A close shave

[AMGeed]

Got stopped this evening for speeding. No excuse and I apologised immediately.
I hadn't noticed the unmarked car behind me as I pulled away from a roundabout and onto an empty dual carriagway. Not having used the car much lately, I gave it some right foot up to 50 something and eased off. Too late, the blue light was already on and its a 40 limit which I was aware of.

By the time I'd pulled over and exited the car, my tax, insurance, MOT and ownership details had been checked. I just needed to confirm DOB and wait for the b0llocking.
It never came, and I thank the fact the officer was a petrol head himself and showed a lot of interest in the car. He said it was a credit to me to open the door and raise my hands and apologise, no ticket, but to take it easy on the acceleration. That was what drew his attention to me, not the 10+mph over the limit.
Feeling very relieved considering I've had two exceptionally quick cars for the last 7 years and this was the first stop. I'll be more careful in future

 

[Will]

Sounds like you passed the ‘attitude test’ well, and in the circumstances sounds like the right result

 

[DoberMan]

I'll be more careful in future

To check in the mirror for unmarked cars..............

 

[MissyD]

Maybe do the lottery this weekend

 

[E55BOF]

Decent copper, not some hotshot young Robocop or humourless professional Miseryguts... Most coppers are pretty decent, I've found, but a lot is down to the attitude of the driver stopped. If you're polite and reasonable, people tend to be the same back.

 

[SmartAmg]

Looks like you dropped on someone with a bit of common sense, instead of the book um at all cost
and coz I can brigade, and also, your attitude would have helped.

 

[Merc220cls]

Take the warning with a bit of “humble pie”
Not all coppers are bad.

 

[Bellow]

Unless he tailed you for the required (2/3mile?) I doubt that he had any evidence to bring a charge.

I once had the 'excessive acceleration' BS thrown at me. My solicitor just laughed at that. But, if that aspect takes hold.......

 

[Gollom]

Unless he tailed you for the required (2/3mile?) I doubt that he had any evidence to bring a charge.

I once had the 'excessive acceleration' BS thrown at me. My solicitor just laughed at that. But, if that aspect takes hold.......

Think it was a simple post pointing out that people can be good and reasonable. Not a post about "was it a fair stop?" "would it stand in a court of law etc.?" Not sure your reply was particularly relevant. IMHO of course

 

[Bellow]

Think it was a simple post pointing out that people can be good and reasonable. Not a post about "was it a fair stop?" "would it stand in a court of law etc.?" Not sure your reply was particularly relevant. IMHO of course

I'll let the rest of the forum decide if being blue-light stopped for accelerating quicker than grandma might is actually fair.

 

[Jukie]

Not all coppers are bad.

You're right. We're not.

 

[Jukie]

I'll let the rest of the forum decide if being blue-light stopped for accelerating quicker than grandma might is actually fair.

Manner of driving draws attention and raises suspicion about who is driving and the circumstance, e.g. possible stolen/twoc'd car or driver under the influence.

 

[st13phil]

I know things are a bit different now regarding speed enforcement but the oddest experience I ever had in that regard was in the late 1970's. At the time I had a Triumph 500cc twin that started out life as a 32bhp Tiger 100SS. I'd done lots of work on the engine - flowed head, Boyer cams, 12:1 pistons, uprated valve springs, Daytona (T100R) twin Amal's, open instead of timed breather, etc. - and exhaust, and while not fast by today's standards it would happily rev to over 8,000rpm and was pretty quick for a 500 in its day.

One afternoon I pulled onto the Blackwall Tunnel approach from the A2 at Blackheath and gunned it, hitting close to an indicated ton before rolling off the throttle and settling back to the (then) 60mph limit on that section of road. Then I saw the blue lights behind me in my bar-end mirror. Bugger.

