Hi there

I have just had the damaged quoted on my Fabia vRS after the following incident......

It was Monday night travelling home from work on the M40 Northbound approx 80mph all going swimmingly....until that is a Renault 19 16v appears in my rear view mirror and nearly climbs in my boot. So i accelerate up to just over 100mph A. To pull away (which i did !) and B. To get past the cars in the middle lane so i could pull in. The middle lane clears and i go to pull in and the Renault shoots down the middle lane and undertakes me flashing a badge at me !! I think yeah ok nice one funny.....he then pulls in front of me and slams his brakes on !! so i calmly brake and give him a clap !! Then we drive along a bit further to the M40/M42 Junction he pulls over but stays on the M42 going towards Junction 3 so i go past him at 80mph he pulls immediately in behind me and straight up to my bumper again !! I then notice the overhead boards warning on conjestion ahead so i ease off the throttle in preparation for traffic, he is still glued to my bumper !! I then see brake lights ahead and cover the brake, i realise the car ahead of me is slowing down so i shave off some speed with a shove of the pedal then release completely it then occurs to me that he is REALLY slowing down so i stomp on the brake in a controlled manner without the ABS cutting in mind. It was a bit of a bottom clencher but knew i could stop !! Anyway i did stop with a couple of inches to spare, phew !! Then guess who hits me up the backside.......you guessed it Mr Renault 19 16v !! you should have seen the mess of his car !! He then gets out of the car and starts blaming everyone else for braking to hard !! and announced he was a copper and had a go at me for driving erratically, of course i responded with excuse me mate i dont care who you are you matched my speed, undertook me, brake tested me then hit me up the backside whos the erratic driver here ?

I have had a call from the police today saying that after investigation he could face prosecution, what should i do if it comes to it ?

Stuart

Tough one, coming from a guy who is a bit of a lamen in this it seems if the guy is indeed a plod....no offence....but your in a bit of poo as he has witnessed you doing 100mph. Id try and stick to the old playground arguement of "he started it"!

Cant really condone doing 100mph unless on a private track either. Sorry mate.

I have had a call from the police today saying that after investigation he could face prosecution' date=' what should i do if it comes to it ?

[/quote']

Dangerous driving...you owe to every road user to ensure that he either sees the error of his ways or is banned!

Rob.

In an unmarked car, with no blue lights, and displaying dangerous driving - I'd say you were scared and were confident it was not the police - just a potential carjacker.

but your in a bit of poo as he has witnessed you doing 100mph.

In a non-police car with a non-calibrated speedo whilst off duty? If he's in an accident where he's rear-ended someone he's accused of speeding, I don't think it will do him any favours...

Rob.

No way - i would say prove it. There is not a chance that they can prove you were doing a tonne unless you fessed up and even then it could be flawed as they often have to prove you are telling the truth !?!?!

Stick to your guns, the only issue to address is someone went into the back of you. Sort that bit out and leave the rest i say. But don't panic too much !

Did you check if he really was a plod? If so he will face internal discipline as well as prosecution, if not he will be prosecuted for impersonating a police officer. Either way he loses. If it goes to court and you are summonsed, you have no choice, you have to appear. Depends who is charging him, the Police, or whether they want you to press a charge. His defence may try and get the case thrown out on the basis that you were exceeding the speed limit also, I suppose.

I watch other people playing games like that, and am thankful I've managed to stay out of it. Two idiots on the M4 a month or so back were having a go at each other in a very similar way, jumping in front and slamming the brakes on etc. I was very relieved when I was far enough away from them not to be involved in their potential accident :scared:

Tough one, coming from a guy who is a bit of a lamen in this it seems if the guy is indeed a plod....no offence....but your in a bit of poo as he has witnessed you doing 100mph. Id try and stick to the old playground arguement of "he started it"!

Surely regardless of him being a PC his actions were more dangerous than me trying to get out of his way ?

The PC's who attended said it didnt matter that he was a PC he hit me from behind. Now the Police are saying he could be prosecuted so he couldnt have said anything about the actions prior to the impact, because surely he would be in as much trouble is i could be ?

Stuart

The copper (if he is one) is in deep doo-doo. Under no circumstances accept any punishment for speeding. The law requires the opinion of 2 police officers or 1 officer and an approved device. He has absolutely no chance of making this stick.

If it were me, I would be seriously thinking about an official complaint against him.

You might want to mention recent reports about the standard of police driving... Keep us posted.

Prosecute him...

