Dangerous driving

[Leif]

Friday evening on the way home I overtook a car and an SUV towing a horse box on the upward stretch of a hill. I was tail gated by a high end BMW, which overtook me when I pulled over. For a good part of his overtake of me the white line on our side was solid. Checking the video I saw he nearly hid a bike head on, only just pulling in on time.

I was going to send the video to the police, but I noticed my speed is recorded as 61 mph at one point and the limit is 50. Does anyone know if I could be done given that the dash cam GPS is uncalibrated? Past experience with office based traffic police is that they are faceless bureaucrats out to prosecute the easy target.

[fazzy]

I don't know how it works in the UK, but in Poland you would not be fined on grounds of your GPS readout.
Here you can only be fined if you were trapped using a homologated apparatus used by the traffic police.
Even if you speed past a police patrol and they are not using a radar, they cannot fine you just because you were obviously going faster
Curious... how does it work in the UK?

[Cadwest]

Yes the police can use your own dash cam to convict you. I believe that if a police officer sees you driving at what he considers excessive speed and pulls you over he has the right to look at your dash cam footage and if it displays the speed he can use it as evidence against you. A number of people on motorcycles have been prosecuted as a result of them putting their own footage on YouTube.

https://www.which.co.uk/reviews/dash-ca ... ed-to-know

[RUM4MO]

I'd think that the issue here is being silly enough to report another motorist for "bad" driving when you have been "bad" driving, makes no sense to me at all be it be against a BMW or M-B or the usual hate marque, Audi.

[Leif]

I'd think that the issue here is being silly enough to report another motorist for "bad" driving when you have been "bad" driving, makes no sense to me at all be it be against a BMW or M-B or the usual hate marque, Audi.

No, there is a difference between going a bit over the limit during an overtake on a long straight stretch with no hazards, and overtaking near the brow of a hill with a solid white line and nearly totalling a bike. I’m surprised you don’t see that.

[Leif]

Yes the police can use your own dash cam to convict you. I believe that if a police officer sees you driving at what he considers excessive speed and pulls you over he has the right to look at your dash cam footage and if it displays the speed he can use it as evidence against you. A number of people on motorcycles have been prosecuted as a result of them putting their own footage on YouTube.

https://www.which.co.uk/reviews/dash-ca ... ed-to-know

Thanks. Looks like it’s too risky, and I’d better be careful about You Tube too. Shame as the driving was dangerous.

[Leif]

I don't know how it works in the UK, but in Poland you would not be fined on grounds of your GPS readout.
Here you can only be fined if you were trapped using a homologated apparatus used by the traffic police.
Even if you speed past a police patrol and they are not using a radar, they cannot fine you just because you were obviously going faster
Curious... how does it work in the UK?

Maybe Poland is a better place to live. A bit deserted these days too I suspect.

[fazzy]

Maybe Poland is a better place to live. A bit deserted these days too I suspect.

Nope... I wouldn't say that. Over 3000 people dying in car crashes every year. Speed limit is just a suggestion. Red light works on a similar principle... just a suggestion. Solid lines can be interpreted in any way you please, and the fines for offenders are just... funny. Imagine that the highest fine you can get in Poland is PLN500 - approx 100 Pounds - and that is for exceeding the speed limit by 50 km/h or more... (32 mph or more). That means that if you travel on the highway, where the speed limit is 140 km/h and you get a 10 km/h grace, setting the limit at 150 km/h (93 mph) - and you travel at let's say 210 km/h (130 mph) you will only get fined 100 Pounds... But that is the maximum fine, so if you speed at lets say 250 km/h (155 mph) you will also get fined only 100 Pounds... and that makes it scary to drive here.
I have been here for more than 10 years and I'm still afraid to drive around these palookas...

Still way too many people in towns. Villages are becoming deserted

[RUM4MO]

I'd think that the issue here is being silly enough to report another motorist for "bad" driving when you have been "bad" driving, makes no sense to me at all be it be against a BMW or M-B or the usual hate marque, Audi.