I pulled to the side of the road, got off the bike and removed my helmet as the officer got out of his car and put on his cap. As he walked towards me I was expecting the biggest bollocking ever, plus an invitation to explain my behaviour to a magistrate. Instead, the officer's first words were, "What the hell have you done to that bike? It never went like that when I owned it!".

It turned out that he'd been the first owner of the bike some 8 years earlier, and we spent the next ten minutes chatting about what work I'd done to it as he gave it a good looking over. Then he asked to see my licence, insurance and MOT at which point I was pretty convinced I was going to get advised that I would be reported for the offence, blah, blah. Instead, after checking them, he handed them back and tapped the bar-end mirror before saying, "Make better use of that before opening it up in future, and make sure I'm not following you!" and we went our separate ways.

Must say that I rode like a saint for the next few weeks...

 

[E55BOF]

Unless he tailed you for the required (2/3mile?) I doubt that he had any evidence to bring a charge.

If it was on video, which it would have been, he had all the evidence required. Distance is irrelevant with video evidence of speeding.

 

[swithin]

I know things are a bit different now regarding speed enforcement but the oddest experience I ever had in that regard was in the late 1970's. At the time I had a Triumph 500cc twin that started out life as a 32bhp Tiger 100SS. I'd done lots of work on the engine - flowed head, Boyer cams, 12:1 pistons, uprated valve springs, Daytona (T100R) twin Amal's, open instead of timed breather, etc. - and exhaust, and while not fast by today's standards it would happily rev to over 8,000rpm and was pretty quick for a 500 in its day.

One afternoon I pulled onto the Blackwall Tunnel approach from the A2 at Blackheath and gunned it, hitting close to an indicated ton before rolling off the throttle and settling back to the (then) 60mph limit on that section of road. Then I saw the blue lights behind me in my bar-end mirror. Bugger.

I pulled to the side of the road, got off the bike and removed my helmet as the officer got out of his car and put on his cap. As he walked towards me I was expecting the biggest bollocking ever, plus an invitation to explain my behaviour to a magistrate. Instead, the officer's first words were, "What the hell have you done to that bike? It never went like that when I owned it!".

It turned out that he'd been the first owner of the bike some 8 years earlier, and we spent the next ten minutes chatting about what work I'd done to it as he gave it a good looking over. Then he asked to see my licence, insurance and MOT at which point I was pretty convinced I was going to get advised that I would be reported for the offence, blah, blah. Instead, after checking them, he handed them back and tapped the bar-end mirror before saying, "Make better use of that before opening it up in future, and make sure I'm not following you!" and we went our separate ways.

Must say that I rode like a saint for the next few weeks...

Brought a huge smile to my face this story and great memories of when more appropriate speed limits were applied to that stretch of road.

 

[Bellow]

Manner of driving draws attention and raises suspicion about who is driving and the circumstance, e.g. possible stolen/twoc'd car or driver under the influence.

So what you are saying is when an owner of a high performance car bought for its high performance uses that high performance acceleration he can expect to be pulled?
That was the explanation given to the OP for being stopped.

 

[Bellow]

If it was on video, which it would have been, he had all the evidence required. Distance is irrelevant with video evidence of speeding.

OP says he didn't hold 50mph for long so I very much doubt there was steady video evidence permissible in court. More likely a rapid rise in speed in pursuit followed by rapid deceleration for the 'pull' with very little if any steady speed data.

(I once got accused of speeding because the police from a standstill had to exceed the speed limit to catch up with me. Yeah, that's the laws of physics at work and nothing to do with my (law abiding) speed).

 

[alabbasi]

I thought this was going to be a shaving thread

 

[SmartAmg]

I thought this was going to be a shaving thread

So did i.

 

[219]

Unless he tailed you for the required (2/3mile?) I doubt that he had any evidence to bring a charge.

I once had the 'excessive acceleration' BS thrown at me. My solicitor just laughed at that. But, if that aspect takes hold.......

Memory is flaky on this , but isn't/wasn't it 3/10 of a mile ?