Pulled over by the police with blue lights flashing because I BEEPED at them!

[BeepedAtPoliceCar]

Long but I've tried to make it easy to read!

Tonight, I dropped DS at work and on the way back had just started moving off from a large roundabout to go straight across it. It was 7pm and the road is an A road, not a residential area.

I had noticed a police car coming down from the opposite side of the roundabout (no lights flashing) and assumed it was going straight across as it had no indicators but it turned right towards me so I had to stop.

As I moved onto the roundabout after it passed me. I beeped. A short tap to say where the hell are you going. I had also had to stop. I was moving when I beeped. This is important.

I assumed it was going to take the same exit as me but it It then continued round the roundabout again. Still no indication. So I did another short beep. The direction he was going in was to our local police station about 2 minutes down the road.

Yes it was in frustration as there are many idiots who don't indicate in my area and I've had many near misses. It's pretty shit the police are driving like that as well and it was also a hazard to other road users.

Maybe the driver wasn't aware his indicators weren't working?

Anyway I drive on but see in the my rear mirror a police car speeding up the road behind me, lights flashing, in the bus lane. The speed limit is 40 and I was doing that so he must have been doing 60 at least as he caught up with me in seconds.

I immediately knew he was coming after me.

The car came alongside me and the driver wound his window down, as did I, and shouted at me to pull over now, pull over now. He looked apoplectic with rage!

I pulled over in front of him in the bus lane and he drove behind me, bumper to bumper. I have never been stopped by the police before and got out of my car to go to speak to him (oops lucky it wasn't in the US!).

He's screaming get back in your car now, get back in your car now!

So I get back in and luckily had the presence of mind to start videoing on my phone as he came over. I asked for him name and badge number which he fired off so fast I couldn't catch it. He refused to repeat it. Refused to tell me which police station he was stationed at. He said I had contravened the highway code for beeping inappropriately and would be getting a penalty ticket.

I admit I was a bit argumentative (not rude) and said he only stopped me because he was pissed off I beeped at him and the police should know better.

He then said they were looking for a 'criminal' and were on police business so didn't have to indicate (no lights except when they came for me!) and they also didn't know where they were going. He also said he didn't need to indicate unless he was exiting the roundabout.

I asked him why if he was looking for a criminal, he decided to go after someone who beeped at him for not indicating.

He said I was stationery when I beeped so that is a road traffic contravention. I was moving so I asked him why he was lying. He then stated he'd need to do drug and alcohol tests.

I asked if he was joking and what basis did he have to suspect I was driving under the influence. He said because my behaviour - beeping at him - was 'bizarre' and I was driving dangerously, then asked if I was refusing? So I had to do them. They were clear obviously.

I said I would be making a complaint as I believed he was abusing his power because he was pissed off I beeped at him and 'how dare he bully members of the public'.

He then said MOVE NOW because I was in an active lane (bus lane where he forced me to stop) and if I didn't move now I'd get another ticket for failing to comply with an instruction from a police officer. I said 'who do you think you're talking to'.

I was very WTF and asked him to repeat the law I had broken and told him to give me the ticket so I could challenge it in court, so he said he did and I would get it in the post.

Two tickets - £130 and 3 points.

I then drove off. He didn't come behind me so I can only assume he went back round the next roundabout in the direction of the police station and the looking for a criminal was rubbish. In fact he said it so sarcastically, I think he meant looking for someone to book!

I have video of most of the interaction and he comes across very bullish and rude, especially when he was shouting at me to 'move now'. Literally no more than a minute until I did but he still said he had given me a ticket.

I did tell him I was putting the video on TikTok and would be making a complaint.
Quite shocked about this, and on reading about challenging the tickets in court, it seems that you can end up with a criminal conviction if you lose!

The lie about me being stationery when I beeped (which I have on video) should be easily disproven by their dashcam. Would they have to give me this if I challenge it?

Sadly I don't have my own. I ordered one ages ago, kept forgetting to set it up and it was on top of the bookcase at home!

WIBU?

"As I moved onto the roundabout after it passed me."
OP did not move onto the roundabout until after the police car had driven past her. The police car was on the roundabout first so it had right of way. I'm not sure what you are imagining here. OP stopping on the roundabout? Stopping after she had left the roundabout? How would roundabouts work if neither car had right of way?

Picking a fight with the police, what a smart move, you're not remotely outgunned there, are you 🤪

Nothing you have typed there makes me wrong. The police car was already on the roundabout. It had right of way. If she had driven onto the roundabout and it had hit her, she would have been 100% at fault as she would have entered when it wasn't clear. And it had passed her when she beeped "As I moved onto the roundabout after it passed me. I beeped. A short tap to say where the hell are you going".

I was going to ask if OP put it on Tiktok.

It's a 'thing' on there where people have obviously done something to wind up Police Officers, are then rude, non-compliant and just arseholes then put it on Tiktok to state Police are the arseholes.

Yes I know, thats why the OP stopped her travel - that part is at the start of their post.

The difference is that the OP was already in motion, the police car failed to signal and its the good sense of the OP that made them stop when likely realising that the offending police car, without signalling, was proceeding.

Context, which you have either forgotten or omitted is relevant here. No point posting the second part of the OP's comment if you miss out the very first part of their remarks.

