A friend of mine recently got stopped in his car by an unmarked police car while doing "between 80 and 90" on a clear dual carriageway in a 70mph zone. (Note, this was not me!) The policeman and his colleague had a chat to my friend and said basically that it was "his lucky day" and they would not be issuing him with a ticket. THEN however, No 2 bobby noticed my friend's 2 year old in a car seat in the back of the car. Upon seeing said youngster, the previously lenient and sensible policemen changed their tack and have issued him with a NIP and said he would need to go to Magistrates Court for the offence (no fixed penalty). Question: what difference does it make if one is alone or with a minor to the actual offence of speeding? If it was ok to initially let him off, why now change just because there was a child present? Discuss...
The copper made an initial judgement call to the effect that, "It's your life pal, if you want to slightly increase the risk to your own life and limb by exceeding the speed limit, I won't stop you on this occasion". Copper then made a second judgement, " I am not prepared to let you slightly increase the risk to life and limb of a minor, who cannot influence his/her fate in any real way". Given the speed laws and the rationale behind then, what the copper did was inevitable. You can argue hypotheticals all you like but given how the law is administered and the official view on speed vs outcomes, you are wasting your breath.
Between 80-90. So what does have they clocked him over the applicable distance then or are they now going to make it up
Coppers are parents too, so if they see you as an individual taking a risk and the judgement call on your own is stop being a twat on your way is his decision then fair enough but when you see you want to take that speeding risk with a child on board then you can understand he felt the options had changed. Your friend can't bitch the copper was a top bloke one minute and his decision is acceptable then moan like a girl if he changes his mind based on his perception of risk to a child.
My friend is not bitching about the decision, he accepts that he was speeding and will take whatever punishment “like a man”. It was also his quote that he was doing “80-90”. It is me who raised the question here, just to gauge other people’s opinions on this esteemed forum.
When I were a wee lad, going fast on the back of my uncle's bike was the best thing ever. No complaints from me. Used to nearly fall off the back when he popped the front up. I suppose in the eyes of the law, a passenger will always count against you as they're a victim to your right hand/throttle
The police have done the correct thing, he's a new dad or father. And is prepared to cause or increase the likelihood of hurting the childs life. We all modify behaviour & he needs to learn too increase his time management or get up earlier for tasks. So as to not need to speed!
