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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

to be annoyed by this police car

33 replies

stoppingat3 · 21/07/2009 13:13

Driving along the M25 this morning at about 7.00am, very busy stretch of road that by some miracle was doing ok.
Everyone was travelling along at about 80 mph.
We come around the corner and there is a police car that is driving at the same sort of speed, maybe a bit slower, It then starts to speed up (so do we) and then move between the lanes telling everyone via a flashing message that the limit was 70.
Now I know that is the limit, I have passed my test and I am sure that I will get the response that its against the law to go faster (I get thatm I'm a lawyer) but this is a very busy stretch of road that was behaving well but within minutes there was a clog of people behind us sticking to 70.
I know its not the most annoying thing in the world but just wanted to vent at the jobsworthy nature of the two policepeople in the car!

OP posts:

mumOfTheYearNOT · 21/07/2009 13:40

Two police people enforcing the law.

What has the world come to?

edam · 21/07/2009 13:42

I'm with MOTYN - nowt jobsworthy about it.

NormaSknockers · 21/07/2009 13:49

I'm sorry, but what do you expect?

It's their job

Original poster

stoppingat3 · 21/07/2009 13:51

I know I know, it was just the speeding up and then slowing down that was most annoying
I'd also rather they were on the streets providing a more (imo) useful service!

OP posts:

sweetnitanitro · 21/07/2009 14:01

Lots of people die on the roads due to driver errors, how is policing the roads not useful? I wish they would do it on the motorway near me!

NormaSknockers · 21/07/2009 14:19

But they are stopping the police you would have seen today would have (more then likely been) Traffic Police so they were doing their job whilst the community police etc were doing thier job policing the streets.

difficultdecision · 21/07/2009 15:22

I'm sure you would have been overjoyed if instead they had pulled each and every lawbreaker over to the side of the road instead

Momdeguerre · 21/07/2009 16:22

YABU. Can't pick and choose what laws you think should be obeyed or when they are enforced.

Like PP said - they most likely traffic officers who would not be able to perform their motorway patrol while 'walking the beat'.

FairLadyRantALot · 21/07/2009 16:27

op...I'd say you all had a lucky escape and should be greatful they didn't pull the lot of you over....not sure what you are annoyed about...

tis always funny the ones complaining about a law being enforced are the ones that break it in the first place...if people could just behave and obey speedlimits and such, we wouldn't need anyone enforcing anything!

ExpositionDesMains · 21/07/2009 16:29

Quick, quick, phone the Daily Hate Mail. Police traffic officer does job. How dare they?

Where did you qualify btw? You know, to be a lawyer? Because you seem to have failed to grasp the basics. You understand there are laws but do not like them being enforced. Well I'd love to see you at work.

ExpositionDesMains · 21/07/2009 16:31

I've just stabbed dh OP. Whilst I understand it's illegal, he was annoying me. Will you represent me?

hercules1 · 21/07/2009 16:33

Damn those traffic police enforcing the 70mph limit. How very dare they!

Stayingsunnygirl · 21/07/2009 16:35

Ohh FairLadyRantALot - you are sooo right. It always amuses me when people claim that speed cameras are revenue-earning tricks by the police - to which my answer is that there is an easy and entirely legal way to thwart this so-called conspiracy - obeying the speed limit!!!

If someone exceeds the speed limit, or parks somewhere they know they shouldn't, then they shouldn't whinge when they get punished for it!!

That said, I do think that there is a case for changing some of the speed limits on the motorways - perhaps by increasing the speed limit but using variable limits to respond to changes in weather or traffic conditions.

But until that's done, I'll do my best to stick to the speed limits, and if I do exceed them, I'll pay up without moaning.

Sorry - rant over.

lockets · 21/07/2009 16:37

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

Paolosgirl · 21/07/2009 16:37

Someone's a-stirring, methinks. Obviously a quiet day on the legal front.

Yawnnnnnn...

FlappyTheBat · 21/07/2009 16:45

Have you ever been in a high speed motorway crash, where a driver thought the rules of the road didn't apply to him?

We have speed limits for a reason, not to annoy people.

I'm sure the traffic police would much rather be doing this than picking up bits of a body from a motorway or knocking on somone's door informing them that their loved one wouldn't be coming home today as some idiot was speeding.

