Topic: Guide to spotting unmarked Cop Cars! (Read 2906 times)

J@zV6 · « **Reply #20 on:** March 26, 2007, 09:56:55 AM »

Quote from: Kujoy on March 24, 2007, 23:36:29 PM

Anyone seen the VOSA enforcement vans? OK so they stand out like a sore thumb being covered in big green and yellow squares. Seen one hanging around scarborough the last few days. I didnt even know they existed. I always thought road law enforcement was done by the police for all offences.

Yeah, I'm interested to know whether the Highways Agency vehicles (picked out in black & yellow check) have similar powers to traffic police, or whether they merely get involved in picking up the pieces after an accident...

ings · « **Reply #21 on:** March 26, 2007, 16:52:17 PM »

They have very little powers in comparision with traffic officers. They can conduct roadblocks, clear up accidents, assist breakdowns etc. They have no powers in terms of speeding, driving offences, vehicle roadworthiness etc. They cannot investigate accidents.

VOSA vehicles, generally Galaxy's with the markings on the rear and orange lights, do have the power to stop vehicles. However, this is for vehicle roadworthiness checks, tacho and weights for lorries, and speeding if they are camera laden.

Both have access to the police radio though, so all it takes is a quick call for a traffic unit to be waiting for you at the next junction.

Another great idea from the goverment......traffic is supposed to be disbanding soon, powers being given to the highways agency for the motorways. Can't see them doing it myself, however, it will mean traffic units in the cities rather than on the m/ways.

BigBazz · « **Reply #22 on:** April 01, 2007, 18:05:34 PM »

There is a blue 5 series 54 plated BMW Estate down our way, tail tail sign was a square hole cut into the rear bumper + the camera and lights pointing out the rear window...

carnislick · « **Reply #23 on:** April 16, 2007, 10:10:48 AM »

well, im off to court this afternoon after being caught speeding by an unmarked skoda octavia VRS, usually really vigilant about keeping an eye out for them aswell, let my guard slip and bam. hey ho, only myself to blame.

looks like im looking at a ban + fine at least.

Paul

ClubCalibra · « **Reply #24 on:** April 16, 2007, 16:18:13 PM »

Quote from: carnislick on April 16, 2007, 10:10:48 AM

well, im off to court this afternoon after being caught speeding by an unmarked skoda octavia VRS, usually really vigilant about keeping an eye out for them aswell, let my guard slip and bam. hey ho, only myself to blame.

looks like im looking at a ban + fine at least.

Paul

Sorry to hear that dude, good luck and let us know how you get on! Remember, get a letter from your employer stating that your job depends on your driving licence, worked for me 7/8 years ago...

carnislick · « **Reply #25 on:** April 16, 2007, 16:41:25 PM »

well, got on much better than i expected.

charges were

fraudulent use of a tax disk
105mph in a 70 limit

the tax disk was a stupid mistake, i had the tax disk from my other calibra displayed in the window, but the court wasnt too hard on me for that, because the tax'd car was off the road and the untaxed one was on the road, the fact that i HAD tax on one of them showed i was willing to pay it, and it wasnt like i was using a false disk or anything, and i just explained that it was a stupid mistake that in retrospect wasnt going to pay off in any situation

the speeding, i got away fairly lightly with as my boss wrote me a very good character referance and coupled with the fact that there was nothing on the road at the time and i wasnt over the limit or anything it wasnt as dangerous as it could have been

anyway

2 week ban, £210 fine, no points

learnt my lesson tho, since i got pulled over iv'e put myself through a RoSPA defensive driving course and really changed the way i drive, and 3 months of my career hanging in the balance taught me to have a bit of respect for the rules, and my license.

Paul

J@zV6 · « **Reply #26 on:** April 16, 2007, 22:20:56 PM »

Quote from: carnislick on April 16, 2007, 16:41:25 PM

well, got on much better than i expected.

105mph in a 70 limit

the speeding,.... coupled with the fact that there was nothing on the road at the time and i wasnt over the limit or anything it wasnt as dangerous as it could have been

2 week ban, £210 fine, no points

I'll say you did: speeding is normally 3 points on your licence and over 30mph over the limit is an automatic ban. I guess that the 2 week ban is supposed to cover both the points and the ban.

