Blatman Posted May 25, 2020 Share Posted May 25, 2020 Do the police have powers to act unless the offence is actually reported? This article seems to suggest they can but if someone were to report the video to ANY police force surely they are then duty bound to investigate? https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/youtuber-caught-speeding-deadly-roads-20667167 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lyonspride Posted May 25, 2020 Share Posted May 25, 2020 25 minutes ago, Blatman said: Do the police have powers to act unless the offence is actually reported? This article seems to suggest they can but if someone were to report the video to ANY police force surely they are then duty bound to investigate? https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/youtuber-caught-speeding-deadly-roads-20667167 When the video goes viral, they'll have no choice but to investigate with a view to prosecution. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blatman Posted May 25, 2020 Share Posted May 25, 2020 The trouble with that is the accused can then enter a plea whereby it is impossible to get a fair trial because the court of public opinion will be against him and expectation of a heavy sentence will taint the entire process. Add to that there is no clear image of the driver and I'm betting they can't match the registered owner to the driver of the car at that time. I'm betting that right now there isn't enough evidence to prosecute. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tolf Posted May 26, 2020 Share Posted May 26, 2020 Surely there are cameras along that motorway and The vehicle identified from the numberplate? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blatman Posted May 26, 2020 Share Posted May 26, 2020 2 minutes ago, Ian Tolfree (tolf) - WSCC AO Rep said: Surely there are cameras along that motorway and The vehicle identified from the numberplate? Vehicle yes. Is there a clear enough picture of the driver though? I'm sure we would all agree it would be reasonable to assume it was the owner driving, but once we get away from what we believe and into the realms of what can be proved it's a different matter. Assumption has no place in court where the outcome could be a loss of liberty for the wrong person because an assumption was made. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lyonspride Posted May 26, 2020 Share Posted May 26, 2020 3 minutes ago, Ian Tolfree (tolf) - WSCC AO Rep said: Surely there are cameras along that motorway and The vehicle identified from the numberplate? Most motorway traffic cameras are outdated analogue cameras, terrible image quality, would only pick up a plate clearly if zoomed in on a particular vehicle as it passed. They were incredibly expensive and a change to digital would require totally tearing out a UK wide system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blatman Posted May 26, 2020 Share Posted May 26, 2020 1 minute ago, Lyonspride said: and a change to digital would require totally tearing out a UK wide system. Pretty sure they've started that on the M6 at the Spaghettin Junction area and approaches, the M4 is currently being dug up from Jcn 3 to almost jcn 13 to convert it to a "smart" motorway. I'm sure they will be installing infrastructure for digital cameras and road pricing equipment on every bit of "smart motorway" that is, has been or will be converted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Man On The Clapham Omnibus Posted May 26, 2020 Share Posted May 26, 2020 I took a clip of an outrageous incident to my local police and, because it was more than two weeks after the event, all they could do was have a serious word with the offender. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blatman Posted May 26, 2020 Share Posted May 26, 2020 2 hours ago, Man On The Clapham Omnibus said: I took a clip of an outrageous incident to my local police and, because it was more than two weeks after the event, all they could do was have a serious word with the offender. The statute of imitations is two weeks on video evidence from a concerned citizen? Is this because it was a traffic incident and unless a ticket is issued within 2 weeks it's invalid? I think some of that law (if that is what it is) could do with amendment... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Man On The Clapham Omnibus Posted May 26, 2020 Share Posted May 26, 2020 I don't know the reasoning behind the two weeks, but it was partly my own fault for hesitating over the wisdom/morals/validity of reporting. That took a few days but mostly it was finding a mechanism for actually reporting the event. I was told by one source to take it to the local station on a card, but at the desk they said they couldn't take it that way and that I had to email it to an address they gave me. Emailing a long clip (the don't want any editing down to less than (from memory) 5 minutes before and after the event so the file is large. Once I had actually sent it successfully (Youtube was not and acceptable method) it was fifteen days after the event. It was nearly three years ago now but I'm still a bit chary about posting it publicly. Suffice it to say a near-miss full head-on at an estimated closing speed (30 from me plus of the order of 80 from the oncoming car) of >100mph with an Audi R8 at full chat is enough to loosen the anal sphincter! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blatman Posted May 26, 2020 Share Posted May 26, 2020 The only fault I am looking at here is the law and the cops. I'm going to see if there is a legitimate two week limit on video evidence though. If that is true then it would be a MASSIVE oversight in the laws for this as anyone wanting to show off on Facebook/Youtube/TikTok just has to wait two weeks to be sure of avoiding prosecution. That may be legally correct but it leaves a very bad taste... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparkymart Posted June 13, 2020 Author Share Posted June 13, 2020 Bit of an update on this one http://news.sky.com/story/two-men-arrested-after-video-showed-car-going-more-than-200mph-in-west-sussex-12005522 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stephenh Posted June 13, 2020 Share Posted June 13, 2020 So it wasn't the owner of the car, but a couple of joy riders/car thieves, by the sound of it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparkymart Posted June 13, 2020 Author Share Posted June 13, 2020 On 25/05/2020 at 13:42, Lyonspride said: Largely a bunch of M sport badged 320D driving prats What's wrong with the Msport 320d.... That's what my daily drive is Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lyonspride Posted June 14, 2020 Share Posted June 14, 2020 16 hours ago, Martin Rice (Sparkymart) - Cornwall AO said: What's wrong with the Msport 320d.... That's what my daily drive is You're excused for having a proper car 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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