Just got stopped for "speeding"

[andy_k]

just had an interesting chat with one of East Sussex's finest police officers - let's call him officer Dibble

The discussion went something like this

Dibble "good afternoon sir, is this your car"

me "yes, why have you stopped me?"

Dibble "How fast were you driving just before we stopped you?"

me "about 55/60mph"

Dibble "Actually it was 58mph, are you aware of the speed limit?"

me "yes"

Dibble "then why were you going nearly 20 mph over the limit?" (at which point a lecture about the danger of speeding, failing to respond to road signs, how it was a country road etc etc etc)

me "sorry but are you aware that this section of the road is national speed limit?"

Dibble "no it's not. It is a 40 mph zone, the signs are back there"

me "so what about that sign I passed saying it was no longer a 40 zone but national limit?"

Dibble "there is no sign"

me "let's go back and have a look shall we?"

Dibble "there's no need, we clearly saw the 40 mph signs"

me "you are not local are you?"

Dibble, "no we are from Heathfield (about 20 miles away) but that doesn't
make any difference. You were still exceeding the speed limit"

me "If you were local you would know about the national limit sign on the post which is kind of hard to see since the council put a sign up which almost hides it"

Dibble "well we didn't see it"

me "does that mean it's not there then?"

Dibble "no, but it does mean that in our opinion you were speeding"

me "so you are going to give me a ticket for doing 58mph in a 60 mph zone because you didn't see the sign? Who's going to ring the local papers - you or me?"

Dibble "don't get sarcastic with me"

me "shall we go back and have a look at that sign now?"

Dibble "no I'll wait here with you and my partner will go back and check"

me "I'll lock my car up and we can all go back together - I can show you where the sign is then"

Dibble "do you think we are incapable of seeing a sign at the side of the road?"

me "I'm not going to answer that one because you'll probably accuse me of being sarcastic.........but isn't that why you stopped me in the first place"

Dibble then went to his car and sent his mate off to have a look, 2 minutes later he's back and the two of them are having a bit of a chat

Dibble "You are half right, there is a sign there but because it's partly obscured by other signage and the hedge then it doesn't apply"

me "you've just made that up haven't you?"

Dibble "no that's how it works so although the sign is there because you can't see it then it doesn't apply so you were speeding"

me " I did see it, that's why I accelerated from 40 mph to 60 mph, it was you that didn't see it which is why you stopped me for not speeding"

Dibble "I've told you about being sarcastic"

me "so if I were going the other way and didn't slow down for the 40mph sign which is actually partly hidden in the hedge at the moment I could use this argument and quote you to avoid getting nicked - would you write it down for me along with your name and number?"

Dibble "I've told you about being sarcastic"

me "Look this is going nowhere, either give me a ticket for speeding or let me go home"

I then got a pen out of my car door pocket and started to write down his number

Dibble "what are you doing"

me "without wishing to sound even slightly sarcastic, I'm writing down your number so that I can report you"

Dibble "OK, go on then, carry on, go home or wherever you were going just don't do it again"

me "don't do what again?"

Dibble - no answer just got in his car and they drove off


Now, should I report the muppet or not?

Andy

 

[gina2201]

One that obviously gets off on being authoratative! I'm all for them doing their job but there's no need for them to be rude! We're all humans after all! Good on you!

 

[Dieselman]

LOL..

Andy, you just made that up in a bored moment didn't you...

 

[Deker]

I'd report him as his lack of knowledge of the law needs pointing out to his supervisors...

The fact the the sign has been covered up in no way invalidates it - other wise we could cover all speed camera warning signs with bin liners and then they could never use their cash point cameras.

 

[fuzzer]

hahahahaha

Might be worth complaining to the council about the obscured sign .

 

[Dieselman]

Perhaps you should phone his station and ask what is the law regarding signs that are covered when entering a speed limit, then later on ask about ones that are exiting them.

 

[ceejaySL]

Everyone can make mistakes............but the police mistake may have been costly for someone.

Given that your reg will no doubt be circulated on the police smarta*se register and you will get all sorts of pulls for things in the near future, perhaps you ought to report the incident?

If nothing else the ridiculous stament that if a sign is obscured it does not apply is simply crazy, and if this is genuinly his belief then it needs rectifying before someone else gets caught - and we the taxpayer pays a fortune as it goes through the court to get dismissed.

