Only just over the limit.....

[Aero]

I have a real problem with these two videos of policeman speeding (a little) because of a situation that happened to me a few years back:

I had my cruise set to 75mph on a dual carriageway (70mph limit) so was probably doing around 72-73 mph. It was a fine, sunny day when marked police car overtook me and pulled in front. I did not change my speed as he caught or passed me, I figured if he was gonna object to my speed he would have looked across, waved his finger, acknowledged me or something. Then over the next few miles he slowed down a bit so I was doing just over 70mph on my speedo. This speed continued for about 20-30 mins, and the traffic built up behind (how did they ever catch up without speeding I wonder ). Anyway, the situation seemed ridiculous with all the traffic backing up, and because the policeman wasn't displaying his blues I assumed he wasn't backing us up for a reason. So, thinking it would be 'safe' to pass him, I did so between 75-80 mph on my speedo (~75mph real speed). I reckoned this was acceptable because it would have been similar to the speed at which he passed me earlier...........well, the moment I pulled in front his car lit up blue & he pulled me over at the next layby. Boy he was mad . He went loopy, accused me of dangerous driving & being a thief , he said stealing speed was the same as stealing goodies from a sweetshop . I must have looked so confused, I was gobsmacked, I don't think I muttered a word the whole time he lectured me, though I couldn't have got a word in anyway!

He clearly forgot he was speeding when he overtake me, & obviously didn't consider how all the other cars had caught up behind us.

Anyway, he had his rant but he didn't give me a ticket. In hindsight I think he was soooooo angry because I'd passed him, and passed him at a speed at which I think he couldn't 'book' me for, but he needed to say something. Oh, I wish I had a dash cam then........

Anyway, in the first video I've posted I thought the driver of the BMW X5 was particularly annoying/intimidating, he followed so closely behind the car in front clearly desperate to get by, and then he forgot to indicate to show his intentions . These guys should be setting an example IMHO. The limit was 50mph btw, and he overtook in a 'Speed Check Area' - see the sign out at 55secs. He probably only just went above the legal limit, but it's the principle for me after my incident above. The funny thing about this video is we caught up with the X5 at a junction a few miles down the road

In the second video, I was travelling bang on the speed limit of 70mph when the biker overtook.

Ps I haven't sorted the problem of my speed stamp displaying kph instead of mph!

 

[jokiin]

You overtake the cop at 10mph above the speed limit and you're surprised when he pulls you up?

 

[niko]

From my experience with cops I learned one useful "explanation" in case I feel I am a little bit wrong even by speeding only 1-2 km/h:
" ... I am very sorry mr. officer ... ". This always worked out well for me ( touch the wood ).
I know in most cases I could start arguing with them which would lead to dead end and waste of my time.
If cop pulls you, they dont like ignorance from drivers and the more you resist, the more they bend you over.

 

[Aero]

You overtake the cop at 10mph above the speed limit and you're surprised when he pulls you up?

Ha ha, no, I was more frustrated at the double standards and contradictory attitude he showed. I overtook him at between 75-80mph as displayed on my speedo, which is likely to be 75mph, so 5mph above limit, similar to the speed he overtook me just 30minutes beforehand! And he ignored every driver that must have been speeding to catch up behind us. He never even alluded to a ticket or letting me off, he just shouted at me the whole time, it's laughable now, but at the time I was shocked. I was surprised at how angry he was though

Then on one 300mile journey I see 2 police officers speeding in a similar manner.

 

[niko]

Ha ha, no, I was more frustrated at the double standards and contradictory attitude he showed. I overtook him at between 75-80mph as displayed on my speedo, which is likely to be 75mph, so 5mph above limit, similar to the speed he overtook me just 30minutes beforehand! And he ignored every driver that must have been speeding to catch up behind us. He never even alluded to a ticket or letting me off, he just shouted at me the whole time, it's laughable now, but at the time I was shocked. I was surprised at how angry he was though

Then on one 300mile journey I see 2 police officers speeding in a similar manner.

Yeah, double standards sucks.

Cops have two rules:

1. Cop always right
2. If some time cop is not right, - look first rule

 

[kamkar]

I once overtook a K9 unit, and i dident even notise that as i was in a hurry to get home from a fishing trip, and i was stoned too witch i was most of the time back then.
So offcourse they followed me the last km or 2 to my destination and then came over to talk to me, at that time i had seen them and knowing many cops who was members of the police fishing club i instantly started to talk fishing and pulling gear out of my car, and that way wiggeled myself out of a ticket.