Unsurprising that the general public have a low value/trust/opinion in the police when they think they are a law unto themselves - and none are worse than when it comes to some of their driving/parking attitudes for which they would not hesitate to admonish ordinary motorists for if they did the same.

Animal Farm and all that springs to mind.

Yep, PrikTok. A platform for morons like the OP to feel validated and join in the ridicule of our police force. The majority of the force put public safety first, so next time they’re on a motorway without indicating because you think they should, have a word with yourself before filming them.

I don't understand your point. Why does the fact that the OP had started to move change whose right of way it was? The police car was already on the roundabout therefore it wasn't safe for OP to proceed. If the police car wasn't signalling then they weren't indicating their intention to leave the roundabout so she should have waited until she was sure that's what they were doing (which they obviously weren't) before moving. She didn't do that. She assumed she knew where they were going and started to pull out. Then she had the "good sense" to stop when she realised that she would cause a collision if she continued to drive into the path of another vehicle that had right of way over her.

I may be interpreting the OP's post wrong, but from what I can discern from their post, both were on the roundabout at the same time (hence OP's remarks about her being in motion and then having to stop).

If so, then if it was unsafe for the OP to move, its not any safer for the police car either which should have seen the OPs car moving too.

Maybe the OP can come back and clear that up.

OP wants to argue the toss with him.

He then said MOVE NOW because I was in an active lane (bus lane where he forced me to stop) and if I didn't move now I'd get another ticket for failing to comply with an instruction from a police officer. I said 'who do you think you're talking to'.

All very "do you know who I am?"

its the good sense of the OP

At absolutely no point did the OP demonstrate "good sense".

They were on a roundabout approaching from her right. She absolutely had to give way to them.

by beeping at them she highlighted that she almost pulled out in front of them and stupidly blames them for her error.

Because a lot of them are power hungry and like to " show whose boss"

And woe betide anyone who might beep at them

Double standards, they can drive how they like but hate it if anyone criticizes it

However looks like you failed the" attitude" tests which is why they carried on hassling you

She states that she moved onto the roundabout after the police car passed her. If they were both on he roundabout at the same time, having approached from opposite directions, then they could both have carried on their way without either of them needing to stop.

You are daft - why beep at the police fgs??
I personally I think they have a hell of a job and have bad days - just like you from the sound of it!!
Also I’m always polite and agreeable to staff at airports even if I think they’re being rude and/or unreasonable - there are some arguments you just can’t win…. especially abroad!!

Do we know she did that? I understood that she stopped. But maybe you are right. Either way, she’s hopefully learnt to keep her cool when irritated.

You're making things up in your own head about an incident you weren't present at involving a total stranger, which is bizarre behaviour in itself, and you have the audacity to accuse me of being mentally ill in your later post!

To set the scene, my town was designed with lots of roundabouts and, originally dual carriageways, running parallel around the town. One lane of these was turned into bus lanes around 15 years ago. So we have long, straight wide roads which border large grassed areas with tree borders to screen residential areas. The speed limit is 40mph, at every mile there are large 2 lane roundabouts for turning into residential areas.

The stretch I was driving on after the beeping incident was 1.2 miles long to the next roundabout, the gradient was uphill and there was no traffic behind me.

I saw a police car with flashing lights in my rear view mirror coming up behind me in the bus lane while it was still some distance back. I immediately thought 'you've got be joking, they're not chasing me for that' but I didn't know for certain they were coming after me until they pulled up alongside me in the bus lane and shouted at me to pull over and pointed for me to get in front of them in the bus lane. They then pulled up closer bumper to bumper.

So i didn't ignore the flashing lights or chose to pull over in a bus lane.

I was at the end of the bus lane so at the end of the 1.2 stretch of road just before the next roundabout.

According to AI they must have been driving at least 75 mph to catch up with me after circling the roundabout again. This is also unprofessional conduct as the police have to have a valid reason, such as public safety, for a high speed pursuit. I've added that into my complaint.

That cop is going to get his ass kicked. Make no bones about it!

Hopefully the cop will too when he's facing a disciplinary panel.

Or maybe she is "just" a woman sick to the back teeth of men acting like Billy Big Balls and trying to 'keep the little woman in her place'

Or perhaps they had just come from a horrific murder scene, or going to give a parent the worst news they will ever hear.

The Op’s still deluded.

Do you have some sort of issue where you look for confrontation and arguments? I dont know how else to ask. This attitude really isnt normal. It reminds me of the people who deliberately antagonise people in public to get a reaction for the camera and 'likes' on social media.

Are you joking? The fact that you beeped at him TWICE then threatened him by “putting this on TikTok”…. I’d have booked you as well. You sound so entitled and I honestly hope you’re case is upheld and you get a criminal conviction because I can almost promise you, your driving will be worst than theirs and your attitude stinks.

Your behaviour seems dysregulated and your triumphant spike of joy over getting 'professional standards' involved over this infraction is inappropriate and extreme. Just because you can do something, doesn't mean you should. The beeping twice did not seem defensible to me and you should have followed instructions.

I cannot imagine why you thought this was OK to do. Your entitled attitude is absolutely awful and really you ought to be ashamed of yourself instead of whooping yourself up into a frenzy about threatening to post it on TikTok. What on earth has the world come to?

And I was saying it's good if they stop all the stupid hornhonkers.