Can Police Book You If You Don't Get Pulled Over

[Zac6221]

Stupid question so I expectto get stupid replies, but in honestly if anyone can provide a sensible reply that would rock.

Well I was running late to work this morning so I took the M4
( Freeway in NSW ) the speed limit was 100km/h.

I was doing approx 10km/h - 15km/h over the limit at most when there was a cop car in the middle of the freeway parked on the grassy island.

I saw him and put the brakes on but not sure if it was in time though, didn't want to slam the brakes any harder since it would look obvious.

I drove on for abit more, noticed he pulled out in my rear view mirror, no siren and he didn't give chase either.

Will I get booked?

PS> I know I am stupid for speeding, but cast the 1st stone if you arn't gulity of speeding at least once

[tadz0rz]

Its possible, but its quite hard for police to give chase on a freeway if their already stoped on the side. If people are excessivly speeding, (20+kms) on the freeway, its most likely they will give chase because they are posing more of a threat to other drivers on the road compared to someone who is going 10km's over.

Shouldnt speed man. But your right, we are all guilty of doing it.

Only thing i could say is just wait for the mail to come over the next few days....

[Stalker]

well if the speedo says you were doing 15 over odds are you were only doing 9-10 over and most cops will give you a few km/h leeway so i wouldnt worry too much about it

[bongo]

I don't think you were booked. They only use speed cameras in posted areas or with a sign. If he was using a handheld device, he would have given chase. All the best, just hope you're not on Ps.

[Zac6221]

Yep Red P's to be exact, nah no chase. Though when he pulled out it looked like he was about to.

Someone said that unless he took a photo of my plates it is really hard to prove he had the correct car. Since the radar gun doesn't record anything but the speed.

Fingers crossed - BTW - learnt my lesson

[bye2u]

grassy island on m4.. guessing near caltex..?

[Aspired]

Your in NSW mate, you'll be fine.

"No ticket for you"

But seriously, you can be booked even if you are not pulled over, But going by what you have said I think you will be fine.

[bd-850]

ohhh red P's the limit is 90ks so does that mean you were doing 20-25 km over YOUR limit?

i cant give you an answer, but if you dont get fined you are very lucky, but i think red P's dont have any points so i think its loss of licence if you do get booked.

[Aspired]

I heard a pretty good cop story.

A cop pulls a guy over for not coming to a complete stop at a stop sign. The guy doesn't complain and accepts the ticket. Then as the cop starts to walk off the guy in the car calls him back and identifies himself as a government workplace safety officer(I think that's what they are called) and issues the cop with a fine 3 times that of the one he was given. The reason being the cop was not wearing his safety vest.

[Peanut]

You should be right cause lidar is not that accurate if there was another moving object within 30m i think it is of you, it cannot give an accurate reading, that is why with fixed speed cameras if there are two cars in the picture they throw it cause it doesnt identify which car was sppeding just that one was.

[exaltd]

@ Aspired:

True story - not just a myth. It was my friend who got the police officer not wearing his vest here in Melbourne.

And it goes like this:

My friend got pulled over for speeding (he was late to do a workplace safety inspection after a near fatal incident). Police officer got out of his car, and asked my friend why he was speeding. My friend responded that it was an emergency, the officer did not believe him. The officer proceeded to write the ticket, and so my friend got a little upset. His keen eye then noticed the the officer was not wearing his vest. After all was said and done, the officer walked back and got into his car. Seconds later, my friend put on his WORKSAFE inspector's vest and got out, walked to the cop car, and proceeded to write the officer a WorkSafe violation notice. The officer was baffled, he didn't want to lose his job (you can be fired for not wearing a vest - and the police force fined as well apparently). He immidiately dropped the ticket for speeding, and my friend reported the incident but did not take further action.

LESSON: watch out for police that don't wear their vest when they get out of the car on a main road... they could lose their job. Just threaten them the same way my friend did, in a polite but smug manner, and see how you go .

That's my 2c worth on that, sorry if it wasn't on the topic.

As for the speeding, as long as you learned your lesson, i'm sure you'll be right Just pray hard that you don't get the ticket.

-EXALTD-

EDIT: and yes, a WorkSafe violation notice fine is 3 times more than a speeding fine, and with much more implications.

[Loki]

I enjoy these threads as they bring out the myths.

Simple answer is no, you're lucky unless he was using a device that took a picture of your car. Most hand held radars now are "laser" designated and they can pick you out from a car either side of you. Through their eye piece they can distinguish what car they are aiming at, pretty accurate. If he was using the radar mounted on his vehicle, no. That radar is a broad beam and if you had cars around you he cannot say for sure YOU were the one speeding.

You will have to sweat it out and hope he didn't have a camera.

Highway patrol CAN and WILL fine you if they're alone. I would enjoy seeing someone argue that one. I have on two occasions over my time driving been booked by a solo highway patrol.

The other urban myth is they must be wearing a hat/cap of some sort when they fine/arrest you. Again not true. If you take the time to logically think about it ..... do you think the government who is trying to make money off you being naughty would make such a stupid loop hole?

I am not casting stones at you but the new and extremely strict punishments for P platers exist because of guys like yourself who cannot keep to the speed limit. You're statistically less likely to have the experience and knowledge on how to control your vehicle in a loss of control situation where your actions, or lack of correct actions can kill another road user.

Don't become another statistic or another P plater waiting for his licence to come back.

[Bandit]

There are some times that an officer is in the middle of a highway or other road with the LIDAR pointing at cars. They are in radio contact with a unit further down the road providing details of speeding cars so that the unit not in tjhe middle of the road can pursue. Often the 'pursuit vehicle' is a motorbike.

The 'being within 30 metres of another car' mentioned earlier is false - they can pinpoint you with accuracy (incl viewing your numberplate details) from up to 400m away when using LIDAR. RADAR is less accurate, although perfectly adequte when fixed to the highway patrol vehicle to detect the speed of traffic when they are parked beside a road or moving in traffic (either oncoming or they can get you from behind too).

In this instance I'd say it was a lone officer conducting a "highly visible" show of speed detection - designed not so much to catch people in the act (how would he get out on to the road in M4 traffic?, not to mention the disruption that issuing a fine would cause when people slow down to see what's going on....), but to let everyone know they can if they want to. I bet they were in a marked car, with vest on!

They probably pulled out not long after you went past just by coincidence.

Camera cars (flash for cash) aren't used in NSW any more - there was a dispute between the Police and the RTA about who would operate it. Further, the cars used (AU falcon wagons, right up to last year) were getting old and the battery systems in them failing. The only cameras in NSW now are fixed cameras.

Highway patrol will DEFINITELY issue infringements if they are by themselves. Like Loki, I have been fined on more than one occasion (ok 3!) by solo officers.

Fixed speed cameras are a totally different system - they detect your speed not with LIDAR but with electromagnetic strips in the road. If there happens to be two vehicles crossing it at the same time on a multi lane road and one is speeding, then the image can't be used if the speeding vehicle has its numberplate obscured by the other car. They still know what speed each vehicle was doing and will issue a fine if they can see your plate.

How do I know these things - I sit near a retired HWY patrol copper at my work and my brother is in the force too, and of course, personal experience.

[Graham]

If I got a fine in the mail for that I wouldn't pay it and take it to court.

Multanova (speed camera) would be a different circumstance though.