I just got pulled over for doing 32 in a 30

I remember when I was learning to drive, my instructor yelling (good naturedly) at me all the time to “go faster” and “press the bloody gas” and “do the speed limit”. saying it was dangerous to go too slow, because people might overtake recklessly. The irony is that those very same main roads are now all 20mph, which is painfully slow, because probably done because some politician thought it might make them look green. (South London) Wasn’t this one of Boris Johnson’s bright ideas when he was London mayor? It might have been a forerunner to Partygate if he was caught doing 23mph on one of these roads.

More recently, I used a bus lane (at a time when it was allowed; indeed, you could fail a driving test for not doing so) on an extremely wide 20mph road, and I was overtaken by… wait for it… a bus. The irony!

So desperate they just gave her a warning, wouldn't have taken any of her details and sent her on her way.

The bastards.

If you had been charged you’d have likely had the option of going on a speed awareness course which would show you the difference that 2 miles per hour would make to the injuries someone might have sustained had you hit them.

i used to be a magistrate and it was totally normal for people to be fined for being 1 or 2 miles over the speed limit.

It’s the line, it has to be drawn somewhere and you stepped over it.

Definitely an overreach. They must have been desperate to catch somebody.

I've got 3 points for 23 in a 20 limit, so yes, you were lucky.

That 2MPH is 2.6m of extra stopping distance (0.5m longer than a King size bed). It's the difference between breaking a pedestrian's legs and killing them.

OP, I bet you will be more aware of your speed now (as we all need to be), so maybe that Officer did you a favour.

Seems like overkill but a few days ago I’ve got a letter to say I was going 33 in a 30 zone 🙈

So now I’ve got to accept the points or do the driving school.

I was annoyed at first because a couple of metres after the speed camera it goes to 50 and it’s downhill so it’s easy to slip over but ultimately I went over the speed limit and so I have to accept fault.

I’m sure there are worse crimes but if he’s pulling up people for speeding then I guess that means everyone including you.

I'm still not sure what happened with regards to the measurements.

There should be some buffer on speedometer and on the measuring device. So I don't believe they your speedometer was 32, real speed was 32 and the measurement was 32 all at the same time.

If your speed was 32 after applying 10% or so measuring buffer you must have been doing close to 35.

Anyway can you get your speedometer checked? If there is any chance it shows less than the real speedometer is or less than the police measurement is, you really want to know that.

If your speedometer said you were doing 32, and you were in a 30mph area, you weren't pulled over for speeding.
If you were driving at over 30mph in a 30 limit, then you were speeding and you are not innocent.
It is not for you to decide the appropriate upper speed for driving on any road. Someone has already done that, and regardless of whether you agree, the limit is there for you to obey.
You didn't get a ticket, but you got told off. If the telling off made you feel so terribly afraid, perhaps you would have preferred a ticket, 3 points on your licence, a fine and an increase in your insurance premium?
Give over.

You've stopped shaking then?

Pissing myself laughing at traffic cops being expected to track down murderers, rapists and drug dealers.

They enforce traffic infractions. And he did give OP leeway as she didnt get a ticket.

Oh for goodness sake, all this talk about leeway. He DID give her leeway. Not getting a ticket is leeway.

Sometimes I creep over the speed limit too. It's not sanctimonious to still say that if I got pulled over that I deserved it.

You were speeding! The faster you drive, the more injured someone would be should you hit them. Just stick to the speed limit and stop making excuses. You’re in the wrong.

2mph.

All this talk about leeway, maybe it's what part of the UK you live ?

This time last year I got a letter stating the camera caught me at 32mph in a 30 zone, and I could either take a speeding awareness course or get points on my insurance. So I duly paid for the course, spent quite a while on the course, and sucked it up.

So Op you getting a verbal warning was neither here nor there, and I feel shaking after it is a bit of overkill!

426 replies in a few hours. It looks like I was late with the popcorn, and the OP has been roasted to a crisp.

@dialdrunkforyou I have known people get speeding fines for being 2 mph over a 20 mph speed limit I.e. 22 mph. They had to pay £100 and attend a speed awareness course.

I know 2mph seems a little harsh but the limit is 30 mph not 30ish mph.

OK, let's discuss car safety...

A typical human reaction time in a car is 0.25 seconds. 2 mph = 0.89 m/s so additional stopping distance = 0.89 x 0.25 = 0.22 m (22 cm).

A child stepping 5 metres in front of a car travelling at 30 mph in a 1000 kg car will be subjected to an impact force of around 18 kN.

Increase the distance by 22cm and speed to 32 mph, then the impact force is 21.4 kN. So yes, fair point, the additional 2 mph would increase the impact force for a 1000 kg car by 3.4 kN.

BUT... the impact force is proportional to both speed AND the mass of the vehicle.

If the car was much bigger, so 2000 kg (BMW, SUVs etc...), then the impact force would be 36 kN at 30 mph!

So perhaps speed limits for any vehicle over 1000 kg should be reduced? Or penalties for anyone in a bigger car travelling over the speed limit be much more severe?

If the OP had been travelling 40 mph then yes absolutely stop them.

Shaking? Seriously?

You were over the speed limit, you got pulled up on it - nothing happened. Learn from it and move on.

So you're asking whether it's overkill that you weren't punished for going 2mph over the limit?!

A mild telling off seems perfectly proportionate.

I'm old enough to have taken my test before you had to wear a seatbelt. (Hence being a bit miffed at getting snapped after 30 years plus of not being caught stopped

I think this is a good example of how the police are targeting the "legally responsive" over actual criminals, who present them with far greater challenges.

I’m sorry, now we’ve had the Stirling Moss comment you’ve been out faux-outraged so there’s really no point 😂

I was just coming on to say this. My driving instructor told me this almost twenty years ago.

I didn't realise it had changed though.

😂😂😂

Are you someone who thinks the rules don't apply to you?