Good on you for doing the RoSPA course though. The RoSPA course is supposed to be even better than the IAM's Advanced Driving Test, although I don't know their 'Defensive Driving' course.

carnislick · « **Reply #27 on:** April 17, 2007, 15:07:59 PM »

well, iv'e heard so many different things from so many different people.

iv'e had 2 solicitors tell me completely different things, another solicitor that didnt know what the hell he was on about and kept smiling.

basically what i gathered from the magistrates was

anything exceeding 30mph over the speed limit the starting block is an instant ban, however it is at their discretion to go more severe or be more lenient (spelling) depending on the defence given and the circumstances, for example my offence was at 1:30am on an empty dual carriageway, had it been 35mph over the limit in a 30mph zone at school kicking out time i'd imagine my license would have been snipped up their and then for much longer that 2 weeks.

also the solicitor that ended up representing me, he was very good (and was on telly last night on panorama) he was saying how they couldnt give me points and a ban, its was one or the other, for the speeding, the tax offence was always just going to be a fine.

if i had got points instead of the ban it would have been 6 points and i'd have lost my license as im still in the 2 year/6 point limit untill mid may.

like i say, the RoSPA course taught me quite a lot, mainly about driving on the motorway and whether anyone believes this or not coming from a 19yr old lad, i didn't really drive stupidly before, everyone speeds when it feels safe, but its still illegal and i got caught.

First few years of driving iv'e found to be a pretty steep learning curve tho, had a lot of stuff to learn by and luckily iv'e still got my license and i never get complacent and think "meh, ive learnt everything there is to learn about driving" which is a mistake i think a lot of people make.

Paul

wee-lass · « **Reply #28 on:** April 17, 2007, 15:09:38 PM »

thats good

J@zV6 · « **Reply #29 on:** April 17, 2007, 16:56:38 PM »

Quote from: carnislick on April 17, 2007, 15:07:59 PM

also the solicitor that ended up representing me, he was very good (and was on telly last night on panorama) he was saying how they couldnt give me points and a ban, its was one or the other, for the speeding, the tax offence was always just going to be a fine.

if i had got points instead of the ban it would have been 6 points and i'd have lost my license as im still in the 2 year/6 point limit untill mid may.

like i say, the RoSPA course taught me quite a lot, mainly about driving on the motorway and whether anyone believes this or not coming from a 19yr old lad, i didn't really drive stupidly before, everyone speeds when it feels safe, but its still illegal and i got caught.

First few years of driving iv'e found to be a pretty steep learning curve tho, had a lot of stuff to learn by and luckily iv'e still got my license and i never get complacent and think "meh, ive learnt everything there is to learn about driving" which is a mistake i think a lot of people make.

You were very sensible to get a good solicitor for a prosecution with potentially serious consequences. I certainly didn't know about the ban OR points issue, but not both.

The real killer is if you have your licence taken away and you have to retake the driving test, as I believe can happen in some DD cases, but that would have been very severe for the offence that you committed.

carnislick · « **Reply #30 on:** April 17, 2007, 17:05:57 PM »

yeh, wasn't out of the question though.

i would have been given points if it werent for my job/career relying on my license. the magistrates said that when they were explaining why i was being banned and fined

i think it was a suitable punishment, id already learnt my lesson before the sentencing but they can't just let you off with nothing

Paul

J@zV6 · « **Reply #31 on:** April 17, 2007, 17:58:18 PM »

Quote from: carnislick on April 17, 2007, 17:05:57 PM

yeh, wasn't out of the question though.

i would have been given points if it werent for my job/career relying on my license. the magistrates said that when they were explaining why i was being banned and fined

i think it was a suitable punishment, id already learnt my lesson before the sentencing but they can't just let you off with nothing

Sounds as though the magistrates, your solicitor, your employer and you were all being very sensible about it - that is how the law should work. The purpose afterall shouldn't primarily be to punish people, but to reform them. Once someone has committed an offence, punishment cannot undo it, although it might deter them from repeating it, or other offences.

