I was stopped by the police for doing 100MPH on a motorway that was deserted. Was I driving dangerously?

Baz Cymraeg

How safe was the police car that caught up with you, it must have been going faster than you!

Assuming that you keep your car well maintained, your car and the police car that followed you, were probably as safe (or no more dangerous) as each other in respect to an unexpected event such as animals jumping out into the carriageway, and tyre blowouts.

Whilst the police may have their advanced training, I wonder how many are any more competent than the typical experienced motorist. I've seen enough of them change lane without indication, and astoundingly one police van pull off the hard shoulder of the M6 without indicating and causing vehicles behind to brake hard. I would suggest that the driver of the police vehicle in that case was less safe in his actions to himself and others than someone else driving at 100mph on a clear road.

However to answer your question, you were driving dangerously, but its all relative. The moment anyone moves a vehicle whether its 4mph or 100mph there are dangers involved. A car and the driver are both potentially killing machines no matter what speed is travelled, and all other things being equal the greater the speed the greater the dangers. But things weren't equal on the day you you were caught speeding, you were speeding on a clear road, and therefore safer than someone dashing to work. or rushing to get to the hairdressers on time, doing 33mph in a 30 zone, (...and we've all done it...) when realistically 25 or 20 or 15 mph may be more appropriate.

Danger is relative, if at 5am in the morning I choose to run along a pavement in town, that has been designed for walking, am I a risk to myself or others (when no one else is about) and should I fear for my shoe lace becoming undone, tripping and cracking my head on the kerb? But, the law allows me to do this, in the same way that the law allowed me as a cyclist (when I was younger with less sense) to cycle fast down steep hills overtaking cars on derestricted roads. When the law says that I can do something this doesn't make it safe, and conversely when the law says that I can't do something, that doesn't necessarily mean that I would be a danger if I did.

Know it all

The fact that you would this question, shows how silly you are.

MOON WITCH

for a start you are not in germany. and as for your speed all it would have taken is a blown tyre, and you'd be a gonner.....is it worth it ??

shadowsthathunt

Anything above the speed limit is considered driving dangerously/recklously in the eyes of the law. If you are not following the rules of the road, you are being dangerous. If you got a ticket... unfortunatly you will need to pay it and any other fines or points to your licence that they feel is fit for your situation. Good luck.

steph g

no offense but yes u were driving dangerously cuz what if you lost control of the car... and at a speed like that you could have died : (

jmiller

yes. coulda killed yourself.

diamond dog

You were breaking the law so the police were correct to stop you.
The UK speed limit for a motoway is 70 mph unless instructed to drive slower by the matrix signs.

Edit - Yes you were driving dangerously.

vinster82

If you have to ask this question you're not smart enough to have a license. OF COURSE YOU WERE DRIVING DANGEROUSLY YOU MORON!!!!

You don't need a lecture you need a 2x4 upside your head...

Spot

sorry to say but YES think about it.

punkuwill

YES YOU WERE!!!

jeanjean

if you hit something, a tree or something do u think you would be alive? yes 100 miles per hour is dangerous

Jason

Yes you were according to your state laws, the posted speed limit is the maximum speed you can legally travel on the road. Anything over that is speeding and in most states anything 15 miles an hour over the posted limit is considered Reckless Driving. Just because the road was deserted other than for yourself does not make it any less illegal.

As I see it if you were the only one on it speeding like that then you should have seen the cop somewhere anyways and slowed down. The more cars the less likely you are to be picked out on the road but going that fast all by yourself is like putting a big TICKET ME sign on your vehicle.

And the Autobahn part is no excuse there they have different laws and rules and can go much faster on it so it would not have been speeding under the law, now whether you were driving dangerously is a different story. Someone could drive 100 and do just fine but others could not handle and control a vehicle at that speed.

LeXy

Yes you never know who's around so you could have hit somebody

Bardic

Only to yourself. As well you know.

dkappa95

Yes. American roads are not designed for those speeds. It would be suicide here in NY on the L.I.E during the winter.

Also, how do you know no one was around. The cop was there.

Bob Lahblah

Yes, of course. I've driven on the autobahn in Germany and they will give you a ticket for driving 100 MPH (or however many KPH that equals). Even though there is no speed limit, they will cite you for reckless driving.

