Immune from Camera Flashes ?

Tatooine Hobbies & Interests
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Police escape speeding charges

Avon and Somerset Police have prosecuted only one of more than 400 officers caught speeding since January.
A total of 419 police vehicles have been issued with speeding notices over the last nine months.

One officer has received a £60 fine and three penalty points, but the remaining 418 were deemed to be on “legitimate business”, and not prosecuted.

The Association of British Drivers (ABD) said the exemptions were “unacceptable”.

"Speed cameras, and the way speed is being enforced, are criminalising everybody, but the police’s own people are let off

Nigel Humphries, ABD

A spokesperson for the force said the same traffic laws apply to police as to other road users.

But he added that officers rushing to emergencies, or those who needed to attend a situation quickly, were exempt from some rules.

"The Road Traffic Regulations Act states that fire, ambulance and police vehicles are exempt from speed limits on occasions when abiding by them would hinder their work.

“The driver of any police vehicle which breaks the speed limit has to account for their action to a senior officer,” he added.

‘Penalised’

Nigel Humphries of the ABD said the exemptions showed “double standards” at work.

"Speed cameras, and the way speed is being enforced, are criminalising everybody, but the police’s own people are let off, he said.

"We support the police being able to drive at speed in emergency situations.

“I’m sure the majority of those officers were driving at speed safely, but members of the public are penalised for doing the same thing.”

One officer was fined £60

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Officers caught by speed campaign

An anti-speeding campaign backed by North Wales Chief Constable Richard Brunstrom has caught 12 of his own officers breaking the limit while on duty.
The force’s Arrive Alive campaign, set up to try to cut the number of fatalities on the roads by telling drivers to drop their speed, caught 103 force vehicles driving too fast in the past year.

In 82 cases the police cars were answering emergency calls but in a further 12, the driver had no legitimate excuse and received three points on their licence and a £60 fine.

Arrive Alive spokeswoman Beth Mitcheson said the system was fair and anyone caught speeding could be prosecuted.

The cameras do not discriminate between vehicles

Beth Mitcheson, Arrive Alive

“We are often asked if it is one rule for us and another rule for everyone else, these figures prove that isn’t the case,” she said.

"The cameras do not discriminate between vehicles. We have all got to look at the way we drive.

“Nobody is above the law,” she added.

Mr Brunstrom has previously described speeding motorists as “anti-social” and “criminals”.

In July he denied claims that he was obsessed with catching speeding motorists at the expense of fighting crime.

Arrive Alive is run by North Wales Police, health authorities and a number of other organisations.

Last year 53 roads across north Wales - around 10% of the area’s total network - were covered by a mix of fixed and mobile cameras.

An average of 4,000 speeding drivers a month were caught on camera in north Wales last year.

North Wales Police declined to comment on their officers who had been caught.

Chief Constable Richard Brunstrom backs the speeding campaign

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And as a sobering followup to the topic of speeding police vehicles

http://www.news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=2195165

The nearest police station is less than 500metres from the alleged robbery, in fact you can probably see the pub in question from the top floor but the fatal accident was nearly two miles away.

Makes no sense to me.

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It’s all bad news. No wonder the police are losing respect.
Droid

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I saw a one line news summary scrolling across a repeat of the rugby which said “18yr old Bolton man dies in collision with Police car”.
This item seems to have dissapeared from the news pages rather swiftly but I did find this whilst hunting.

http://www.gnn.gov.uk/gnn/national.nsf

Enter collision as a keyword and select “Police Complaints Authority” to see just how many similar incidents there are.

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Originally posted by Droid
It’s all bad news. No wonder the police are losing respect.
Droid

I lost all respect for the plod about 12 years ago m8. Had no reason to change my views on them since.

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I had a police car behind me on the way to work yesterday morning, when I got onto a certain stratch of dual carriageway I sped up to exactly 50mph as was the speed limit. The copper pulled out and cruised past me doing at least 65mph, no lights or anything… you could just tell he wasn’t on official business. Git :rolleyes: