Traffic Cops = "Law Enforcers"

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ypkx

Active Member
Joined
Apr 28, 2011
Messages
171
Car
w202 c180
Yesterday, as I was visiting sunny cornwall I was being followed by the most infamous of them all, a traffic cop.

In the aggressive and rude tone that most of them have, he said, and i quote; "oi, you, i need to speak to you, pull up over there and get out of your car." in which i replied "alright" with a smile on my face.

What he pulled me for was;

Front tints - Which I have been stopped before, and before most of you start cussing at me, i know they are illegal and it was inevitable i was going to be stopped again for these.

Tinted Headlights - I have tints on my headlights, for which stops glare and light spatter as I have HID installed. And, if anything, they comply to the legal limits of 'tints used on any windowed surface of a vehicle' which is 70% light allowance. But from what I know, it is NOT illegal to have tinted headlights, as long as it shows it can produce the sufficient amount of light through its lens hence how it passed its current MOT.

One perished tyre - I bought 4 used tyres just under a month ago, and one of them had a little perish on the sidewall, which i had been told by 2 garages and the tyre center themselves that it won't be a harm to have it on. I brandished the invoice and the note they wrote incase i did get stopped but the traffic cop thought he knew better.

Lowered suspension - He said 'your rear end looks quite lowered, no doubt is that illegal so I'll be checking that'
Though, I know for sure that as long as it a) doesn't rub the arch above, it will pass MOT and it is not illegal so it complies with the BSA/DVLA. b) it has room to travel up and down so the suspension is not compromised and c) there is space between the arch and the sidewall.
So he just said 'thats for me to tell you, not you to tell me'...

last but not least, pressed plates - I know pressed plates have been a grey area for a matter of years. And being a forum/messageboard whore that I am, I have checked courteous amounts of forums to find answers.
From what I know and understand; as long as the plates are....
- Same size as normal plates
- legal font which is the Charles Wright Font
- legal spacing between each letter
- must be black text
- BSAU stamped with a serial number

Which mine DO comply with, and after amounts of low tone arguing, he still said 'it doesn't matter how much you're going to try and understand the law, you wont understand the law, but you must understand that those plates are in fact illegal'

Again, a situation where these so called law enforcers have the upper hand, picking out the most pettiest things, whether they know its illegal or not.
The bit that annoys me the most is that he countlessly threatened to prohibit my vehicle and arrest me.
From what I gathered, the sidewall of my tyre is only a warning so he cannot prohibit my vehicle. My tints are removable, therefore if they were removed on the spot, he cannot do anything. My suspension is none of his matter and my tints on the headlights are legal.
So the only thing he could do (which he knew) was get me done for my front tints. So at the end of it all, he ticketed me for my front tints and they were removed and we were allowed to go.
This is what i dont understand, he spends an hour and a half going on about how he can prohibit and tow my vehicle because there are 'countless' illegal modifications on my car but when he radios it in, he was only really allowed to do me for the front tints.
he even said and i quote 'dont smirk son, or you wont be driving anywhere from here, you'll be sat in the nick overnight' ..
I mean seriously? he was going to nick me for keeping a smile on my face.

If there are any law enforcers here, I suggest you guys have a more positive attitude when you pull guys over. I was almost TOO complient and cooperative with this copper, and I even agreed he could tow my vehicle away. But what pisses me off is your attitude, jesus, just smile a bit and talk like a normal person.


/rant over
 
As above really...

Sounds like you knew in your own mind you had some questionable items in the eyes of the law...

Thing is once they stop you for one, they will find the others.... I watch too much Police interceptors and road wars etc..

I agree though the attitude with the police should be fair and reasonable though. Difficult as we only have one side.

Main thing you were ok to go and get the other stuff sorted.
 
Arguing wirth police and and trying to tell them that they're wrong will usually result in them taking a negative tone.

From watching these traffic police programmes on the TV, people who try and talk themselves out of trouble or start talking back at the officers usually have something more to hide. Predictably enough, the officers will just start digging deeper to see what comes up. A bit of psychology comes into play as well and officers will poke a few buttons to see what else comes out.
 
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The bit that annoys me the most is that he countlessly threatened to prohibit my vehicle and arrest me.

It is a matter of great sadness to me that there are no facilities available to the Police by which they can crush a car like yours on-the spot, right by the road-side and right in front of you so as to ram home the point that vehicles should be road-worthy and legal.

Front tints? You should be banned from driving for the rest of your life. You would rather put how your car looks above the safety of other road users.
 
Attitude Test = Fail would be my guess.

I'm not sure that I've ever dealt with a proper traffic cop by the side of the road, but arguing with him, even politely is probably not a tactic that I would use.

Having said that my car would not have front tints, tinted headlights, dodgy suspension, or dodgy tyres though.
 
Yesterday, as I was visiting sunny cornwall I was being followed by the most infamous of them all, a traffic cop.

In the aggressive and rude tone that most of them have, he said, and i quote; "oi, you, i need to speak to you, pull up over there and get out of your car." in which i replied "alright" with a smile on my face.

In six months time when they're all privitised, and their uniforms have sponsorship, you won't be bothered by the ones sponsored by Maxpower.
 
It sounds like the officer missed a trick and should have nicked you for your illegal HID fitment. I sincerely hope your MOT tester forces their removal next MOT time.

Tinted headlights to reduce HID scatter .....what are you thinking????????

My understanding from previous debates is that the pressed steel number plates are not legal either.
 
Are you related to Voyager?

No, who is voyager?

As above really...

Sounds like you knew in your own mind you had some questionable items in the eyes of the law...

Thing is once they stop you for one, they will find the others.... I watch too much Police interceptors and road wars etc..