Punishment is primarily designed to deter the person concerned and other people from committing similar offences in future. If the light punishment had that effect on you, it has still done its job. If some people won't reform without stiffer punishment (e.g. repeat offenders), then stiffer punishments may be necessary (although for repeated DDs, treatment might be more effective than punishment!).

shogo10 · « **Reply #32 on:** April 22, 2007, 19:23:00 PM »

Man you were lucky only getting a 2 week ban and a 200 quid fine for the speed you did. I got caught 6 years ago up in scotland where they are more strict, doing 105 on a country road at midnight with no other road users and only myself in the car.

The judge threw the book at me, i got a 1 year ban 300 quid fine and had to resit my driving test

How sh*t is that

cambs calibra · « **Reply #33 on:** August 04, 2007, 14:31:48 PM »

hi there in cambridge unmarked cars have the same black plate on the front of their bumpers as taxis and buses to allow rising bollards to be moved up and down

shingara · « **Reply #34 on:** August 04, 2007, 15:31:26 PM »

you cannot spot unmarked cop cars, it is no longer possible, they use various cars from spoters with plain clothed in, and also the more know camera cars, these cars used to have 2 airel but now work on small internals or gps type that are connected on the dashboards of the cars, the lights are hidden behind grills and the police signs in the back windows now pop up.

my mate works in unmarked cop cars on the m62 and he has uses a laguna,mondeo,subaru and evo 4, ive looked at all these cars close up as he meets me at cruises, and the only way to tell that these are cop cars is by the dashboard, and if you are good enough to see inside the car enough to see the extra kit then u aint gonna notice them.

its pure pot luck

Clarky_man · « **Reply #35 on:** June 01, 2008, 17:05:17 PM »

Up by me a few years back the coppers had a renault 5 turbo it had wheels, window tints, dump valve all the boy racer bits and pieces. Talk about being sneaky except most CID were their uniform which they stand out a mile off. Not just a shirt full uniform jacket with the visy bit on.

*Chloe* · « **Reply #36 on:** June 01, 2008, 18:11:25 PM »

cop cars round here usually have number plates ending in 'CZ' although that isnt always true, i was pulled once by an R32 Golf and i know they were trying to get me to race them as they were flying round the road in front of me, in the end the only reason i was pulled was for having red side lights

they have been known to drive mazda 6's, mondeos and vectras of course, evo 9 and subaru's, they're a crafty lot!

Ryu · « **Reply #37 on:** September 20, 2009, 22:53:37 PM »

West Midlands have 27 unmarked traffic vehicles at their disposal, consisting of BMW 3 series, Audi A6s, Focus ST, Mondeo ST and Volvo V70s...

Lincolnshire have 10 unmarked traffic vehicles, all of which are BMWs.

Gav · « **Reply #38 on:** September 20, 2009, 23:00:13 PM »

Quote from: Ryu on September 20, 2009, 22:53:37 PM

West Midlands have 27 unmarked traffic vehicles at their disposal, consisting of BMW 3 series, Audi A6s, Focus ST, Mondeo ST and Volvo V70s...

Lincolnshire have 10 unmarked traffic vehicles, all of which are BMWs.

I've seen unmarked Skoda Octavias and Volvos in Lincolnshire.

Most have twin aerials on the back so are easily recognisable from the rear

Ryu · « **Reply #39 on:** September 20, 2009, 23:18:52 PM »

Depends where in Lincs. They may have updated their fleet for inner Lincoln, but I know Grantham only have BMWs assigned there. Sometimes unmarked Cambs Volvos come into Lincs from Peterborough (ie Stamford, Deepings etc.) Lincs also tend to be more on the high profile side of policing the roads, hence why they dont have many unmarked cars.

I havent worked Lincs for a year or so, and then only Stamford/Bourne/Deeping, and I remember someone saying they only had 10 BMWs then. Either it was for the South Division, or theyve invested in some new ones... Not bad considering they're the most cash strapped force in the country.

Octavias also tend to be Leicestershire, especially VRS's. They like them for some reason...

Author Topic: Guide to spotting unmarked Cop Cars! (Read 2906 times)

BigBazz

wee-lass

shingara