Speeding and taxation.

mellman01

Now I’ve been done for speeding back in early 1990 and at the time I admitted my guilt as I was had bang to rights so it was a fair cop I also use to fall into the camp of don't speed and you wont get caught but not anymore.
The other day I’d decided to go out it was the first time I’d been out in the car in over 8 days, anyway I drove down to Wallingford and turned into a 30 limit and way ahead (400yards or more) I spotted a mobile camera unit, I thought no worries as I was going just over 30(most speedo's have a +1% error so your not doing 30 but 27mph) when I got to the 30 sign as normal so I didn’t take much notice of him after that as my speed was good and I was sure I was not going to get a ticket, how wrong I was.
2 weeks later there’s a letter from Thames Valley Police saying I’d been done going 37mph! in a 30, my first reaction was to think I’ll definitely question this as I don’t believe I was speeding but the stinger is they’ve amended the freedom of information act so you can’t see what they call “photographic evidence of a speeding offence”!.
What a flippin stich up, you can only see it if you go to court so you have no real choice, my reason for wanting to see it is I think this trapper got me just at or near the 30mph sign but more worrying is a friend of mine has just been done for going 32mph in a 30 so that means they are effectively carrying out a zero tolerance approach to drivers here in Oxfordshire.
To back my assumption up that the rozzers were being sneaky I drove to Kidlington the other day and coming past Oxford on the A34 I saw a mobile unit parked up on the fly over and he was in just the right position to get people coming round a slight bend immediately into a 50mph limit, he’d get you right at start of the 50mhp limit sign!, again sneaky or what?.
I then as I went towards home I found another one tucked in a driveway facing the other way (lucky for me although I was doing around 33mph on my dial) again aimed right at a bend with a 30 limit sign in the village of blueberry.
I don’t mind getting done for being a prat but this has really p****d me off, they’re setting you up by adhering to the exact letter of the law and not allowing and leeway and hunting you at the point of the speed limit enforcment obviously because they are after money rather than trying to make the roads a safer place.
Normally I am really good at not speeding so I am concerned that something was wrong here but I have no chance to find out unless I go to court and that would cost far more that the ticket does so it’s a no brainer.
But I haven't sat back and done nothing instead I’ve also done a bit of digging about on the web and my fears are kind of confirmed, the bottom line is laser traps can give false readings so you can get done for a false excess speed generated by Doppler scatter and or laser slippage, both will add up to 8mph to your true speed and get you a ticket.

So the way I see it there’s 4 ways you can deal with this and they are.

a) Pay up and shut up.(that’s sadly what I’ve done)
b) Go to court and pay even more money to get turned over anyway.
c) Use a jammer and say feck the law (not at all legal) as the Police will happily impound your car and take you to court for doing so and normally it’s crown court you end up in.
d) Keep within the speed limits pray all the time and make sure you’re doing the correct speed or even better less from the sign post point, and to give you a slight advantage fit a decent laser trap detector to your car to give you instant warning your being painted by PC plod, or better still the car in front of you thus giving you even more time to make sure your down well below 30 when it’s your turn to get pinged by the rozzers.
And for me D is the better option I feel, I love technology and so have spent many hours looking at what’s out there and how good it is. The conclusion is there’s a lot of kit out there that won’t help you much but will happily empty your wallet.
The biggest issue for me is what they use to trap you and what detector will tell you you’re being looked at.
All mobile units here in Oxfordshire use laser guns in their taxation traps so that’s what you really need to detect now, but that said the laser light is being aimed at your number plate and not your windscreen where your new expensive and mostly useless detector is happily sitting.
And one down side to them is almost all trap detectors scan from X band all the way up to Ka band radar but you get false alerts from traffic lights and automatic shop door openers.
I have a cobra detector and all it picks up is false alters it does my head in and worse it only detects laser when you around 200 yards from them. That’s OK for radar guns but lasers can ping you up to a mile away as laser light diffuses very slowly but it's always aimed at your number plate and not your windscreen so can't be easily detected
But all is not lost as I’ve found what I think is a good cheap alternative, it’s a single laser detector unit with a remote head that can be mounted above or below your number plate so it will pick up any laser energy aimed at the car, it only cost £50 as well, the electronic unit will sit in the cigar lighter and has a built in speaker and an on off button, I’m planning to fit mine in the next few days and leave in in and on all the time.
From what I’ve seen round here I don’t trust the rozzers one inch now.