I agree though the attitude with the police should be fair and reasonable though. Difficult as we only have one side.

Main thing you were ok to go and get the other stuff sorted.

No, I wouldn't agree, the only thing in my mind i knew was questionable was the front tints. That I know im completely in the wrong. My point is, why can they be such a fuss? It's a bit of film on a car, yet his answer was either long winded or indirect.

Arguing wirth police and and trying to tell them that they're wrong will usually result in them taking a negative tone.

From watching these traffic police programmes on the TV, people who try and talk themselves out of trouble or start talking back at the officers usually have something more to hide. Predictably enough, the officers will just start digging deeper to see what comes up. A bit of psychology comes into play as well and officers will poke a few buttons to see what else comes out.

The negative tone was there when he pulled me over. I understand your theory, and no, i didn't force an argument, it was more like 'really? because from what i know...blah blah blah'

Some other parts that I didnt mention is his 'outcome of the law'
First he was asking if i had £150 on me, me and my girlfriend were like.. what? what for? no i dont carry that much money on me.
And he was saying I'd need a tow truck because he isn't allowing me to drive off.
then he was racking up 'the points' saying 'oh thats 3 points on your license and a £60 penalty'
'thats easily another £30 fine and possibly 3 points for that tyre'

It was like, half the stuff he was saying was made up on the spot!


It is a matter of great sadness to me that there are no facilities available to the Police by which they can crush a car like yours on-the spot, right by the road-side and right in front of you so as to ram home the point that vehicles should be road-worthy and legal.

Front tints? You should be banned from driving for the rest of your life. You would rather put how your car looks above the safety of other road users.

Why so harsh? My car is road worthy and legal as much as yours is, apart from the said front tints. Infact, I could go ahead and say mine is probably MUCH more road safe than yours as mine is regularly checked by our business garage.

No, the tints installed on the car were to reduce UV/Heat, as much as it was installed to keep bandits around my area from peering in my vehicle to see what is worthy to steal. Though I'd have to agree that they do make the car look pretty. :)
And for the sake of argument and discussion, I've been driving with tints on cars since i started driving, and not once have they put me or any other drivers at risk.
I think the law on front tints a bit over board, I, the responsible driver of my own vehicle is responsible for the 'health and safety of my vehicle and passengers aside' which means it should be my choice whether or not such modification should or should not be in place. More to the point, the tints have never handicapped me from my driving.
 
the rant sounded justified until you started to describe your car!
 
It sounds like the officer missed a trick and should have nicked you for your illegal HID fitment. I sincerely hope your MOT tester forces their removal next MOT time.

Tinted headlights to reduce HID scatter .....what are you thinking????????

My understanding from previous debates is that the pressed steel number plates are not legal either.

My thought exactly, actually, speaking of the subject matter of health and safety to other road users; my HID conversion is much more of a risk than my tints.
If he had done me for my HIDs, I wouldn't be in such a raging state, infact I would be praising him.
The tinted headlights actually helped, It was literally a little bit of film to reduce the amount of light.
 
Your front tints put other road users at risk.

You should listen to others including the police officer.
 
In six months time when they're all privitised, and their uniforms have sponsorship, you won't be bothered by the ones sponsored by Maxpower.

I reckon the ones sponsored by tampax will have a purge once a month :p
 
Hmm.. I really doubt that the car as you've described can be demonstrably safer than other people's cars here; especially since many people here aren't modders.

You've got four second hand tires there, one of which you've admitted is damaged. How can they be MUCH safer than people with good rubber?
 
Attitude Test = Fail would be my guess.

I'm not sure that I've ever dealt with a proper traffic cop by the side of the road, but arguing with him, even politely is probably not a tactic that I would use.

Having said that my car would not have front tints, tinted headlights, dodgy suspension, or dodgy tyres though.

At no point in this incident did i display any kind of attitude.

Im surprised? From what I'm hearing, a lot more motorists are getting pulled over now in Devon and Cornwall and im strictly referring to any motorists.

And to rest my case, my suspension and tyres are not dodgy! Theres no rule whether or not you are allowed tinted headlights.
 
Please can you post a pic of your car? I need something to brighten up my Monday. We could be like other forums and have a 'shed of the week' competition. Think you might win
 
Your front tints put other road users at risk.

You should listen to others including the police officer.

But from my perspective its like saying..

You're a driver, you put other road users at risk.

Which is a true statement, anyone who is a road user can be a risk to another road user. Unless he meant that my front tints were MORE of a risk then, that can be settled.


Hmm.. I really doubt that the car as you've described can be demonstrably safer than other people's cars here; especially since many people here aren't modders.

You've got four second hand tires there, two of which you've admitted are damaged. How can they be MUCH safer than people with good rubber?

I said that for argument sake, I very much doubt that any car or every car is 100% demonstrably safe. I wont doubt that my car isn't as safe as other peoples cars on here.

There are nothing wrong with four second hand tyres.
All have sufficient amount of tread, all Michelin (whether that really matters), but one happened to have a little scratches on the sidewall.
 
he even said and i quote 'dont smirk son, or you wont be driving anywhere from here, you'll be sat in the nick overnight' ..
I mean seriously? he was going to nick me for keeping a smile on my face.

At no point in this incident did i display any kind of attitude.

After that much time of the officer telling me how illegal my car is, I really doubt that I'd be smiling.

The fact that you're still grinning away at the end of this tells me quite a lot.
 
Please can you post a pic of your car? I need something to brighten up my Monday. We could be like other forums and have a 'shed of the week' competition. Think you might win

If it pleases you..

418651_3243693139270_1475107171_3053865_807364318_n.jpg


Sorry if you were half expecting it barry'd up with spoilers, body kit and possibly some toys hanging from my rear tow.
 

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