Section 59.Traffic act - Are fhe Police abusing it?

[GazzaG60]

think yu could be sectioned for a few things.
do you overtake or overtake like a knob'ed.

it seems lately people take ofence if you overtake them evenif itsa very safe one. like road position is a given.
problem with tunedaudi is it sounds beastly overtaking.

[rynaqui]

In Malta, there are people who even take offence when you overtake and they are on the other side of the road, when there is plenty of room to overtake, they will just flash their middle finger at you like you have just killed someone.

Overtaking is very interesting here, sometimes you can overtake up to 6 or more cars at once because they would all be moving at a very slow pace behind a truck or old man/lady..what makes it worse is that our roads are all 3/4 of a lane, 1 lane or 1.5 lanes either side

We do not have any such thing as a section 59 here, it's mostly a free for all on the roads

[Cottis]

In my experience, many police do not need a reason to make life difficult. That said, without them, we would be far worse off. I doubt very much that this law/act is abused much. You only ever hear the bad news but I bet it has dealt with a number of tools.

If you cannot drive correctly in built up areas and save your speed for the open road where dangerous is minimised, then you most likely deserve to be booked.

That said, I did overtake someone doing 45mph in a 60mph zone yesterday (in my little ZX ha ha) and they flashed me, accelerated and sat on my tail all the way home. They too are pricks along with boy racers who think it is funny to race their engines to 5k in a built up area. It is not funny. When I was their age, I was using my ***** on women rather than glueing it to my head whilst driving like an idiot.

[S2 EDS]

Its not a joke it needs to be substantiated and either the driver or the vehicle needs to be reported within the next 12 months before any seizure can take place.
It is a valuable tool, anyway what copper would know what an s2 is unless the driver is drawing attn to themselves...?

Lol. I know exactly what one looks like. I'm a Sergeant at Loughborough and I own one!

[sam80quattro]

I've had 1 for driving like a sick which is fair enough but ive also had 1 because a moaning old man didst like the exhaust on my jetta when i was 17. claimed i was doing donuts in the car park near his house.. fwd with a snapped handbrake cableand i certainly never put it in reverse in case anyone wonders.. but i couldn't argue as i didn't want to draw attention to my handbrake lol
a mate of mine has just received 1 as he was simply sat in the same car park as a load of idiots been stupid whilst talking to his brother...

[Ross]

That would be my concern, the 'your with the wrong crowd so you get one too' reprimand or as others have said a complaint because you dispatch someone and they don't like it. Personally, I think any act or law that is open to abuse is a problem, guilty without trial and all that.

I have been pulled for 'aggressive acceleration', got a right grilling for a rapid 30-80 joining a dual carriageway in the rain. Undercover cop was quite far behind, nobody else on the road, apparently I was a hazard to other road users? The most dangerous move was his sitting on my bumper trying to bait me when he caught up. Obviously upset I was sat on the limit and not taking it! Funny thing is I had no idea he was a cop at that point and usually would have dropped a gear and got away from anyone acting so aggressive. Experiences like that make me think laws like this should not exist.

[Cottis]

Seen plenty of undercover cars baiting motorists like Ross says. Seen plenty of drivers take the bait. It always makes me chuckle a bit followed by a sigh.

It does annoy me when coppers do 36 regularly in 30's when clearly not on a mission but then feel free to dish out the tix when you do the same. Do as I say, not as I do.

Also see quite a few police cars without lights on around the lighting up time. I always flash them for a laugh as I wouldn't want them getting a ticket. Maybe they should put light sensors on squad cars if they cannot abide by the basic laws.

[re2500]

Ive been pulled for "aggressive acceleration" too when i accelerated rapidly in my MK2 16v up to the 40mph limit from some traffic lights on a dead road at 2am.
There wasn't anyone around, i wasn't showing off, or racing. I just "felt like it"...

I got breathalyzed, my wrist slapped, as he insisted i must have been speeding but couldn't prove it :corey:
He must have seen me (or more likely heard me) and decided to try and track me down.
Annoying thing was i didn't even give it ALL the beans, but thankfully i definitely didn't speed....

[gripper]

There wasn't anyone around, i wasn't showing off, or racing. I just "felt like it"...

Now what's aggressive acceleration ? Can anyone clarify for a non-S2 owner

[FeaRThiS]

Ive been pulled for "aggressive acceleration" too when i accelerated rapidly in my MK2 16v up to the 40mph limit from some traffic lights on a dead road at 2am.
There wasn't anyone around, i wasn't showing off, or racing. I just "felt like it"...

I got breathalyzed, my wrist slapped, as he insisted i must have been speeding but couldn't prove it :corey:
He must have seen me (or more likely heard me) and decided to try and track me down.
Annoying thing was i didn't even give it ALL the beans, but thankfully i definitely didn't speed....