Lawyers aren't above the law, despite what HRH Honorary Barrister might have insinuated recently.

mayorquimby · 21/07/2009 16:49

"Ohh FairLadyRantALot - you are sooo right. It always amuses me when people claim that speed cameras are revenue-earning tricks by the police - to which my answer is that there is an easy and entirely legal way to thwart this so-called conspiracy - obeying the speed limit!!!"

i know what you mean but speed cameras do actually annoy me because the authorities (over here in ireland anyway) dress it up as an effort in road safety/save lives. but in reality they put them on high volume roads with low traffic accidents and virtually no fatalities (thinking the stillorgan dual carraigeway) because they'll make more money than putting them on dangerous country roads with blind turns and with a high ratio of cars to fatalities because obviously they'll make no cash.
i'm not a speeder so it's not getting fined/points that annoy me and my respinse to anyone who gets them is exactly the same as yours i.e. cop on,don't speed and don't break the law and then they can't fine you or give you points.so don't complain that you got caught breaking the law.
what annoys me is the faux-concern and lip-service that it's to save lives. if they were up-front and just said we're going to nail people with fines because it'll make money and mkae these twunts think twice about speeding.
but in reality people know you can speed anywhere once you're not on a main road and thats where the majority of accidents occur.

BitOfFun · 21/07/2009 16:51

Aren't traffic patrol police responsible (kinda) for pile-ups etc though? Everytime I see traffic all squished up after everyone's been merrily chugging along no problem, it's because someone's spotted a cop car and slams on so they don't get nicked. It's more dangerous than just driving the way you were usually.

GiraffesCanRunA10k · 21/07/2009 16:58

YANBU - everyone should always drive 10mph above the speed limit, its fine

Stayingsunnygirl · 21/07/2009 16:58

It's more than that, mayorquimby - if a speed camera does not catch any speeders and results in no fines, there is no reason to keep it there any more, and it should be removed. So it ought to be possible to get rid of all speed cameras by rendering them useless by not speeding. Dastardly huh.

sweetnitanitro · 21/07/2009 16:58

I personally don't think speed cameras are effective enough and would rather see more police on the road. Having visible police presence on the roads tends to stop people from doing idiotic things like tailgaiting, cutting people off etc., speed cameras just stop people from speeding (for the brief moment it takes to go over the white lines anyway)

I do think speed cameras are a good idea in residential areas where the speed limit is 30mph though.

JandLandG · 21/07/2009 17:14

driving in the middle lane of a motorway whilst not overtaking is a cause of massive frustration and no doubt accidents.

driving at 80 isn't.

unless it's raining or foggy.

when there are bad conditions, the kind of people who drive in the middle lane of a motorway whilst not overtaking are still doing 70 anyway.

police acting as described are being a total pita and only causing pointless frustration.

FlappyTheBat · 21/07/2009 17:20

If people travelled at the speed limit and left the proper braking distance between them and the car in front, then the scenario outlined by BOF wouldn't happen.

That happens because people know that they are breaking the law and don't want to get caught.

Almost 2 years since someone went into the back of our car on the motorway. Traffic came a sudden standstill, not thanks to a police car but someone who pulled out into the fast lane , causing all the cars behind to brake heavily.

I suffered permanent injuries, so now reminded every day of how poor driving can affect lives.

Original poster

stoppingat3 · 21/07/2009 17:34

I'm back and dear god what a response.
No not a stirrer having a quiet day on the legal front, simply a part time worker full time mum going to get the children.
The point I was trying and obviously failing to make was that the drivers of the car (don't believe it to be traffic police but may have been - it wasn't on the car) were pulling in and out of lanes to allow the traffic to come up behind it and then pull out with their sign. It seemed to me that they were baiting th traffic before coming out.
In actual fact I wasn't one of the cars they did this too, it just annoyed me that by doing this they were starting to cause a tailback on one of the busiest roads in the country.
People don't stick to the speed limits, I see that everyday especially on motorways. It is more important IMO to drive sensibly at a safe distance, which we were all doing beforehand.

OP posts:

sarah293 · 21/07/2009 17:37

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

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