Cops are just like most of us, they will enjoy smoking a little wheed, and if you have somthing expensive to sell them for cheap they will buy that too.
And if you need some information and they have it, they might be persuaded to share it for somthing.

Just the basic "looking out for #1" rule.

One is not wrong in expecting the officers of the law to have a high level of moral, but you will often be disappointed as most are just ppl in a job where they carry a uniform and a badge.

 

[roadbug]

One of the members on a radar detector forum I frequent posted a video of passing a police car like you did; he got pulled over too, but he got a ticket. Every one told him "do not pass the bear"! In your case though it sounds like he was having a bad day and decided to find someone to dump on.
I have passed police cars, but I did it at the posted speed, using the cruse control. The police car passed me then slowed down, since I had the cruse control set I slowly passed him. This is the only way you can pass a cop car and not get pulled over and ticketed. (my opinion, YMMV)

 

[M---]

I was more frustrated at the double standards and contradictory attitude he showed

Always remember: police are above the law, thus the law doesn't apply to them.

I think the "game" the officer was playing with you is one where the officer goes at a speed that traffic will back up substantially, but nobody can really complain about it. The people who know there's a cop leading the line don't dare to pass the bear. Or at least you're not supposed to. Somebody further back in the line eventually gets fed up, and BLASTS past the line of cars. Cop puts on the flashy lights, and everybody else resumes normal speed.

Happened to me a decade ago-- I was commuting through the city to work. Three lanes in my direction (parking, slow lane, fast lane). The right lane was mostly used for parking. I was in the slow lane. Cop was in the fast lane, doing 5 over the speed limit. I'm not about to undertake a cop who's slightly speeding. So I kept position just behind him, in the slow lane. After a km we caught up to more cars that were at a light ahead of us. The light turned green as we caught up, so we hardly had to slow down. I guess somebody several cars behind us was a little frustrated at our lack of speed-- they pulled into the parking lane (there were no cars parked), blasted past us (remember, we were pretty close to the speed limit), and blasted past the cars that had been stopped at the light. Cop casually puts on his turn signal, I give him space, he casually merges into the parking lane, then I hear his engine roar, lights and sirens are on. Three blocks later, he'd pulled over the impatient asshole. And the rest of us were back at our normal speed! Ah, I wish I'd had a dashcam back then!

 

[jokiin]

Ha ha, no, I was more frustrated at the double standards and contradictory attitude he showed. I overtook him at between 75-80mph as displayed on my speedo, which is likely to be 75mph, so 5mph above limit, similar to the speed he overtook me just 30minutes beforehand! And he ignored every driver that must have been speeding to catch up behind us. He never even alluded to a ticket or letting me off, he just shouted at me the whole time, it's laughable now, but at the time I was shocked. I was surprised at how angry he was though

Then on one 300mile journey I see 2 police officers speeding in a similar manner.

why had he overtaken you at the time, job called in but then cancelled so backed off, you don't know

reality is speed limits are speed limits, if you want to overtake someone you're still not allowed to exceed the posted limit to do so, they had every right to pull you up, you were just lucky not to get booked

 

[Gibson99]

on the boring, straight, flat roads between major cities in texas, where the limit is often 70 or 80 mph, state troopers like to camp out in the LEFT lane (aka the fast lane, aka the passing lane) and run laser radar against oncoming traffic. oh, did i mention that they camp out in the left lane and only do 55 mph in those 70-80mph zones? then nobody wants to pass them for fear of being busted. i hate those. sometimes i am able to work my way to the front of the pack and pass the cop - i always make sure to make eye contact, smile and wave as i pass them on my way up to the posted limit (and maybe 2-3 mph over) and keep it at that speed for a while. and then amazingly, everyone else starts passing the trooper too, once they see he's not going after me for FOLLOWING THE LAW. if anything, it's the officer who's not following the law. There's signs on every highway in the state that say "Slower traffic keep right" and he clearly isn't.

 

[Aero]

why had he overtaken you at the time, job called in but then cancelled so backed off, you don't know

reality is speed limits are speed limits, if you want to overtake someone you're still not allowed to exceed the posted limit to do so, they had every right to pull you up, you were just lucky not to get booked

I understand what you are saying jokiin, however, I'm pretty sure you'll notice I never said the officer was incorrect, and I'm certainly not disputing I was in the wrong. I'm merely expressing my distaste at what I feel are double standards:-

Why did he not pull me over when he first overtook me? I was also speeding then.