I had almost the same thing a couple of years ago but after a quick search a section 59 can not be given for speeding the section 59 is being abused because the police will give you a section 59 when you do something they don't like or can't prove prime example is speeding. I was told the police where travelling at 50mph so I must have been speeding my answer "if I was doing 50mph and you where doing 50mph you would never have caught me" managed to get me a section 59

[Monkeymagic]

Well as a copper lads I wouldn't call myself a C**T. I am a normal person who wanted to help members of the public who are subjected to crime etc and I come from a family of Police. A lot of you are commenting on other peoples experiences that you were not privy to.
Every job has wrong 'uns, its a bit like saying all Subaru drivers are tossers etc..... You moan that coppers tar everyone who drives a performance car with the same brush and you are doing the same and jumping to conclusions based on a stereotype.
I thought this forum was full of sensible people...

[Cottis]

Well as a copper lads I wouldn't call myself a C**T. I am a normal person who wanted to help members of the public who are subjected to crime etc and I come from a family of Police. A lot of you are commenting on other peoples experiences that you were not privy to.
Every job has wrong 'uns, its a bit like saying all Subaru drivers are tossers etc..... You moan that coppers tar everyone who drives a performance car with the same brush and you are doing the same and jumping to conclusions based on a stereotype.
I thought this forum was full of sensible people...

"Every job has wrong 'uns" Like you say Monkey, the same can be said about people coming on forums ha ha.

Many people have been wronged by the police but not as many as the millions who have been protected by them. You rarely hear the good bits but there are many. Tis a shame about the way the police are are perceived. The force doesn't help itself but that is rarely the fault of the guys on the floor/street doing the hard graft. It comes from above no doubt, as with all organisations. The perfect example is the nailing of people in 30mph zones for doing 35mph but ignoring total idiot drivers all the time because they are not speeding. It seems if you drive below the limit, you can tail gate, middle lane hog and generally drive without any consideration whatsoever (despite recent new rules which I am yet to see implemented on motorways). These people are the true danger as every other ****** is trying to get out of their way to avoid having an accident. It isn't then fair that they are dealt with as safe drivers. They are anything but. Speed doesn't kill, idiot driving kills. Put the 2 together and you get even more deaths I agree. Consideration and safe driving is way more than just observing speed limits.

[re2500]

I had almost the same thing a couple of years ago but after a quick search a section 59 can not be given for speeding the section 59 is being abused because the police will give you a section 59 when you do something they don't like or can't prove prime example is speeding. I was told the police where travelling at 50mph so I must have been speeding my answer "if I was doing 50mph and you where doing 50mph you would never have caught me" managed to get me a section 59

Haha, i had a mate who use exactly the same line...

Male Police officer: "Do you know how fast were you going sir?"
Suspect: "30mph officer"
Male Police officer: "WRONG, because i had to do 40 to catch up with you!"
Suspect: "Well yes, other wise you wouldn't have caught up, you would have stayed a constant distance behind me"
Female Police officer: "He's got you there...."

[Tap Towers]

Well as a copper lads I wouldn't call myself a C**T. I am a normal person who wanted to help members of the public who are subjected to crime etc and I come from a family of Police. A lot of you are commenting on other peoples experiences that you were not privy to.
Every job has wrong 'uns, its a bit like saying all Subaru drivers are tossers etc..... You moan that coppers tar everyone who drives a performance car with the same brush and you are doing the same and jumping to conclusions based on a stereotype.
I thought this forum was full of sensible people...

There are a fair few sensible people on this forum, we just dont comment that much.
Agreed, good and bad in every group, got to appreciate plods angle on this one a bit, they have to respond to some pretty bad RTA's because of complete dimebars flying around in pimped up 1.1's. Id tend to guess most of the people picked up on section 59's are ones who have spent a fortune in halfords glueing junk to their car, behaving like idiots in built up areas, rather than an enthusiast who opens the taps at the right place and right time. Ive overtook police at 90 a few times without issue, conditions were good, roads were quiet, and I wasnt behaving like a pratt. Still, if you end up having your collar felt, not going off on one helps

[Ross]

Well as a copper lads I wouldn't call myself a C**T. I am a normal person who wanted to help members of the public who are subjected to crime etc and I come from a family of Police. A lot of you are commenting on other peoples experiences that you were not privy to.
Every job has wrong 'uns, its a bit like saying all Subaru drivers are tossers etc..... You moan that coppers tar everyone who drives a performance car with the same brush and you are doing the same and jumping to conclusions based on a stereotype.
I thought this forum was full of sensible people...

I don't think anyone has said 'all coppers are c**ts' to be fair - as much the fault of those who worded the act... politicians are c***s too don't take it personally, I'm sure you are a good 'un

What you find is that most people are generally law abiding and sensible, thus don't really have any contact with the police except when we cross one that takes a dislike to so someone we've done and makes us feel like a criminal. So it is probably 1 in 100 coppers with an attitude, but if that's the only one i speak to in 3 years it might seem like it's all of them - but actually most must be pretty good or I'd be talking to them a lot more often!

As enthusiastic performance car drivers we're always going to stick out a bit, blast past someone (safely of course) or plant it off the lights, and occasionally cross a cop that wants to make an example, probably assuming we always drive like a nutcase and need stopping. So every now and then there will be a moan about misjustice and 'bad cops', dragging up a forum's worth of bad experiences over the past 10 years, but on a day to day basis I think we're all grateful for the majority of the force like yourself who make the country a better and safer place.