 

[Dieselman]

If nothing else the ridiculous stament that if a sign is obscured it does not apply is simply crazy, and if this is genuinly his belief then it needs rectifying before someone else gets caught .

But it's not even obscured, Andy saw it..

 

[Gollom]

I'm with Dieselman - made it up didn't you?

lololol

 

[verytalldave]

Forget it. Realistically, what can you hope to gain by persuing the matter? Even if you did report him, you dont seriously think he will get penalised or punished do you? They will probably have a good laugh and tell him to pick on someone less knowlegable next time..........
Just put it down to experience...................

 

[Ted]

LOL really funny.

But my view
The officer made a mistake
We all make mistakes.
Personally had I been the officer I would have laughed it off and told you what a prat I was - he added to his mistake by trying to bluff it.
Report him? No way. His next job might be sweeping someone off the road. - that might put things into perspective.

 

[IanA2]

Bizzare.....did that really happen.....?

If it did then, I would be inclined to have a word with the Station Officer. Not to make a complaint as such, but to make sure he is given "advice".

 

[andy_k]

No Dieselman, I didn't make it up, I actually cut a lot of the (nearly 15 minute) discussion out

Agreed ceejaySL, the bit about the smart**** register had occured to me and that was exactly the reason I've reported it by phone and will follow up with a letter copied to the Chief Constable. I'm sure I'll get stopped a few times just to waste my time but they are so short staffed around here they'll find something else to occupy their minds - if it gets too tedious I'll just claim I'm being harrassed and drive the other car for a while

The sign is a bit hard to see but it's not obscured, whereas the ones coming into the 40 mph zone are slightly harder to see - however, there's no way you could reasonbly exceed 40 on that bit of road anyway as it's so twisty. The thirty signs a bit farther down are very easily spotted.

I understood that they didn't notice the sign and tried politely explaining that it was there but he got really awkward and was quite unpleasant which is why I resorted to being sarcastic


Ted, I agree, we all make mistakes but surely it's how we deal with it that counts? Had he just said "sorry" and left it at that I would have happily let it lie but the "don't do it again" comment and his attitude really annoyed me

Andy

 

[andy_k]

hahahahaha

Might be worth complaining to the council about the obscured sign .

the council cut the hedges twice a year whether they need it or not

The signs round here are constantly part of the hedgerow - the locals tend to clear the badly hidden ones

 

[robert.saunders]

Andy, just for curiosity:

Was it traffic or regular plod?
Forget the signage for a moment; what proof did they have of your speed - calibrated speedo or more sophisticated speed measuring eg VASCAR?

Ta mate

 

[GrahamC230K]

Oh boy. Laughing like a bufoon at my desk has blown my cover of working and not surfing the internet I think.

I must make up a rule for this. Please give me this guys name so I can ask for some advice!

Report this dimwit. He will take advantage of someone not quite so on the ball and confident as you.

 

[andy_k]

Andy, just for curiosity:

Was it traffic or regular plod?
Forget the signage for a moment; what proof did they have of your speed - calibrated speedo or more sophisticated speed measuring eg VASCAR?

Ta mate

regular plod - I'm guessing they went off the speedo reading. to be honest I was so confident I was in the right that I didn't bother asking. Had he said I was doing 70 mph I would have started asking questions but I knew he was behind me long before he stopped me


Andy

I'm with Dieselman - made it up didn't you?

No, I really didn't make it up. Only the names and places have been changed to protect the not so bright

 

[robert.saunders]

Thanks Andy

Not sure what I would do; part of me says make an issue of it, more so the fact it was so wrong, and they may need a check on what they're doing. However, equally I don't know what it would really achieve in the long term.

If they were Traffic plod I would be reporting them no hesitation as they must know better; however, regular plod? Easy mistaker to maker.... Will reporting it achieve much?

Nice write up though

 

[GregE240]

Superb Andy!

Report this clown - it means more paperwork for him and will serve him right for being thick.

 

[Apial]

I dont know why you think it is a newsworthy story. Aren't police officers supposed to behave like this? Sorry for the sarcasm.

I have been hauled out of work to shift my car, alledgedly illegaly parked, to receive an apology that in fact it was legally parked. On another occasion I was stopped for going the "wrong way" down a one-way street, even a radio call to the station sarge confirmed it. However when I asked him where the one way sign was, he couldn't find one, and then he had the cheek to tell me I had "got off this time" without so much as an apology. He held me up for 20 minutes and my tea got cold because of him.