Speeding on M4 - Caught by Police Helicopter

[Dieselman]

What about some of the young cops that race around in Vauxhall Astras through town centres at high speed for no reason? Blues flashing, pedestrians all over the place. Just to get to the scene of a petty crime and give someone a caution

Huh?

What has that got to do with the original story?

Forums...Don'tcha just love-Em.

 

[Oli]

Driving at 140mph isn't inherently dangerous, but some Herbert thinking he should get off because it was '1AM and the roads were almost clear' is.

Seriously, when did people stop having backbones and standing up to what they've done?

There are a few laws in our country that I think are blatantly wrong but the only way to go about it is through legitimate means; not waiting till I've got caught and then whining like a spoilt brat that I don't agree with the laws I've just broken.

My personal view is that yes it's illegal and he got caught, he can either take it on the chin or try and get out of it as being without his Driving Licence for a lengthy period of time is likely to be a huge inconvenience, I'm sure he knows what hes done is wrong, it doesn't really matter if he believes in his Defence/Mitigation or not, the key thing is that it has the desired result.

 

[Terry_]

Huh?

What has that got to do with the original story?

Forums...Don'tcha just love-Em.

Nothing. I'm off to cook me chips now

 

[Rory]

Do the germans obey the limits in the city so rigorously because they can unleash full throttle on the autobahn and get it out of their systems?

I'm not sure they do obey them - a colleague just got banned for a month. I forget the exact speed but it was something that I thought would have warranted a speed awareness course here, but the kicker was that it was the second time he'd been caught within a certain time period. He was caught at night by a Policeman with a hand held speed gun hiding behind a hoarding .

On one trip there we drove a fair distance out of Munich in a pretty old E Class taxi at a steady 225KMH (140MPH). I must admit that flashing past lines of trucks, moving very slowly as they're banned from some lanes, was a bit scary.

 

[IanA2]

Personal to who? Someone that's been caught at a stupidly fast speed and is now trying to dodge the consequences like a coward?


It's one persons view, not 'the forums', so I'm not sure how that works out.

The post was directed at Oli. It was therefore personal. Quite why you are defending such puerile naming calling I don't know. But I take Voltaire's position in these matters, so feel free.

 

[LTD]

I did hear of a recent case where the driver had considered the defence of his car not being able to do the speed he was nabbed at - the manufacturer's quoted top speed of the car 2mph less I believe .

That's not the first time I've heard that too ...

However, any vehicle approaching it's VMax is not going to offer a huge margin of safety if there is the risk of driver error.

 

[markjay]

Worth checking the manufacturer's vmax figures for the police helicopter, it it's lower than the E63 then he could argue that the coppers could not have possibly followed him at that speed...

 

[Dieselman]

Worth checking the manufacturer's vmax figures for the police helicopter, it it's lower than the E63 then he could argue that the coppers could not have possibly followed him at that speed...

They don't need to keep pace, just time him over the measured mile markers.

 

[flango]

They don't need to keep pace, just time him over the measured mile markers.

Some police helicopters are also equipped for instant speed readings just like speed guns, Kent and Northumbria are for definite

 

[trapperjohn]

Do you know if they have a trigger when their equipment susses a speeding vehicle. Be a bit weird if they could clock a speeding HGV. Altogether doable with today's techno stuff.

Valid question from me just total ****e on TV at the mo.

 

[BTB 500]

Worth checking the manufacturer's vmax figures for the police helicopter, it it's lower than the E63 then he could argue that the coppers could not have possibly followed him at that speed...

Quite likely to be an MD 900 I think; if so maximum speed is quoted as 161 mph.

But as mentioned they only have to be able to time the car passing fixed points on the ground.

 

[flango]

Do you know if they have a trigger when their equipment susses a speeding vehicle. Be a bit weird if they could clock a speeding HGV. Altogether doable with today's techno stuff.

Valid question from me just total ****e on TV at the mo.

