They Stopped Me Rather Than The Car In Front?

Question:

I have been stopped by police man on foot for speeding at 43 mph in 30 mph zone. I could not have been speeding at that speed at all. He did not showed me any evidence of speeding although he and his colleague on road were holding hand held radar guns.(There was no police car in view)

Prior to and at the time of the alleged offence, I had been following a red Peugeot car along the A417 for more than 3 miles, while maintaining a distance of several car lengths. This distance between my car and the Peugeot was consistent when the speed limit was both 40mph and 30mph, and at no time did I attempt to overtake the car in front, nor close the gap between us.

I mention the above, because when I asked the police officer why I had been stopped and not the red Peugeot which I had been following, he informed me that the Peugeot’s speed was recorded as 32mph, while my car’s speed was recorded as 43mph.

Given that the distance between my car and the Peugeot in front had not decreased, this is clearly impossible, and the only possible explanation for the differing speed recordings is either that the equipment was malfunctioning at the time, or it was incorrectly used.

As myself being an electronic engineer, I strongly suspect the former may be the case.

I have been driving for 20 years, and have never been warned, let alone convicted of any motoring offence and am a careful and considerate driver. I hold a clean driving licence, and would like to keep it that way.

Could you help in this case or do you think this case is not strong enough.

Louise Says:

Its really hard to defend a speeding matter and you run the risk that the court will take the view that you are simply aggrieved that they stopped you and not the Peugeot driver.

You have to cast a doubt on the officer’s evidence and if there are two of them they will gang up against you. They will also claim that their laser gun corroborates their opinion of your speed. Your good driving record will help the weight of your evidence but you really need to be up for a fight. They do not have to show you their evidence at the time they stop you.

If you really want to fight this matter come back to me and I will be happy to help but you have to appreciate that it wont be easy and you will risk losing your legal costs and paying higher fines and court costs.