They got me in the end...

I said to a couple of people Ive been pulled over 8 times in the last year and a half so Im about to use up my 9 lives and sure as hell, just after leaving Whiteways, a cop followed me for about 15 miles and did me for speeding so 3 points for me :-( To be honest, with the amount of riding/driving I do and the fact that Im always running around because Im late, its a small price to pay and not much of a suprise really but what pissed me off was that
a) he said he thought it was a great bit of riding from me
b) there was a tosser that had undercut me in my lane coming really close to my leg that the cop didnt do anything about
c) he said they really dont like riders down there (Sussex)

He was otherwise a genuinely nice fella (and gorgeous) so I took my medicine with good grace. Funnily I had a sneaky feeling there was an unmarked police car lurking around so I had dropped my speed so couldve been worse but why say all that stuff about good bit of riding and ignoring the dangerous driver. Are bikers unfairly targetted??? Methinks so. He did give me the lecture about how many bikers he scrapes off the road just to cheer me right up!

 

No matter how gorgeous he may have been the fact that he mentioned point 'c', I think makes him a prejudiced (there's no smiley with a knob on its head). Yes there could've been other people breaking the law, unfortunately you were too and he chose you...likely because of said point 'c'...or fancied seeing what was underneath the helmet...

It should be about riding quickly and safely. You can ride slowly and ride into a wall, oncoming car...etc...and he would still be scraping you off...
It should be about making roads safer by educating all road users to drive/ride safely...this doesn't mean slowly...

Its funny...on the Bikesafe days, talking to the Police bikers, as long as you are not riding like a tosser, they said they are pretty lenient on a little speed (safely)...not excessively...but they said 'unofficially' they can't say the same for many (not all) of their four wheeled bretheren.

In any case...it sucks

 

Yep, unmarked blue BMW. His comment was said in the context of "watch your speed around here, Im being lenient on you but the rest of Sussex Police really dont like bikers so if one of the other guys nabs you, youll really get clobbered".

The demonisation of speed really irks me, on the one I understand the major problem is that most people dont know how to speed safely but if speed was a factor, then how come the Autobahn has the lowest accident rate of all motorway systems? It is because they are really strict on lane discipline and following distances, thats what causes problems. And Im tired of people getting away with using their mobiles while driving, I pass at least half a dozen every day and that to me is far more dangerous. Speeders are just such an easy target and its easy to prove.

He actually seemed genuinely concerned insofar as he was saying that he was saying in his 20 year career, he has had to scrape too many bikers off the road so please be careful.

Yeah, generally cops are cool about so-called speeding sensibly, on the BikeSafe course, I was doing close to 100 on an open 70mph road with no other cars around and they didnt say a word.

 

Bugger... sorry to hear that. Did you also say that three of the points were due to drop off soon or is that my imagination?

 

ok...I take it back...maybe he wasn't such a (still no smiley). In context he seems like a reasonable copper...except for choosing you over the dangerous car...

 

My Section 59 expires in September and my points expired in July so I had a clean licence for all of 1 month and the S59 is against my old bike so it doesnt matter. Sussex police are really hot on speeding and I think he is right, they dont seem to be a big fan of motorbikes.

 

That's tough & it sucks for speed alone but as you said...speeders are so easy to prove we make good targets. Def spoils the day. Sounds like he admitted that some of his plod don't like bikers which is most unfair although we all know it goes on.
S59 was meant for persistent nuisance (usually excessive noise) mostly for off road stuff on/off the highway to the annoyance of others etc. Who did you upset?

 

See my other thread about misapplication of S59s, if police think you are speeding but cant prove it, they have started handing out S59s like Smarties. Again, Sussex police, heading down the A23/M23, late as always because Id overslept, got pulled over by an unmarked police car, Audi, and said they knew I was speeding but couldnt prove it so they issued me with an S59.

 

I've always felt Sussex and Kent police and those stupid camera partnerships are obsessed by speed. I once had a hour long argument with both police and camera operators at Kent County Show about it. Obviously, they didn't agree with me!!
PS. bad luck Tanya

 

Last time we visited Whiteways the road north of there was one big speed trap.

 

Toch wood lience been Clean now for 3 Years - But What ever you do do not get caught on a mobile Dawn did and our insurace policy went up by over 300 .00 when she told them ..

 

riding and using a mobile...very impressive... Was Dawn taking pointers from this guy ?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klteYv1Uv9A

 

He got me going towards Brighton :-S

 

I must be doing something right (either that or damn lucky), license has been clean for like 13 years!

 

Mine wouldve been too but for the fact that twice I was being dopey and not paying attention when going through Limehouse link tunnel, a route I ride everyday! and got flashed. And its not like I didnt know where the cameras were, just work stress at the time had me thinking of other things. I am kicking myself that up until Sunday, I couldve had a clean licence for 14 years

 

I've heard Limehouse is littered with cameras!

 

I am a law abiding, responsible adult and therefore have a clean licence, (touching wood) these days. Have I just put the mockers on that