No blue lights.. no evidence to say he is... or to say you were doing over the legal limit its totally his fault.. make sure he gets f**ked for it

what a noob, go for it fellah and get him done as much as possible. a couple years ago i had a guy try and come down the inside of me in a bus lane right before the lanes meged so i moved over to block him. he went round me on the wrong side of the road and swerved in front of me and slammed the anchors on blocking the entire road(it was the botley road in oxford at about % so if you know the area you will know how busy it was) and proceeded to walk up to me and flash some random black leather wallet at me and blocked from getting out of my car and wouldn't show me the badge again and gave me some bull about having followed a guy from reading and i may have made him lose him. he then went storming down the road at about 70mph(30 zone) overtaking me and even went on the wrong side of the road to avoid a speed camera. sadly didn't get the whole reg down and the police didn't think he was a copper but without full details couldn't do a thing, wish i had a camera phone at the time. idiots

For a copper to behave that way is blatently asking for a P45... DUMB.

Flashing a badge - irrelevant, that doesn't mean squat. Like you can spend that kinda time looking in your rear view mirror to read it.

Also, without the flashies on, a police officer is NOT allowed to break the speed limit either. If nothing else, he was abusing his percieved position to try and get you out of the way. Tough - that's his mistake.

Someone who is tailgating, speeding and undertaking does not suddenly become ok when you are a police officer. Worse still, he totally misjudged the capabilities of his vehicle versus yours (I dont mean you went faster, I mean he should have known his brakes were not that good). He also didnt pay any attention to the other traffic in front. If he gets prosecuted it serves him right. I would get prosecuted in the same situation.

Had it been a proper blues and twos jobber then it's a totally different matter - the fact you were speeding doesnt even come into play when he went into the back of you now, does it... After all, the only way he could have been doing that was by ignoring the cars in front completely, as well as by chasing ya down.

You'll be safe

Sounds like a psychopath who likes his uniform.

Make sure he's not in it for long, cos I think from the sounds of it, he's in it deep.

Just to say I agree with all the above comments. If someone hits the back of you its very very hard for them to put the blame on you for it. Watch out though, this guy sounds like a ***** and will possibly try something.

By the way - what was the damage to your car, and how much to fix?

Also, without the flashies on, a police officer is NOT allowed to break the speed limit either.

Strictly speaking that isn't the case. The exception is for a vehicle that is being used for police purposes. Some examples:

A Traffic Car dashing to an emergency... (obviously)

A Chief Constable who just happens to be driving a hire car (without blues and twos) on his way to an incident...

A civilian Emergency Vehicle Driving Instructor teaching police officers how to drive according to Roadcraft.

Hope this helps.

Strictly speaking that isn't the case. The exception is for a vehicle that is being used for police purposes. Some examples:

A Traffic Car dashing to an emergency... (obviously)

A Chief Constable who just happens to be driving a hire car (without blues and twos) on his way to an incident...

A civilian Emergency Vehicle Driving Instructor teaching police officers how to drive according to Roadcraft.

Hope this helps.

He was none of the above

Stuart

By the way - what was the damage to your car' date=' and how much to fix?[/quote']

A crack on the front bumper where he pushed me into the car in front and a cracked and bashed up rear bumper, bent tailpipe and any damage that was hidden under the rear bumper. Not sure of cost yet but i am sure it will be in excess of

Thanks 'cra' - didn't know that I must admit. But traffic cars do tend to at least have lights, or a stop police sign on them dont they?

A police constable would be wearing his uniform including the hat?

Out of interest - how would you recognise the 3rd - ie that driving instructor?

I have a lot of respect for the 'normal' motorway coppers who are trained to an extremely high level of skill - they are probably more worried about idiots pulling out in front of them then I am - isn't it something like 3 accidents, regardless of who's fault it is, and you cannot be a police driver or something like that?

Might as well (ab)use this thread to learn a few more things whilst I'm at it

Cost is always high - the Rover was involved in an incident at very low speed (< 5mph) but the damage was still 1200 quid - bumper, headlight unit, side panel, bonnet plus the painting. Did a beautiful job on it, few years ago now, but it cost a fortune.

The Saab I hit at that enormous speed had a little strip (metal decorating one) on the rear bumper which was slightly damaged, that cost even more as they decided to milk it and get the whole rear bumper replaced. I didnt care much as it was done on insurance anyway, but my car sure didnt touch the side that was scratched

Either way, glad everyone survived the crash (and yep that includes the other driver, badly behaved as he was)

I have it on pretty good authority that the police are not allowed to stop a vehicle whilst in an unliveried vehicle which is not equipped with signs, sirens etc and even when driving a liveried vehicle not equipped for traffic duties the officer cannot report you for speeding offences.

The 'officer' who has flashed his warrant card at you ( whilst committing road traffic offences himself) is not only liable to be prosecuted for those offences but will probably face internal discipline offences as well. He certainly cannot prove your speed in a vehicle which has not been made since 1996!

