Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Been caught speeding

315 replies

speedy49 · 31/01/2023 01:00

Help sorry I know this isn't AIBU but traffic

Tonight literally 15 mins ago so 00:40 ish I was driving home about a 10 minute journey on a road with a 60mph limit.
I was doing about 80. Yes I know I was in the wrong please dont bash me.
Then I got to my turning, turned in, and realise there was a police car behind me pretty much the whole time.
Now I'm freaking out because I know I was speeding and I know they were behind me. But they could have pulled me over and didn't, didn't even flash me?
I don't have any points, never paid any fine, never taken a speed awareness course.
Has anyone ever had a similar experience, if so did it end in a ticket or not?
Very worried, please be kind I know I was in the wrong

OP posts:
junglejane66 · 31/01/2023 12:32

The speedo doesnt have to be calibrated. The officers evidence will rely on two pieces of evidence corroberatating each other regarding the offence of excess speed.
1-Two officers in the car who both estimate your speed (no Speedo check required)
2-one officer and a Speedo (will need to check accuracy of Speedo after, and this should be in their evidence)
They dont need to stop you to report you.

lanthanum · 31/01/2023 12:34

They sometimes follow people who are speeding as a precaution - in case it turns out they're also drunk and/or going to continue speeding in a more built-up area. A colleague got followed home, and they asked him "do you know what speed you were doing?", and he admitted that he knew he'd been doing 80 on the straight stretch between villages. They just told him not to do it again.

I was a passenger in a car that got stopped for driving without lights. We'd been entirely on well-lit roads and it wasn't completely dark, so he'd just forgotten the lights. They weren't interested in ticketing him - they just had enough conversation with him to establish that he was completely sober and had just forgotten the lights.

HappyAsASandboy · 31/01/2023 13:40

If you are issued a speeding ticket, it is unlikely you'll be offered a course instead of points/fine.

I was recently caught speeding (and have been offered a course). There is a table on the back of the initial letter that says the police can offer a course if;

You haven't done a course in the last 3 years
You have provided your name and drivers licence number when requested
You have time to complete the course within 4 months of the offence
and
The offending speed was no more than;
31 in a 20mph zone
42 in a 30mph zone
53 in a 40mph zone
64 in a 50mph zone
75 in a 60mph zone
86 in a 70mph zone

So at the speed you were going, a ticket could only lead to points plus fine (or court, but I think that's unlikely).

acrimoniousone · 31/01/2023 14:05

3kidswouldfinishanyoneoff · 31/01/2023 07:08

No comments about the police who were driving behind you doing the same speed.

If course there'll be posters on to say they're allowed, and of course they were trying to keep up with you blah d blah.

Every single driver on this thread has been guilty of speeding at one time or another.

Maybe I'm misunderstanding but are you suggesting some of the only people actually allowed to drive at 80 in a 60, who have training, experience and constant supervision, should not do when they have been presented with an opportunity to identify a persistent offender?

OP may well get away with her offence but police can and do prosecute speeding based on video evidence collected by cars even technically on another job. Forces now welcome the upload of dashcam footage showing dangerous driving and again prosecute if it's good enough to clearly identify registration numbers.

There's a good summary here.

"A total of 32,370 pieces of footage were received by 24 police forces that accept video evidence of driving offences from members of the public, double the number recorded in 2018 (15,159).

Data from the RAC’s freedom of information request also shows that a quarter of these (25 per cent – 8148) went on to result in prosecutions.

Police forces, according to the RAC’s study, are making it increasingly easy for drivers and other road users to submit camera footage of unsuspecting alleged rule-breakers, with all of Britain’s 44 forces now accepting dash cam video, and the vast majority online via their websites."

"...revealed that more than half of the videos uploaded to its safety portal have resulted in further police action. Favoured by police for saving an average of eight hours per case, Nextbase says its platform had saved these forces at least 170,000 hours.

The footage submitted to police related to the following offences: dangerous driving, careless driving/driving without due care and attention, driving too close to cyclists, contravening red traffic lights, contravening double white lines, contravening ‘no entry’ signs, illegal use of a handheld mobile phone and evidence of vehicles apparently without MOTs.

RAC road safety spokesman Simon Williams said: “Even before the decline in the number of roads police enforcing traffic offences, law-abiding drivers were often frustrated that there was never an officer there to deal with infringements they witnessed.”

As so many drivers and cyclists are now using dash cams and helmet cameras every road user needs to be very conscious that any of their actions that aren’t in accordance with the law could end up with the police. Some will inevitably find this out the hard way while others will hopefully become increasingly mindful of it.

Times are changing for smug speeders, close passers and other shitty drivers with GoPro helping rebalance things for vulnerable road users. There are people on YouTube making a good living out of getting people prosecuted, with only a helmet camera.

Oblomov22 · 31/01/2023 14:11

I have Speed limit on steering wheel, but better still it being automatic is what I'd like.

Sugarplumfairy65 · 31/01/2023 14:13

GooseberryCinnamonYogurt · 31/01/2023 07:03

Of course I knew there was a car behind me, but when it's dark you can't tell what colour it is because of the headlights facing you. It was only when we got to nearish home with lots of streetlights I saw it was yellow and blue.