The honest answer is I don't know, the conversations I have had are they have usually spotted what they think is a quick vehicle whilst they are returning from another job, so they check the speed and if really excessive call in the ground units. I don't think any force use the chopper for routine speed policing at £3k - £5k per hour flight time its a huge expense which I'm sure would not be authorised in todays cost and budget conscious police forces.

The A69 in Northumbria is a road where vehicles are regularly checked using the helicopter as I guess it is always overflying the road in question.

 

[V12]

I'm not sure they do obey them - a colleague just got banned for a month. I forget the exact speed but it was something that I thought would have warranted a speed awareness course here, but the kicker was that it was the second time he'd been caught within a certain time period. He was caught at night by a Policeman with a hand held speed gun hiding behind a hoarding .

On one trip there we drove a fair distance out of Munich in a pretty old E Class taxi at a steady 225KMH (140MPH). I must admit that flashing past lines of trucks, moving very slowly as they're banned from some lanes, was a bit scary.

Having lived in munich for a couple of years and also stuttgart for a year, I have a fair amount of autobahn experience. I've driven these speeds that we're discussing for extended periods. I don't consider myself an excellent driver at all but I've never felt challenged by driving at speed on the motorway or autobahn. I slow down when it rains due to visibility and druve accordingly.

140mph is never going to be 100% safe, but then again 70mph isn't either. The surrounding circumstances are far more important than just the speed alone. Look at the bigger picture.

SPX hit the nail on the head. He should hold his hands up and face the consequences.

We don't know the whole situation but I guess forums thrive on speculation.

All you do gooders that have never driven more than 69.9mph...get out in the real world and enjoy life

 

[flango]

Valid question from me just total ****e on TV at the mo.

You not watching X Factor then

 

[theogeor]

Interesting reading through the comments...

Driving fast is not the main problem but driving dangerously is... That might be because of your abilities , drive conditions, road , weather,, how fresh awake you are or not etc..
As for driving in the Autobahns in Germany I was feeling much safer there in my summer trip as the lane discipline is fantastic... I managed to do 160-170mph without been worried an idiot will jump in front of me. As soon as we cross back to UK it was obvious that even at 70 I had to be more alert in UK than I was in Germany as every other car was likely not watching is mirror and jumping in front of me . Other than that our roads I would say are better design than the equivalent German ones so in theory high speeds should be safe and possible...
One other thing I wanted to point it is that going 10-20Mph more than the national speed limit in a country lane is much more dangerous rather than doing double the speed limit in the motorway but the law does not see it like that..

Theo

 

[Abdul]

SPX's posts are amusing IMO but of course each to their own.

Who in there right mind would simply fess up to doing 140mph and risk a lengthy ban?

I've got to say though, from a drivers perspective these new super saloons and the like have a real skill when it comes to hiding their speed to the point where I think they're a bit pointless. 140mph in an E63 is the equivalent to doing 50 in a micra from the cars perspective which as already mentioned leads to your average drivers thinking they're bloody Vettel.

I've got a lowly CLK55 and to be honest from cruising speeds its impossible to open it up for more then a few seconds and use an entire gear even without risking points. This is of course very frustrating so I do feel for Mr E63.

 

[markjay]

Very interesting discussion indeed.

You will note, however, that the driver (according to the post from PH) said he will enter a guilty plea, and asked for advice regarding mitigating circumstances. The one he came up with is that the E63 is a very fast car, which might not be a very good argument, but it is definitely an honest one.

Just in case anyone cares to discuss the original post, for a change.

 

[martyz]

Lets hope the guy that got caught does not offer your reasoning in court as a form of mitigation,unless he wants a prison sentence of c
course.

in reply to#76

 

[HB]

Where is Carrsey? He's a traffic cop and I'd like to hear his views on this.

 

[trapperjohn]

All our Traffic boys are AWOL at the moment. They probably see enough fighting and in-fighting at work - to see it all again here would make anyone go AWOL.