel which he tells me would normally beep and warn him if a radar device were pointed at the car.

What do you think the policeman was up to? Is it likely he was using a camera equipped to detect speed? Or do you think he was looking to record someone going way fast and then give chase having already collected his evidence?

In other words, if my friend wasn't chased down, do you think he is ok....or can he expect a fine in the post?

If the latter, what do you think the combination of speed and one hand off the wheel might result in?

Any ideas would be gratefully received!

Thanks,
Andy

Whilst there is a chance that your friend will receive something unpleasant in the post - given the possibilities in terms of possible offences - it is far more likely that he would have been stopped at the time.

There remains the possibility that his speed was noted but not the fact that he was not in a position to have control of his vehicle (one-handed driving). With that in mind, if he is the registered keeper of the vehicle he was driving then he will have to wait 14 days to find out if he is in the clear. If the car was a company car/lease-hire/contract etc then he may well have to wait some while before he finds out.

At 90mph, all other things being equal, he is likely to be offered a fixed penalty (£60 + 3 points). At 95mph+ he is more likely to receive a summons in due course and the penalty will be decided at that point by an assessment of his speed, his driving history, whether he pleads Guilty or Not Guilty (and is subsequently convicted) and, if he pleads guilty what mitigation, if any, he offers.

You might want to advise your friend that relying on his Road Angel is unlikely to prove too advantageous if he was intending it to warn him of active laser-based speed traps (which this one almost certainly was - look up Ultralyte 20-20, for instance). The types of most commonly-used LIDAR are able to detect the speed of a vehicle in 0.3 secs (3 tenths of a second) and out to a range of 999metres. By the time his RA has announced its warning, he's heard it and reacted to it, he will already be long in the book.

The most reliable speedtrap detector I have found is the Mk1 Eyeball. (not available from Halfords).

vikingaero

HO87 wrote: »

The most reliable speedtrap detector I have found is the Mk1 Eyeball. (not available from Halfords).

Problem is that the Mk1 Eyeball in this situation was pre-occupied with a cup of kwaffee.

pompeyfaith

So you've never changed a CD, retuned the radio, looked at the mrs while having a conversation whilst driving? Maybe turned round to give the kids a telling off? Really?

NO I have not as I have a remote on the steering wheel so both hands are still on the wheel as for CD's I put one in before I set off and it stays there until I stop.

As for wife or kids I do not have any as I lost my wife in a car accident before we had the chance to have any.

Assumptions will get you no where.

spike7451

The fact that the op's friend has one of these 'Road Angel' say nav things fitted as opposed to a bog standard one suggests to me that his speeding isn't a one off occurrence.

Paradigm

pompeyfaith wrote: »

NO I have not as I have a remote on the steering wheel so both hands are still on the wheel as for CD's I put one in before I set off and it stays there until I stop.

As for wife or kids I do not have any as I lost my wife in a car accident before we had the chance to have any.

I'll pass on this one!