And I do not believe that any of you have never ever broken the speed limit^
^
Exactly OP - there are a lot of righteous drivers, who I guess have never driven 40 in a 30 for example.

I never have. My older brother was killed by a speeding driver when I was a child.
I've been driving for 40 years now. Also passed an advanced driving test.
Never had a speeding ticket, never had an accident.
Spent many years driving all over the country for work. It really isn't difficult

GoodChat · 31/01/2023 14:20

Oblomov22 · 31/01/2023 14:11

I have Speed limit on steering wheel, but better still it being automatic is what I'd like.

All new cars have to have speed limiters now I think

Oblomov22 · 31/01/2023 14:25

Do they? I'd like it if they just automatically adjusted, the driving, from 30 to 40, down to 20, back to 30. I want that.

GoodChat · 31/01/2023 14:26

Oblomov22 · 31/01/2023 14:25

Do they? I'd like it if they just automatically adjusted, the driving, from 30 to 40, down to 20, back to 30. I want that.

Here you go Smile www.autotrader.co.uk/content/news/mandatory-speed-limiters-on-uk-cars-from-2022

itsgettingweird · 31/01/2023 16:10

I can't condone what you did and you know it was stupid and dangerous.

However my ds has always assured me that only traffic officers can deal with traffic offences - despite what you say I honestly don't speed so I've never actually out that theory to the test!

You you may or may not be ok. You'll have to wait and see.

But hopefully whatever the outcome the anxiety you have over being caught will stop you taking the risks in future?

GoodChat · 31/01/2023 16:11

However my ds has always assured me that only traffic officers can deal with traffic offences

That's clearly not true

WestBridgewater · 31/01/2023 16:18

However my ds has always assured me that only traffic officers can deal with traffic offences - despite what you say I honestly don't speed so I've never actually out that theory to the test!

www.itv.com/news/anglia/2020-08-06/top-cop-strikes-again-as-he-stops-another-speeding-motorist

our chief constable is known for pulling over the occasional speeding motorist and I wouldn’t say he’d be classed as a traffic officer.

ChiefWiggumsBoy · 31/01/2023 16:30

Why do so many women freak out about this? If you get a ticket you get a ticket. Deal with it when it happens. You don’t need to flagellate yourself in front of the mumsnet jury as well.

DixonD · 31/01/2023 18:35

TheObstinateHeadstrongGirl · 31/01/2023 01:03

And I was going 90 in a 60 that night I was followed 😬

Well done 👍🏻 🙄

DixonD · 31/01/2023 18:37

speedy49 · 31/01/2023 01:24

Of course I knew there was a car behind me, but when it's dark you can't tell what colour it is because of the headlights facing you. It was only when we got to nearish home with lots of streetlights I saw it was yellow and blue.

And I do not believe that any of you have never ever broken the speed limit

By 20mph?!! You not only broke the speed limit for that road, you broke the NATIONAL speed limit. You deserve a ticket. And a ban.

ReneBumsWombats · 31/01/2023 18:39

ChiefWiggumsBoy · 31/01/2023 16:30

Why do so many women freak out about this? If you get a ticket you get a ticket. Deal with it when it happens. You don’t need to flagellate yourself in front of the mumsnet jury as well.

Is it just a ticket when you're 20 mph over?

Hellsmovie · 31/01/2023 18:43

ChiefWiggumsBoy · 31/01/2023 16:30

Why do so many women freak out about this? If you get a ticket you get a ticket. Deal with it when it happens. You don’t need to flagellate yourself in front of the mumsnet jury as well.

100% this . People speed ,sometimes people get caught. 99% of the time it's no big deal.

Take what ever punishment you get hopefully just a course , but I dont think anything will come of it

Hellsmovie · 31/01/2023 18:44

An indicated 20mph over. Probably closer to 70mph then 80mph

Hellsmovie · 31/01/2023 18:46

@ReneBumsWombats that last post was for you

itsgettingweird · 31/01/2023 20:12

GoodChat · 31/01/2023 16:11

However my ds has always assured me that only traffic officers can deal with traffic offences

That's clearly not true

Really? He's such a dint of all knowledge I really must tell him that's not true 🤣🤣

ReneBumsWombats · 31/01/2023 20:14

Hellsmovie · 31/01/2023 18:46

@ReneBumsWombats that last post was for you

Thank you. Still, I'm curious. At what point does the excess speed cause more than a speed awareness course/points/fine?

helloelsie · 31/01/2023 20:18

80 in a 60 is OBSCENE

helloelsie · 31/01/2023 20:19

Have you any idea about the stopping distances required
You need to be banned and taken off the road before you put someone 6ft under

helloelsie · 31/01/2023 20:22

The worst bit is you're more worried about the folk here giving you a bashing and the fact you may have been caught rather than the utterly reckless driving behaviour you've exhibited.

Plenty of people have lost loved ones needlessly to stupid careless and reckless drivers.

You should be ashamed of yourself.

ChiefWiggumsBoy · 31/01/2023 20:24

ReneBumsWombats · 31/01/2023 18:39

Is it just a ticket when you're 20 mph over?

Does it matter either way? There's literally not a single thing anyone on here can do or say that will change things. I don't understand this willingness to come on here and act like some pathetic damsel in distress, especially when it's a problem entirely of your own making.

Swipe left for the next trending thread