Right megga rant over!.

PS if you want to know what the unit is and where I got it from feel free to PM me OK?.

PPS sorry if I sound like one of those naff US adds we get on here I didn't mean too it just turned out that way honest!.

frogmorton

Mell

have you decided what to do??

I think you are going to pay up.....

Thing is if they can be up to 8MPH out you COULD brave court, but the stress and extra cost if you 'lost' :?

You know what I think of speeding tickets anyway

Love

Toni xxx

valval

so glad not got a car it not on i know people should not speed but it not good doing this no one minds if they have done it but when they do not even give you proof it not on but as you say not worth fighting as would cost you more take care val

tjt6768

burn em all :shock:

barbara12

Oh Mell
We live on what used to be a country lane, at the top is a very sharp bend, and the accidents are horrendous...will the police do anything will they hell , only months ago we had a young girl die being hit head on.
Now nearby we have a slight incline...and the bobbys wait at the botton of the hill to catch poor people that pick up speed, what I am getting at its nothing to do with safety..but getting has much money has poss, so I will be PMing you on behalf of my hubby.

PPS sorry if I sound like one of those naff US adds we get on here I didn't mean too it just turned out that way honest!.I loveit

MrDJ

if you think you have a case then join up at the fight back forum > http://forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?

mellman01

Hi you lot all good replies especially Tony i'm with you BURN EM ALL!. I know where your coming from Babara the junkiton out of our village is dangerous yet you never see a speed trap anywhere near here, the council wont put in a round about as not enough people have died how fecking pathetic.
That said Vals cracked it she has no car so can't get busted, mind you whats the betting one day all busses will have seat belts and you'll get a fine for not using one!. Now MrD thanks for that I'm off there now to have a look, I must say I love the cat with the decks and headphones!.

valval

mellman01 wrote:

Hi you lot all good replies especially Tny i'm with you BURN EM ALL!.

not a good idea they would just use our tax money to replace them bet even police get sick of it as they did not sign on to stop speeding cars val

mellman01

Hi Val I've got a freind in Thames Valley Police he's a copper and he said the guy's doing the trapping are a contract firm!, so you can see where this is going, oh and Mr DJ bloody good link mate thanks, sadly though I've already paid up, if I'd have found the site before I did I'd have definetly not, from what they are saying is the bumf the coppers send you isn't thecnically leagal or truthful it's just designed to scare you to cough and fez up, and they wonder why many people don't like or trust them these days?.

MrDJ

your welcome mellman01. comes in handy sometimes.

ive never had a speeding fine but caught out a few times before when i didnt show my blue badge clock. 4 minutes dropping some clothes off at a charity shop.
he was walking away from the car so i collared him and he said the blue badge could of been stolen as i didnt have the clock. i explained that you checked my tax disc did you and he said yes. i asked what it said on the tax disc and he replied disabled. he looked stumped and then said appeal then. the crafty thing at the time with harrow council was if you appealed and it was rejected it would be the full price of the ticket of £120
so i went to the council office to pay £60 with bags of 1p and 2p pieces and they refused to accept it. i think they were a bit cheesed off that i emptied all the bags into the tray all at once,even though they were counted out into £1 per bag. they said i had 6 days to pay or i would have to pay the full amount. took at least 15 minutes to put them all back in the bags agin and by then there was a cue of about 15 people

tjt6768

DJ.
Was the bay you were in a normal disabled bay? I ask because some have time limits displayed on the signs and others don't, therefore no cock should be needed, my opinion anyway..
Bloody jobs worths.....
I hate em. Never around when the idiot boy racers park in the disabled bays eh?

And, surely they could not refuse your money no matter what denominations it was in? It's all money after all... Should have made them accept the lot lol..


