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Originally Posted by Russ D
I think very few motorists complain about breaking the law - personally my gripe is over how the law is broken.
On a clear, dry, open road with no other traffic, I don't see casually drifting over the limit slightly is going to cause a menace and to be realistic, neither do the police. This is why they have powers of discretion.
I was driving home from Oxford one night at 11pm when a car pulled alongside me and the passenger shone a torch at me. It was a police officer alerting me to the fact I was doing 80mph.
There were no other vehicles apart from us on the road, it was dry and well lit. He could have pulled me over and reported me for speeding. However I was not causing any trouble for other road users and as soon as I realised what I was doing I adjusted my speed accordingly.
Could I have been prosecuted for speeding that time? Yes, I was guilty with no complaints.
Should I have been prosecuted? I think that would have been GROSSLY unfair.
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Well if you had been prosecuted you would have had no grounds for complaint, especially as you didn't realise what speed you were travelling at which sounds like driving without due care. I'd rather you were speeding and knew it
If a GATSO had snapped you then, yes, you would have been prosecuted and that would have been fair. The speed limit was what, 60 or 70, and you were doing 80. Now you might judge that road conditions allow you to break the law in this instance but that certainly does not mean you can say being prosecuted is unfair because you are aware of what the rules of the road are and you broke them. Yes officers have more discretion which I agree can be used sensibly but the lawlessness of speeders is so widespread that it is not possible for limits to be enforced by the police alone (this is their publicly stated position; they place the onus on local councils to ensure 20mph limits are self-enforcing - I have it in writing!).