Bad luck on this old chap, I can't say you didn't deserve to get stopped (we all need a little reminder occasionally), but the police car definitely sounds sub-standard to me. As far as penalties go for your offenses (if it were me in your shoes) I'd be thinking about 3 points for speeding, £60 fine for fogs and frankly nothing for failure to stop - their car sounds questionably marked and visible at the best of times, being an unmarked all they have is those two crappy lights under the grill (which are hard to see at the best of times) and occasionally a stick-on flashy on top. Not really enough if they've got HID's and are trying to collar you at night. Stick to your guns, get a proper solicitor (used to traffic offenses etc) to speak to you about it and keep a cool head. Just a word of advice - my GF's Dad used to get points on a regular basis (not hard in Cheshire!), but because he irrefutably needed his car for work, he simply had to pay fines and stick with 11 points on his licence.
Very true. If giving someone another fixed penalty notice would result in them hitting twelve or more points, we're not allowed. We have to take it to court for them to decide if it is proportionate to take your licence away. Not that this will end up in court, but if it did and you were to explain that you are the main source of your household income and are reliant upon your car to work, they would just give a bigger fine.
Okay well in that case, as already mentioned I got my first 3 points on my license in late November last year, and am not the sole income for my household. Still living and working from home, but absolutely and irrefutably dependant on being able to drive for my job.
Well depending on what evidence of speeding they have, you may end up with another three points. Not the end of the world. Did they actually say they were going to formally interview you on tape? Seems odd working practice to me, if they intended on reporting you for an offence, they would normally have done it by contemporaneous hand written interview at the roadside. Maybe they just want to worry you into not driving (perhaps) a bit carelessly again, and from your reaction on here, seems its working. Anyway, I carry out PACE interviews day in day out and have regular dealing with solicitors (not only are they very useful for you, they're very useful for Police aswell, can save us a lot of time) and traffic offences. Need anymore specific advice, let me know. I'll PM you later when my internet isn't acting like a 28.8k modem.
Accepting a caution is an admission of guilt. If you intend to dispute any of the charges then you need to take legal advice and consider rejecting the cautious. If you refuse a caution it can lead to a charge and a court appearance, or they will decide it's either not in the public interest to press charges or that they have insufficient evidence. It's likely that they had a video in the car, in which case you're buggered on the speeding - but dangerous driving and failure to pull over for the police sound debatable. Take free legal advice before going any further. Did you get the officer numbers for the chaps that pulled you over?
For a caution, an admission has to be recorded properly. 90% of Police forces aren't allowed to give out formal cautions for driving offences. Hence why we have fixed penalty tickets. Why do you say it's likely they have a video in the car? This isn't 'Cops', less than 1% of vehicles in my force have a correctly calibrated video capture equipment. What's their collar number got to do with it? The Officer has remained in contact with him, hardly as if he needs his number. Another post of useless advice.
Yeah I've been meaning to update this, here's the latest: The short answer to Longweights question is "nothing". I got my expected phone call from the Constable, he called on Saturday night - the night after it had happened. He asked me if I had decided on an evening that would suit me to come in and "discuss what happened last night". I explained as politely as possible that I had been trying to get hold of my solicitor but being the weekend, I hadn't had a chance to speak to him yet. I told him that I'd like to discuss it with my Solicitor before attending the interview and take the Solicitor along as well. He said there was no problem with that, told me that he would call me "Wednesday or Thursday" to arrange a time which should give me a chance to see and speak to my Solicitor. I said that was fine. In case I needed to contact him or leave him a message, I asked for his name. The conversation was short and friendly. More than two weeks have passed since that conversation, and I have not heard from that officer or any other police officer regarding the incident. I did speak to a solicitor about it and he said there was no problem in him coming to the interview with me. He also said that he'd be amazed if they made a case and even more amazed if that case made it to court. At the very most, he expected me to receive another three points on my license and a standard fine for the speeding, along with a stern caution for the "sub expected standard" driving. My only thoughts on them not getting back to me are this: - They decided not to pursue it when they heard that I was seeking legal advice, knowing that their case might be hard to make without sufficient evidence. - They believed what I told them at the road side (which was the truth), were satisfied that I had been well cautioned and decided to be lenient because I was genuinely apologetic. - The officer who was supposed to follow it up is off work at the moment for some reason; sick leave, holidays etc. Who knows? Whichever it is, or if it's some other completely different reason, I've been driving like a saint ever since. It didn't stop me being involved in another accident though... I got rear-ended on the M1 just east of Lisburn (in the west-bound lane) yesterday morning at about 9:15 Traffic was slow moving and stopped in places, and moments after I stopped in heavy traffic I was driven into by a girl in a MK2 Corsa. That girl was then driven into by a man driving a small panel van, who was then driven into by a lady in a Saab sedan. That's right, a 4 car RTC. Just what you need first thing on a Monday morning. The ridiculous thing is that whilst I was sitting on the hard shoulder, on the phone to the police reporting the incident, there was another collision just a few metres ahead of where I was hit in the same lane. One of those ridiculously small city cars hit another one, both of them blue. I couldn't believe my eyes. So that was a nice way to spend an hour and a half yesterday morning. Not like I had to be anywhere or anything.... The even more amazing thing about it all? The police officers who attended the scene and specifically the officer who took my statement. Who was he? The same officer who gave me three points for speeding on the motorway before Christmas Not sure if he recognised me or not, but I certainly knew him! I'd seen them on the same overpass that they "gunned" me from as I passed (at not one MPH over 70!) about half an hour before. Yesterday they were taking speeds from southbound traffic as opposed to when they booked me heading north, but it's the same overpass and you can still see them. Ahhhh. I don't want to see another police officer for the rest of the year!