Mell, I'm still up for burning em all rkid

mellman01

I like your style Mr DJ!. Tony never gets tickets coz he looks fecking ard as an ard thing so normally they don't feck with him!.

tjt6768

Damn right Mell
One look from me and Babylon go running to the hills lol

fowls48

Hi Mellman

the only way you can contest this by asking was the machine tested before it left the station .The copper is not allow to lie , if it was not tested , you do not get the ticket .

fowls48

Yep


i have had a ticket for doing 36mph in a 30 zone .Used to drive my van to thirsk 90mph never got a fine .White van driver .

Sorry you got a ticket mel

MrDJ

it was a normal pay and display bay (free blue badge) but even if i didnt have a disabled badge it would of taken me 3-4 minutes to walk to the machine to get a ticket anyway.

it shows these buggers sit in wait for you.

there is one way to beat these radar machines though. do over 199mph and it doesnt register.
me think me try that next. anyone else for a burnup on the M1

tjt6768

Hey DJ.. If it was free with a blue badge, was it unlimited time? If so, again you don't need to display the clock..

I'm up for a burn up matey
Don't think that the Meriva will do that speed though lol
Will, erm, BORROW a lambo

MrDJ

im not sure if it was unlimited or maximum 3 hours but i was only there for 4 minutes so just enough time for him to climb from his hiding place and write the ticket out.

im going for a test drive in the new bmw x1 tomorrow as bmw 320 is almost 3 years old now so time for replacement.
not bad for a 3 year old car only having 10,500 on the clock.
would love another 3 series but of course all the motability cutbacks they have removed them from the list.
as im 6ft 2 a 1 series is too small for me but the x1 is bigger.
it does cost me an arm and a leg every 3 years but as i was told by the fire brigade who cut me out of my first bmw that i would be dead if i had been in any other car then the cost is worth it.

and before the frowning starts i was doing less than 15 mph pulling into my hospital on a sharp bend and the back wheels lost control from oil from busses and as i hit the kurb which was rounded it gave the car momentum to flip onto its side. 8 airbags and none went off as 15mph is when they are activated.

tjt6768

lovely motors matey.
That was bloody unlucky at that speed eh?

I like the bigger cars. Mainly as they're easier to get in and out of..
Plus they look nicer lol.. I actually wanted the seven seat zafira this time but there were only manuals left in the list by the time I came to sign up. This one is alright. I love the suicide doors and full glass roof... And we saved money even though we got the near top of range meriva as we were planning on getting a top end zafira..
Think this one was around four hundred quid.
Would like the top of range galaxy next time. Had one as a courtesy car and fell in love with it lol.

Them wardens are leeches eh? Horrible folks. Until they actually do their job and move folks out of the disabled bays that shouldn't be there but not seem that happen often to be honest.

MrDJ

tbh if bmw wasnt on the list i would most prob go for a galaxy.
my 320 was £7,500 after all the extras which tbh is a bit over the top. i had to pay £1000 upgrade for automatic then but i think its included now.sods law i can only drive automatics.

mellman01

Guy up the pubs got a 51 plate 5 series, it's 350BHP in normal mode and over 500 in sports mode, I didn't ask him how much the insurance was got to be silly money.

tjt6768

Think the top range galaxy was about two grand.. Auto..
That's all I can drive too, left leg has always been the worst of the two..
I wanted the meriva in white but flat colours are three hundred quid extra :shock:

The galaxy I had as courtesy car was brilliant matey

MrDJ

well i dont exchange until november so i might have time for a test drive

that 5 series bhp is just stupid for our roads. if hes a youngster hes most prob not got tax or insurance. :?
i think my 320 has 160bhp and in sports mode it revs to 7000 and keeps pulling to well over 100mph (oh er i mean well over 70)

tjt6768

I've only had mine a yr and half so a while to go yet.
I always arrange a few test drives..
Let me know what you think if you do..

And OF COURSE you meant 70, it was just a mis-print when you typed 100 lol

MrDJ

defo a misprint.
tested the X1 2 litre diesal today and everything was great except for the stearing, it was so heavy it felt like 20 year old cars without power stearing.
the chap said he had had quite a lot of complaints from disabled like me due to arthritis in wrists.
he said the 2012 model out in august should be lighter but hes checked the spec and it still doesnt have servo stearing like the 3 series does.

decisions decisions

Colin1

Yes
Colin