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 you bet your licence on that ?

32 in a 30 zone = 'thinks she's Stirling Moss'
🤣🤣🤣

I have done over the speed limit - adjusting my limiter from 40 to 30 I was snapped doing 33.

Did my SAC, Realised how many fucking numpties there are out there and made sure my next 4 cars all had a speed limiter at the cost of a cup holder.

It was not bolllocks for most of my driving life of 45 years. It was fact. If you search well enough you'll find references to Chief of Police statements where they say that henceforward there will be no leeway.

If a SAC is an instructor, what else would you expect them to say? I've sat in court fining and allocating points for speeding offences, I have friends who've been done for speeding and a husband who's been caught, and in Cheshire I never saw anyone charged for doing less than 10% + 2 miles over the speed limit.

I suspect you are young enough not to remember when speedos were pretty inaccurate, as were hand held and mobile speed detectors, and the leeway was only fair.

This comment has cracked me up to be fair, Stirling moss for 2mph over 🤣

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

😂😂😂

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.

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

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 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

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.

Shaking? Seriously?

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

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.

@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.

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

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!

2mph.

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.

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'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.

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.

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.

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.

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.