No, there is a difference between going a bit over the limit during an overtake on a long straight stretch with no hazards, and overtaking near the brow of a hill with a solid white line and nearly totalling a bike. I’m surprised you don’t see that.

I don't think that you quite understood what/why I wrote that comment, if I had been you in that situation, I would have let it go because I was not 100% driving to the road speed limits/conditions.

Now, if you had reported being driving within the speed limit on an uphill section with solid lines indicating "no overtaking - hazard ahead" - and that BMW overtook you and headed into the no overtaking zone, I would have agreed with your original posting.

[monkeyhanger]

Can you turn off your GPS readings in your footage? You can on my dashcam. Might help you in future to avoid incriminating yourself for speeding if you see something truly reckless.

[Leif]

I'd think that the issue here is being silly enough to report another motorist for "bad" driving when you have been "bad" driving, makes no sense to me at all be it be against a BMW or M-B or the usual hate marque, Audi.

No, there is a difference between going a bit over the limit during an overtake on a long straight stretch with no hazards, and overtaking near the brow of a hill with a solid white line and nearly totalling a bike. I’m surprised you don’t see that.

I don't think that you quite understood what/why I wrote that comment, if I had been you in that situation, I would have let it go because I was not 100% driving to the road speed limits/conditions.

Now, if you had reported being driving within the speed limit on an uphill section with solid lines indicating "no overtaking - hazard ahead" - and that BMW overtook you and headed into the no overtaking zone, I would have agreed with your original posting.

I don’t understand your point. His driving was blatantly dangerous. Mine was not dangerous, but during the overtake I exceeded the limit, and hence I could be done by the police. I normally keep to the limits, or under, but in this case I was watching the road not my speedo for obvious reasons, and because I was being tailgated while overtaking which I find frightening as it reduces my options.

[Leif]

Can you turn off your GPS readings in your footage? You can on my dashcam. Might help you in future to avoid incriminating yourself for speeding if you see something truly reckless.

That would make sense, not sure the GPS has a purpose, though I suppose it could be used to suggest I was not speeding if an accident happened, so that might help an insurance claim. As I said above, I do normally keep within the speed limits.

[monkeyhanger]

Can you turn off your GPS readings in your footage? You can on my dashcam. Might help you in future to avoid incriminating yourself for speeding if you see something truly reckless.

That would make sense, not sure the GPS has a purpose, though I suppose it could be used to suggest I was not speeding if an accident happened, so that might help an insurance claim. As I said above, I do normally keep within the speed limits.

The GPSs main purpose on a dashcam is to know where you are, not the speed you are doing (some indicate the prevailing road speed for your location). I have turned off my GPS output stamp on the recorded video files.

[Leif]

Can you turn off your GPS readings in your footage? You can on my dashcam. Might help you in future to avoid incriminating yourself for speeding if you see something truly reckless.

That would make sense, not sure the GPS has a purpose, though I suppose it could be used to suggest I was not speeding if an accident happened, so that might help an insurance claim. As I said above, I do normally keep within the speed limits.

The GPSs main purpose on a dashcam is to know where you are, not the speed you are doing (some indicate the prevailing road speed for your location). I have turned off my GPS output stamp on the recorded video files.

Yes of course. I’ll have a fiddle with mine, and see if i can edit the video to remove the driving details.

[Adam_013]

That would make sense, not sure the GPS has a purpose, though I suppose it could be used to suggest I was not speeding if an accident happened, so that might help an insurance claim. As I said above, I do normally keep within the speed limits.

The GPSs main purpose on a dashcam is to know where you are, not the speed you are doing (some indicate the prevailing road speed for your location). I have turned off my GPS output stamp on the recorded video files.

Yes of course. I’ll have a fiddle with mine, and see if i can edit the video to remove the driving details.

I dare say a video editing program could crop that section out if required.

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