very dubious speeding ticket - advise please

A537 from Buxton to Macclesfield. At the end of the A537 as it hits
Macclesfield there is a right bend where shortly afterward (few metres)
speed limit changes from 50 to 30mph. There were two vehicles in front of
me as I hit this right bend. Shortly afterward as I proceeded down the
straight in a built up area I heard a police car approaching from my rear. I
slowed and pulled to the left to allow it to overtake. I was very surprised
to see it flash and indicate me to pull over! Apparently I had been gunned
at 44 mph at a distance of 106 metres away from the police vehicle. This
means the police car must have been stationary in a side road on the right
hand side very shortly after the 30 mph speed change. Now at this point as
I mention above there were 2 vehicles in front of me. Each of these vehicles
were making faster progress than me. And in fact I had slowed down before
the right hand bend due to water streaming down the hill.

The gripes I have are:

1. I was an idiot not to contest this ticket in anyway. I accepted it
without a fight. To be fair, this is the first time I had travelled this
route so at first I was confused as to where I had apparently been caught
speeding.

2. After quizzing the PC (after he'd written the ticket), I started to
recall and realise where he was located. I pointed out that 2 vehicles were
ahead of me. His response was something to the affect of "yes that's
unfortunate. With these guns we aim for the last vehicle due to accuracy.
Unjust I know".

3. I then retraced my route to make sure my recollection as described above
was correct. Riding back home I then became more and more frustrated with
myself for not contesting the ticket. I question that if I had, may be the
PC would have backed down with issuing the ticket.

Now I need to consider allowing this ticket to go to court and I would like
to ask advice. Any one here ever contested speeding ticket in court? The
standard ticket gives 3 points and a £60 fine. This could be raised if taken
to court. Any other advice for me in my situation?

I'm so angry about it, grrr.

Thanks.


--

 

I forgot to add that I asked the PC if he had any video evidence to show me
where I was supposedly speeding and he hadn't. He only had the speed gun to
go off. So now I'm wondering if a speed gun can accurately detect a
motorcycles speed as it travels behind two vehicles. Any advice much
appreciated.

--

 

So you were speeding, and got caught, and you're offered 3 points and 60
quid and want to contest it?

Bend over and take it, you twat. Just put it down to all those times
you were _really_ speeding, and didn't get caught. Karma.

 

"dundonald" said

SNIP
Apparently I had been gunned

So, I am assuming that the distance from the speedtrap to the 30mph sign was
greter than or equal to 106 metres, putting you inside the 30 zone doing
44mph?
--
Donegal Paul
Lambretta Li186 - crashed and bashed
Vespa T5 Millenium - Wifey's (technically)
www.thepilgrimssc.co.uk
www.a4c.co.uk - What are YOU doing?

 

<snip>

I know you won't like this, but, the fact is,YOU WERE speeding. Pay the fine
and take the points. Going to court is just a waste of time and will ,more
often than not, cost you more.
As for the 2 vehicles in front...they got lucky, it happens!
Sorry if this is not the answer you wanted to hear!

 

Yes it can , especially at that distance.
The view through the sights is nicely magnified with cross hairs to show you
where you are aiming at.
Picking off a bike travelling behind a car is quite possible unless you were
right on the boot lid of the car in front , and if that was the case then
you can't claim they were going faster than you.
--
Alex

YZF 600

"I laugh in the face of danger"

"Then I hide until it goes away"

www.upce.org.uk
www.drzoidberg.co.uk

 

lol, of all the replies this was the best. Thanks.

--

 

Yes.

--

 

And always make sure you're never the last bike when out in a group...

 

Or the front one
--
Alex

YZF 600

"I laugh in the face of danger"

"Then I hide until it goes away"

www.upce.org.uk
www.drzoidberg.co.uk

 

It's ok guys. After further reflection, and calming down some what during
the day, I have to bite the bullet and accept it. I do feel unfortunate
though and in a way I'm sure the PC was clamping down on a motorcycle rather
than a car. Do police have a quota to capture motorcycle 'offenders'? Who
knows, but I guess in an area where many motorcycles travel (A537) quite
possibly. The real frustrating thing is that I was keeping to the speed
limit. As soon as I hit the built up area I was keeping to 30. Had I been
speeding, the police car wouldn't have caught up to me until a lot further
down the road. And as I said in the OP, I was very surprised to learn he was
flashing me, not wanting to overtake.

--

 

Ring a ding ding.

Don't listen to local radio Sir? You should. Motorcycles noisy and
dangerous things. High profile campaign that has been running for
months now.

Both Staffordshire and Cheshire Police have been advertising the fact
that they are, due to the number of accidents involving motorcycles,
clamping down on speeding and any other infringements that may take
their fancy.

Sir should really listen to local radio. That road is top of the hit
list due to the high accident rate claimed.

Also the A500, A34 and A50 are other roads in the area that having a
greater Police presence due to the fact that people who ride
motorcycles are perceived to be some kind of half wit that needs to be
protected. Though give the Janitors a fair crack of the whip. They
have been stating which are the targeted roads.

Nothing you can really do. Just take it on the nose. A guy I used to
know took a very simplistic view of things. He used to look at the
cost of the fine, work out how many miles he had travelled since last
being caught, divided the cost of the fine by the mileage covered.

Just another running cost to add to the joys of owning anything that
uses the road these days.

 

lol. I'm not local. That was my first visit on the A537.

--

 

"dundonald" repliedv to "Donegal Paul" thoughtfully wrote:>

Youre fucked then, pay the fine.
--
Donegal Paul
Lambretta Li186 - crashed and bashed
Vespa T5 Millenium - Wifey's (technically)
www.thepilgrimssc.co.uk
www.a4c.co.uk - What are YOU doing?

 

You're joking, right? You can't seriously believe this? There seem to
be absolutely no grounds that I can see to argue the toss. You were
over the limit, you got nicked; deal with it.

 

Which would be fine - were it not for the points side of things.

 

Hmm - it's been mentioned on here before as well - and it's a notorious
biker road (I mean why did you choose it, or had you really not heard of
it?) and (according to the AA) would be one of the safest roads in the
country if motorcycle accidents and deaths were taken out of the stats.

 

Hmm, Macclesfield. you're fucked. pay the fine, they'll do you anyway.

--
Adie
(replace spam with nickname to reply)

UKRM FAQ: http://www.ukrm.net/faq/

Triumph 955iSS / GSF600 bandit
MRO#11 BOTAFOF#7 BOTAFOT#130 DIAABTCOD#17 MIB#24 YTC#16 BOB#15 ex-UKRMMA#22

 

Come on - the Cat 'n' Fiddle is nationally known as a "bike" road,
hence all the fuss, the 50 limit (used to be NSL), the heavy police
presence, etc.

Besides, you should've said you were in the area then some of the
locals could've shown you the better roads.

 

True.. but he managed only ever to get nicked when his licence was
devoid of points. Good point though.