Pulled for speeding, but I wasn't speeding. What can I do?

Got pulled over by two policewomen at 05.30 on Sunday morning. I was working. They were behind me for a while, I knew they were there, I was fully conscious of my speed. She had her ticket out even before I got into their car. She was a cow with a bad attitude. She said I was doing 35 in a 30, I know for a fact I wasn’t. My speedo needle was below the 35mph mark, speedos are slighly over calibrated. Basically it’s their word against mine. I have absolutely no idea what their agenda was. The cab is auto so pulls away quickly at traffic lights so maybe they objected to me being in front of them, it had happened a couple of times and by the third traffic lights she shot away from the lights and swerved and nearly hit the kerb. Every policeman I have ever spoken to has always been fine, no idea why this woman had such a bad attitude.

Can I and is it worth me appealing?

Period! and Yes … unless they have some kind of video proof???

yes
they need evidence. their word is not good enough.

Fairly sure that they can’t prosecute for speeding without a calibrated device. If they can’t verify your speed, then the best they can hope for is reckless driving or driving without due care and attention – or something along those lines. Was it a traffic car? I’d be inclined to challenge the ticket and ask for proof.

So you had the police behind you but still travelled over an indicated 30 mph according to your speedo? Brave.

Could it be they use their speedo as gospel, and if you were over 30 but below 35 theirs could of been showing 35?

Can I and is it worth me appealing?

If you mean appealing to the police as opposed to opting to go to court, then it might be. I have known of tickets issued by over zealous constables cancelled by less zealous sergeants and inspectors.

they need evidence. their word is not good enough.

Their account of what happened – their ‘word’ – is the evidence. Evidence that can be led and tested in court, and may or may not be sufficient to prove the charge.

I’d be very surprised if they don’t have evidence, there’s an awful lot of tech in police cars these days. Good luck.

Did you accept the ticket? Did you not ask questions? Did they show you how they measured your speed?

I would register your complaint at the station pronto, maybe she was having a bad day and others felt her wrath as well.

Then again, maybe your speedo is fecked.

don’t get arsey. Just write a nice letter saying that you suspect that they may have made a mistake and ask for details of the device that made the recording of your speed. I would guess that it would be recorded, as I would assume that nowadays just an observation is not enough.
What I wouldn’t rely on is your speedo. Do you 100% know that yours is over reading? My newish Suzuki does by 5%, the year old Skoda does by 7% but the 30 year old Landrover is spot on at 30mph. Been checked by the law at just that.

If you were between 30 and 35 on you speedo I’m not sure what you are hoping for

My speedo is digital and exactly matches the GPs. I think the “speedo exaggerates” idea isn’t true

This thread suggest that 2 officers in the car is suffecient proof

http://www.rac.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?1403-Police-Speeding-Evidence

In some ways I’m quite sympathetic as I was well hacked off when I got caught be a camera. Buy on the othr hand you don’t deny speeding

Oddly our 30 year old campervan also reads spot on (according to GPS speed admittedly). As for “the speedo over reads so I have some leeway” seems a bit of a gamble, especially if your livelihood depends on it! Does seem harsh though…

Most speedos are spot on or very nearly so at 30mph. The error increases with the speed.

If the limit is 30 but you chose to drive at just under 35 that does qualify as driving over the speed limit. Can’t understand why you’d assume they would be ok with it. Suck it up chap!

So you accept you were probably exceeding the speed limit a bit but want to go to court to quibble about by how much?

Can’t see it ending well.

Are you sure they weren’t strippers?

It’s probably true that speedos are over calibrated by up to 10%. I doubt very many are that high. Mine reads about 31 at 30mph.

At 5.30 on a Sunday morning all decent law abiding people are at home tucked up in bed.

butcher – Member
It’s probably true that speedos are over calibrated by up to 10%. I doubt very many are that high. Mine reads about 31 at 30mph.

My Puma speedo was, and I could check that with a digital speedo where the trip odo normally is.
My Octavia is not far off, checked against GPS.

Based on various roadside sped alert signs, my old 20 year old Saab used to be pretty well spot on in the 30mph range, as far as I could tell. The much newer Octavia is less accurate – if the sign says 32mph, the speedo will (as best I can tell) be reading 34mph or even 35mph.

Hmm, more to this i think:

You said “she was a cow with a bad attitude” which makes me think you probably dug yourself a hole you couldn’t get out of.