Even if he is a genuine police officer and he is flashing his badge on the motorway, unless he is a traffic officer he is not allowed to stop any car on the motorway, it seems that is digging a deep hole for himself, my advice.....pass him a spade and let him dig!!! :cop1:

Sleep easy.....he won't

Hi there

I have just had the damaged quoted on my Fabia vRS after the following incident......

It was Monday night travelling home from work on the M40 Northbound approx 80mph all going swimmingly....until that is a Renault 19 16v appears in my rear view mirror and nearly climbs in my boot. So i accelerate up to just over 100mph A. To pull away (which i did !) and B. To get past the cars in the middle lane so i could pull in. The middle lane clears and i go to pull in and the Renault shoots down the middle lane and undertakes me flashing a badge at me !! I think yeah ok nice one funny.....he then pulls in front of me and slams his brakes on !! so i calmly brake and give him a clap !! Then we drive along a bit further to the M40/M42 Junction he pulls over but stays on the M42 going towards Junction 3 so i go past him at 80mph he pulls immediately in behind me and straight up to my bumper again !! I then notice the overhead boards warning on conjestion ahead so i ease off the throttle in preparation for traffic' date=' he is still glued to my bumper !! I then see brake lights ahead and cover the brake, i realise the car ahead of me is slowing down so i shave off some speed with a shove of the pedal then release completely it then occurs to me that he is REALLY slowing down so i stomp on the brake in a controlled manner without the ABS cutting in mind. It was a bit of a bottom clencher but knew i could stop !! Anyway i did stop with a couple of inches to spare, phew !! Then guess who hits me up the backside.......you guessed it Mr Renault 19 16v !! you should have seen the mess of his car !! He then gets out of the car and starts blaming everyone else for braking to hard !! and announced he was a copper and had a go at me for driving erratically, of course i responded with excuse me mate i dont care who you are you matched my speed, undertook me, brake tested me then hit me up the backside whos the erratic driver here ?

I have had a call from the police today saying that after investigation he could face prosecution, what should i do if it comes to it ?

Stuart[/quote']

Strictly speaking that isn't the case. The exception is for a vehicle that is being used for police purposes. Some examples:

A Traffic Car dashing to an emergency... (obviously)

A Chief Constable who just happens to be driving a hire car (without blues and twos) on his way to an incident...

A civilian Emergency Vehicle Driving Instructor teaching police officers how to drive according to Roadcraft.

Hope this helps.

not sure this is strictly correct. my understanding is that emergency vehicles (unmarked or otherwise) are still obliged to obey the speed limit applicable to the road on which they travel irrespective of the incident they are on their way too. Speeding is overlooked only on the basis that by speeding they pose no additional risk to the public or themselves. if this is not the case (ie if they crash) then they are liable for their actions and exposed to prosecution accordingly. That is my understanding. of course in practice its a closed shop so you scractch my back and we'll look the other way.........

wouldn't mention any of the previous, keep to the facts about the rear-ender and start rubbing your neck for a compo claim!!

Daz

Out of interest - how would you recognise the 3rd - ie that driving instructor?

They usually got some words like "Police driver under instruction" or something to that effect accross the back of the car. I've seen them going about fairy regularly.

One time when going down the motorway at some hideous speed I shouldnt of been going, I seen this car going fast down a slip road and right accross the first lane into my lane pullin just in front of me, had to brake hard. Just before I pulled back I read the back of the car - it was a police driver under instruction. Pretty careless driving if you ask me, but I suppose they got to learn somehow. The instructor then gave me a wave as if to say sorry for pulling in front of you. Very nice.

Just to clarify a few things....

A vehicle only has to be being used for police purposes for the excemption to be valid. So a civilian driving instructor in plain clothes without any form of blues/twos/sign would be exempt, as long as the vehicle was being used for police purposes at that time. Teaching students would classigy. Nipping to the shops for a packet of fags wouldn't.

Only a constable in uniform can stop a vehicle. CID waving a badge have been watching too much of the Sweeney.

They usually got some words like "Police driver under instruction" or something to that effect accross the back of the car. I've seen them going about fairy regularly.

One time when going down the motorway at some hideous speed I shouldnt of been going' date=' I seen this car going fast down a slip road and right accross the first lane into my lane pullin just in front of me, had to brake hard. Just before I pulled back I read the back of the car - it was a police driver under instruction. Pretty careless driving if you ask me, but I suppose they got to learn somehow. The instructor then gave me a wave as if to say sorry for pulling in front of you. Very nice.[/quote']

Yes, usually "Police Driving Training" - Invariably always a white performance car. Generally 4 up - 1 instructor and 3 students. Generally in the outside lane, exceeding the limit (where safe and appropriate).