So is your car a write-off then, or just a bit ruffled? Good to hear it's gone quiet, keep your fingers crossed and all that. Chances are they decided it wasn't worth pursuing.
The little bruiser isn't too bad, will need a rear bumper, rear low fog lamp, new reflectors for said bumper and a tail light. Other than that, the bumper did its job and protected the rest of the bodywork. No metal panels on my car were damaged in any way. The Corsa, however, is shagged. Hit front and rear pretty hard, and looks every bit worse for wear. Overall it could have been a lot worse - more speed involved would have made it much worse but she hit me under braking, just didn't brake early enough. It's just a hassle to be honest.
Glad to hear it's all sort of worked out for you mate! I'd hazard a guess and says from the fact they haven't chased you up in a few weeks, you might be saved and they've left it alone. Sad to hear about your RTC, but if it's just that 'minor' damage, you came out lucky! Hope everything works out in regards to the claim against her! Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk
Unlucky man! I was victim in an assault case and the police (while they did an altight job) spent months arseing around and did almost drop the ball with my written statement. They tried to get the guy to come in voulentarily but the failed to show on several occasions. The case wouldn't of progressed unless they formally cautioned him or he showed up. Luckly he did show up (probably out of cockyness or something else unrelated i cant remember what the officer said) but eventually pleaded guilty in court. Either way they still could come back, just make sure you have everything prepared and written down. If its long enough then they would have to formally caution you if you wanted to play it that way. It does Sound that if they where doing 50 and it was national speed limit ie. 60 you had every right to overtake. Ive noticed police sit well under the limit normally (50 on motorways etc), possibly looking for something like this. Anyway good luck and hope it all works out especially with other things too. Sounds like a bad month.
judges are pretty bent in one direction but fair if your honest.. been to traffic court lots but it's over here you will get the speeding ticket- that's a given.. they ALWAYS take the officers side on speeding.. doesn't matter if you know it's lies but things where you legitimately didn't know about the law or in this case, didn't even see or know he was a police officer.. as long as you explain it truthfully without playing with your pockets or coming into court with your pants half way down pinned to some boxers.. he'll listen now if you did something like pass a school bus with it's red lights flashing.. you could'nt even get insurance after that.. this is the worst case scenario: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kkc2KinHWiM
My cousin was caught speeding when visiting family near Memphis. He claimed that he thought the highway numbers where speed signs, His Brummie accent probably helped that excuse but they let him off with nothing but a stern frown.
You shouldn't have said anything about the incident. Just provide your personal and vehicle details and request legal representation.
Was that directed at me? I don't really understand. Well, here's an update; They didn't drop it, they called me last week and arranged for the interview to be late this afternoon. I just got in a few minutes ago, the interview lasted about 40-50 minutes. I have to say I don't think it went well, they were extremely well prepared with exact measurements of the road at certain points, and insisted on repeatedly questioning the fact that I thought their vehicle was a police car from the beginning and was attempting to evade them. They asked me that about 5 times, and no amount of telling them that I wasn't aware it was a police vehicle until I actually stopped would convince them. They also insinuated that all systems on the pursuit vehicle were in working order and that their headlights were flashing in an alternating fashion after I had told them they weren't, and in fact that was one of the main reasons I didn't realize I was being pursued by a police car. So they've told me that one of three things will happen now, once the tape of my interview is transcribed and sent to the PPS; - A formal caution which is recorded on a criminal record - Prosecution service decides to prosecute, court date/summons follows - Case/incident is dismissed I'm going to call my Solicitor tomorrow and let him hear my copy of the tape. Just have to take it from there...
I've just realised, you're from NI. Things are very different there. Afraid I wouldn't be able to offer much advice. I hope that it is dismissed as it seems you have a fair case.
Do you really think it seems like I have a fair case? They have accused me of dangerous driving and failing to stop for the police. Their word against mine, which was made very clear to me in the interview.
From what you've said, I don't know of any copper in my area that would even contemplate taking you to court. However, things work differently in NI. From what you've described, your driving comes nowhere near close to 'dangerous', but perhaps 'careless'. Also, failing to stop has to be stone bonker obvious; full blown pursuits being a good example. You have a good defence in that the lights weren't clear and the headlight flash was not operating properly. Is your eyesight okay? You can also explain that you had no reason not to stop (presuming you've not been in trouble for drugs before, etc).