You said “the cab is an auto so it accelerates fast off traffic lights”, which is b*llocks mate. Creep on an auto car is around 3 to 5mph. That isn’t fast. If you booted off the lights and didn’t notice the cops behind you, well, look better next time

You knew there was a cop car behind you and you still exceeded 30mph. Bad move.

Also, give the cops a break. For all you know they had just been scrapping the remains of some poor soul off the tarmac 5min before you raced off infront of them……..

Faster you go the more they are out. 70 could be 67 ect. 30 will be close to 30 if you have the correct wheel tyre combo.

My point is that I definitely wasn’t doing 35 in a 30. I was doing 33 at best, in the knowledge that 33 and below will not incur a ticket. I have to produce my license, should I raise the issue then?

If It means that the speedo in the cab is slightly out, how do I argue that?

If It means that the speedo in the cab is slightly out, how do I argue that?

You don’t/can’t. You need to see some kind of evidence that whatever equipment they used is accurate, Certificate of Calibration or something.

suburbanreuben – Member
At 5.30 on a Sunday morning all decent law abiding people are at home tucked up in bed.

I mustn’t be decent or law abiding then coming home from a night shift like many other emergency service and shift workers

My sister has 3 points for 32 she was speeding there is no 10% plus 2.

I think I see your problem, ‘policewomen’, why is it that policewomen….. hang on, I ll get me coat

😉

For balance, my speedo is bang on 35 (tested with 3 GPS devices is bang on 30mph when reading 35.

I revel in doing 30 mph on the speedo everywhere though 🙂

At 5.30 on a Sunday morning all decent law abiding people are at home tucked up in bed.

🙄

Or at work, like me..

So you actually did sit above the indicated limit, in front of a police car, as you thought you knew better than to travel with the needle on 30? Sounds like a **** stupid thing to do tbh

What did the policeman driving say? Did he also agree with the two policewomen?

I was doing 33 at best, in the knowledge that 33 and below will not incur a ticket.

You’d best not tell them that. The limit is 30mph and you can, in theory, be prosecuted/fined at 31mph unless, perhaps, you could demonstrate that your speedometer reads 30mph when their calibrated equipment reads 31mph. I was on a speed awareness course with at least three people who had been clocked doing 33mph outside of schools.

My point is that I definitely wasn’t doing 35 in a 30. I was doing 33 at best,

Unless you are working on SatNav speed, you don’t really know that do you ?

in the knowledge that 33 and below will not incur a ticket.

What “knowledge” is that ?

You can get a speeding ticket for 33 in a 30. It’s over the limit.
What makes you think you can’t ?

That might have been 33/20.

I’ve just been caught speeding too. My own stupid fault and I’ll take the points or the speed awareness course and regret ruining 25 years clean driving. You need to suck it up and move on. They take a dim view of speeding in 30 mph zones and you openly admit to speeding so I can’t see your problem.

So you actually did sit above the indicated limit, in front of a police car

Have you ever seen a police car driving on the inside lane of the motorway at 70mph?

Its one big game seeing who has the balls to drive past 😉

I was doing 33 at best, in the knowledge that 33 and below will not incur a ticket.

So you were speeding ?
You were over the limit with a police car behind you ?

You sir are a numpty and deserve everything you get.

I am one of those annoying people who love driving at just under the limit to annoy people like yourself who want to go faster than the upper limit (did you see what I did there ?) set down by law ….

Consistently speeding with a police car behind you = taking the P155 out the law, pay your fine and learn some respect for both officers doing their jobs and the speed limit….then you will not need to come into conflict with the police again. 🙄

I was on a speed awareness course with at least three people who had been clocked doing 33mph outside of schools.

Understandable, but me, at 05.30 in the morning, on (Gt Homer St, for those that know Liverpool) a wide, deserted road with no residential properties anywhere near, certainly no pedestrians whatsoever. It’s ridiculous in the extreme.

Not arsed about the fine, it’s the points I don’t want. They say I was going faster than I was, and I was not going 35. That’s what I am angry about. They are embellishing their account to make it seem as though I was exceeding the limit by a greater amount.

If they’d wrote me a ticket saying 33 or 32 in a 30, well that seems pretty harsh but at least it was true. Saying I was doing 35 in a 30 is a blatant lie.