Jimmy P

not on the autobhan but every ware else is 70mph and if your doing 100mph yoiu could ram the back of the car

Signilda

The law is the law. In Germany the law is different. Any car driving over 50 miles an hour is going at a dangerous speed, but communities decide how to weigh the risks and set the limits. I think Germans must have chosen Darwin's Law to decide their speed limits.

Vince M

YOU posed the question and then get defensive when people respond.

Get over yourself.

The fact that you hold yourself above the law, and then boast about it in a public forum, fairly invites the comments like the ones you read.

The fact is, that police officers are charged with the responsibility to protect YOU, and not just every other driver on the road. If your road (clearly NOT the autobahn) was not designed for speeds of 100 mph, then you WERE driving dangerously. To dismiss the risks because the chance of something going wrong is rare, is to deny the facts. In spite of all the dangerous drivers and situations on the road, collisions are still rather rare. High speeds, low speeds, it is still a rare event that things go horribly wrong.

The difference is that things CAN go wrong much more quickly at high speeds. And, higher speeds means that the end result of a problem is more likely to be a MORE serious injury or a fatality.

Add to that, the cost of scraping YOU off of the road surface, and the rest of the clean up costs are borne by the rest of us, in the form of increased taxes and insurance premiums. Consider this: I have had ONE traffic citation in 35 years of driving. (and that was almost 20 years ago) Yet, I STILL have to pay insurance premiums. Not because I am a bad driver. But because many other people are.

la di da di da

yes. even if there was nobody on the road, which there was, because there was a cop, you are putting YOU, and otheres in danger, do you want to be responsible for a deadly car accident????? i didnt think so. (did you know that the human body is only made to withstand an impact of 12 mph? ya, people survive accidents with faster speeds, but 100 mph impact will fcuk u up!) Even if the autobahn, has no speed limit, yo should drive responsibly, and if you arent, you can still get a ticket!

PS i hope that cop gave you a HUGE ticket

Magus

I thought that the police no longer chased idiots like you, as it increases the likelyhood of decent people getting hurt.

PraiseBob

Yes, you were driving dangerously. The motorway was obviously not deserted, the cop was there. I'm darned glad a kid on a bicycle or, for that matter, a stray dog didn't wander into your path.

The speed limit is not a "suggested speed if you feel like it". It is the maximum allowable speed on that particular chunk of road. Pay your fine and quit trying to pretend you didn't do anything wrong.

The traffic laws in Germany are completely irrelevant.

fivetoze

what does it matter, youre going to get an automatic ban anyway...

and german autobahns do have speed limits, especially around towns where the limit is 100kph...

and yes, you were driving without due care and attention... maaybe not dangerous... but youre still going to get banned

coffee

Yes.Yes. You deserve to lose your licence.

Patty C

Yes, as a highway engineer, roads are posted at a speed for a reason. Vertical curves and sight distance around corners are only checked at those speeds. The curves themself are also only checked at those speeds. Which is to say, even though the road looks flat or straight, there can still be curves in them, and if an animal gets on the road (or a person) you may not have enough time to stop.

Kathy

Yes

stuart d

What speed were the cops doing when they chased after you?

They like a wee buzz as well, what better way of doing it than blaming you????

PS., the moral of the story..
Don't get caught!!!!

bungee

yep

roger.williams20@btinternet.com

Depends what you were driving and whether you were capable of maintaining control at that high speed. You should pay for a track day and enjoy the high speed experience.
You knew that travelling at 100mph was illegal and you cannot therefore complain.

The Tank

We can't say if you were driving dangerously or not because we didn't see you doing it and we don't know the weather or other conditions.

You are wrong to say that the motorway was deserted, obviously you didn't see the police car. It is also possible that you did not notice any other vehicle that may have been there.

As for driving on an autobahn, you should be aware that most of them now have speed limits - especially in the north. The German traffic police will book you just as quickly as ours will.

Twiggy

What a stupid question ! I wasn`t there to see if you were driving dangerously. But if you`re dumb enough to overtake a police vehicle at 80, and then wind it up to the ton knowing full well that he is still behind you, that rates as plain stupid, and you deserve what you got.

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