If he was on a call when he first passed me & had to exceed the speed limit why was he not displaying his blue lights and sirens? Are police allowed to speed without displaying a suitable warning?

Why did he eventually pull me over but not book me? Perhaps he couldn't because I was driving well within the margins considered acceptable (I'm still not denying I was in the wrong). The police ignore speeding day in day out as they drive around in their unmarked cars. I'm pretty sure he was just venting on this occasion, but you've got to question whether that is acceptable behaviour.

Why did the officers in the two clips I posted find it acceptable to exceed the speed limit?

And I also feel lucky I didn't get booked btw, he expressed so much anger I was shaking afterwards!

Honestly, the incident has bothered me ever since, which is why I posted the relatively innocent videos above. Maybe I'm a little over sensitive? He was very patronising & condescending!

 

[jokiin]

I'm not having a crack by the way, just saying

If he was on a call when he first passed me & had to exceed the speed limit why was he not displaying his blue lights and sirens? Are police allowed to speed without displaying a suitable warning?

they're certainly allowed to in Australia, if they were on the way to an armed holdup, domestic dispute, terrorism related event etc where they don't want to announce their impending arrival they come in with as little notification as possible

 

[DT MI]

...
they're certainly allowed to in Australia, if they were on the way to an armed holdup, domestic dispute, terrorism related event etc where they don't want to announce their impending arrival they come in with as little notification as possible

That's the case here in the States as well - at least in every jurisdiction that I'm aware of.

 

[kamkar]

The cops here can speed, but they at least have to have the light going.
In towns they only use lights at night to not wake up ppl, and they allso do that on the last part when they want to catch some one in the act.

 

[dashy]

on the boring, straight, flat roads between major cities in texas, where the limit is often 70 or 80 mph, state troopers like to camp out in the LEFT lane (aka the fast lane, aka the passing lane) and run laser radar against oncoming traffic. oh, did i mention that they camp out in the left lane and only do 55 mph in those 70-80mph zones? then nobody wants to pass them for fear of being busted. i hate those. sometimes i am able to work my way to the front of the pack and pass the cop - i always make sure to make eye contact, smile and wave as i pass them on my way up to the posted limit (and maybe 2-3 mph over) and keep it at that speed for a while. and then amazingly, everyone else starts passing the trooper too, once they see he's not going after me for FOLLOWING THE LAW. if anything, it's the officer who's not following the law. There's signs on every highway in the state that say "Slower traffic keep right" and he clearly isn't.

Wow this sort of thing (luckily)never happens here.

 

[country_hick]

I was in a college town. the cops there had a bad reputation. There was a cop right behind me. To make sure I did not get a ticket for speeding i drove 10mph under the limit. Should I mention it was a 25mph zone? The cop did not stay for long.

Speeding can always get you in trouble. Driving under the speed limit is legal and can really upset a cop legally.

 

[kamkar]

Not to mention what driving too slow can do for other motorists, some go ballistic if they are "forced" to driver slower then the posted max speed.

 

[petepete]

what you have to remember about cops is.....

There is no ratting on the bad ones between them and the good ones in turning this blind eye allow a few to drag their entire public image down...

I find it appalling in 2015 they can lie, cheat, steal, murder, abuse and act like a mini tyrant and get away with it in developed countries - and their evidence is taken for granted as being weighted heavily towards the truth...

Imagine putting a gun or tazer in the hands of bad cops....

Ah but they already have and look at the results !!!!

They do say in America your dog can be shot in your yard if a policeman decides to knock on your door for directions and it casually walks past him !!!

 

[kamkar]

No on that note cops are just like gangsters & bikers, you just dont rat on your own.
Most scary thing is that the law makers in many developed countries cant even smell the roses.

Following the event here last weekend, the lawmakers have been quick to come up with mony ( 1 billion Dkkr ) for additional counter terrorisem mesures.
Funny thing is the police "dont like" what they came up with as all they seem to need is weapons that work ( dunno why the H&K MP5 they carry dont work , seem to work fine for other special forces ) and more practise with the MP5 and handgun and more bullet proof wests.

PS. the H&K MP5 was on sale on the black marked here several years before the cops got them

 

[petepete]

No on that note cops are just like gangsters & bikers, you just dont rat on your own.

And the national health service in the uk managed to starve and kill thousands by not giving them water or food in the uk only the other year, because no one ratted or saw anything wrong in that.....


Thank god now they are obliged to speak out and I never understood why they didn't oblige police to speak out in the aftermath--- I guess they just don't want an honest police force or one seen to be....