I just got pulled over for doing 32 in a 30

[dialdrunkforyou]

I’m shaking as I write this. I just drove out to walk the dogs and on my way back a police car pulled me over. I was doing 32 in a 30 and he said I was “lucky” that he’s not choosing to prosecute me over this.

AIBU or is this total overkill? It’s a dry sunny day, the roads are relatively quiet and I wasn’t driving erratically.

And if you're walking everywhere then you would be very glad that the police are so picky. A small amount of speed can make a big difference to human outcomes.

Several wrongs don't make a right.

In the case of drink and drug driving, I would never let anyone caught ever have a licence again, and suspension would start immediately. Viewing it in a way as a medical issue.

I’d like to see official correspondence relating to these posters claiming that they were offered courses or prosecuted for 32 in a 30. I’ve asked many times and strangely no one has ever presented anything.

You can keep repeating yourself all you like, it doesn't make it true.

You can be prosecuted for going 1mph over the limit (although admittedly that's incredibly unlikely). There are multiple posters on here who have been prosecuted for going at 32 in a 30 - and who have received points and fines because of it. It does happen.

You wouldn't even fail your driving test for 32mph in a 30 zone

Clearly it depends on the area you live/speed in and possibly the mood of the police officer that day! Last time I was caught speeding I was sent on a speed awareness course and practically everyone attending had been doing 35mph or so in a 30 zone. The LA allowed 10% tolerance on speedometers plus a little more at discretion so seemed to us anything 35mph and under in a 30mph zone would go unpunished! Not saying speeding is acceptable just it varies as to what police will act on and seems the OP was a bit unlucky.

Meh, what does it matter, since nothing came of it? The police once pulled me over because I had forgotten to put my lights on as it was turning dusk. They said I should put them on, I did. Thought no more about it, can't say it was "shaking" territory!

I don't think they were out of line, but can well believe they are selective, and the make of car could be a factor.

And to stick to the speed limit.
Is what you are taught to do.

Look, I don’t think it is the crime of the century, but you are either over the limit or you are not.

Stop the defensive whataboutery, Admit that you were over the speed limit, (which is the same when going downhill FFS) and shrug. You didn’t get a find, or a caution, or anything on your record.

So, so what?

Does your car not have brakes?

If the speed limit was 32 that’s what the sign would say.

So do you think a bunch of random strangers are lying to you?

Since many speedo's read over it would be reasonable for the copper to assume that OPs speedo was reading 35-36 which implies she didn't care about the 30 limit. So she got a little 'free' reminder that 30 means 30.

Some police cars have calibrated speedo's so if he paced her he might have gotten a reading from that.

A speed limit is a speed limit. We cannot choose to say that - well - 30 really means 32. That's crazy.
If it says 30, it means 30.

Shaking 🤦‍♀️🤣

I’ve been on a couple of speed awareness courses and when they tell you the stats of how even a few mile an hour can be the difference between killing and hurting a child, you’ll realise that you need to be really on top of your speed in residential areas. Ironic that I’ve been done twice for speeding, but it wasn’t at the lower end of the speed scale in my instance! Also they tend not to prosecute at 32 only at 33 from a 30 mile an hour zone, that said, they can prosecute at anything over 30 in a 30 zone. You were lucky.

You are supposed to be aware of what's happening behind you as well as the road in front and you never spotted the police car (on a quiet empty road)? You were given a warning so you'll be more careful in future and less likely to get points on your licence/fined/injured in an accident. Lots of drunks and drug dealers are cavalier about road safety so traffic police duties are not less important.

Haven't the police got anything better to do? I'm not a fan of speeding - speed limits are there for a reason. But 32 in a 30mph is barely noticeable and a waste of police time and money.

I thought there was 10% leeway?
This seems odd.

You can take it as a percentage violation. If you're really doing 32 in a 30, 10% of 30 is 3, so you're almost 10% over. That would mean clearly over the limit. If it's a 30 limit, they're clearly not going to be saying, turn a blind eye unless they're going 70mph. I drive in London and the limit is 20. So I drive anywhere between 18 and 20. But never over 20. I don't even need to worry about cops; they have that many speed cameras. But yeah, stick to the limit.

On a better note, the cop can't "prosecute" you for speeding that tiny amount. They can just process you as a speeder, which means you'd either get points on your license, or you'd have a chance to get no points, and go on that speed awareness course. But nobody is going to prison. And you won't ever see the inside of a police station.

OP I think you’ve picked up on something here.

The official policy (although application is discretionary) is that the police only charge you if you exceed the ‘10% + 2mph’ rule. So in your case, it was a 30mph zone so add 3mph (10%) and another 2mph and that means that it’s 35mph where enforcement action normally begins. Thats because speedometers aren’t always accurate, speed readings aren’t accurate always and for fairness in application.

I think you were left shaken because that officer was being very heavy handed in tone, even if he could in theory have prosecuted you (although it goes against the discretionary policy as mentioned).

He could argue he was doing it for deterrence - to ensure you don’t speed in future and therefore leaving you a bit shaken was the intention. But it personally doesn’t pass the vibe check for me… do we think he would have done this to a man? Or if he would, would he have spoken to him in this same patronising / naught schoolgirl way that was intended to leave you feeling ashamed/shaken? Call me crazy, but I get weirdo authoritarian and dominance vibes from this

Yes I do. I even offered to pay one person’s fine if they could show me something and nothing materialised.

Only the fact it would have prompted him to actually give the fine would have stopped me from laughing in his face 🙄
Utterly pathetic that they have enough resources to pull you over for 2 mph over the speed limit but not to actually show up when a crime has been committed, ie burglary -here's a crime number because we can't be arsed to attend.

Speeding is speeding regardless of the weather etc . 30 is a built up area (people, hazards etc) I was caught 33 in a 30 and got points once.
You are lucky they let you off with a warning
Just learn from it

This can’t be true as it’s illegal

I went to court myself when I was caught doing 5.5 miles over the limit on a dual-carriageway that later becomes a motorway. It was pitch-black and I thought I was already on the motorway part which was very very close by.
The police who "caught" me were positioned in a car just before the point at which the speed limit goes up again.
I got off.

The two policemen were dicks shooting pigs in a barrel instead of doing something useful.