Road RageLast week I had to stop a guy attacking another one in the middle of the road - one had run the lights whilst on the phone and the other had objected. I actually had to take the attacker's car keys out of their car and tell him he wasn't getting them back till he calmed down.
Looking back on it, I was lucky I was feeling all parental and in control or the situation could have panned out very differently.
Have you lost it on the roads, or have you been on the recieving end of some nutter?
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chthonic, Thu 12 Oct 2006, 21:31)
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Got 'imI’m one of those ‘bloody ignorant coppers’ that some folks are so fond of, and as such have seen a fair few eejits doing bloody stupid things. Problem is, I usually drive around in a shed of a focus driven by people who don’t own it and don’t care about it - so its run ragged and knackered. Anyone that’s driven any squaddie vehicle will know what I mean. Chances of catching anyone in one of those is slim.
One day though, I was doing a spot of driver training in an unmarked traffic car, tuned to shit, turbo, calibrated, the works. I’m driving through rural Dorset, sticking to the speed limit (I’ve got a traffic trainer beside me no speeding in front of them) when this old geezer in a BMW - its ALWAYS a BMW - pulls up to my arse and tailgates me, really trying to piss me off as I’m going too slow for him. He can’t get past as the road is a twisty county lane, I can see he’s getting really pissed off, he’s trying to intimade me into moving over for him. Now I can’t be party to anyone breaking the law, so I can’t move over - I’m doing 60, the limit. He weaving now, ducking in and out, looking for a way past me and eventually he finds a space and nails it, flies past, pissed off that I’ve held him up.
I put on my best Darth Vader voice say much to my own amusement “I have you now” (traffic guy didn’t find it funny. No sense of occasion.) and stick the blues and twos on, hidden in the grill and hunt him, the BMW has no chance, I catch him in no time. But he won’t pull over. I’m sitting behind him, lights and siren blaring, flashing at him, but nothing. Turns out he’s too shocked and hasn’t a clue what’s happening. Eventually he pulls over and I get my flat cap on and step out to give him a grilling. I’m pissed off at the state of his shoddy driving and disregard for other road users, he was doing upwards of 90 on a twisty road that could easily have walkers or horses on it. But he apoligised. He was such a nice old man that I just don’t have the heart to give him the 3 points that he frankly deserves. I don’t give him the points and just tell him the one piece of advice that’s serves me well. If you see a plain white car with 2 blokes in the front driving at EXACTLY the limit, for fuck sake don’t overtake it. He knew he’d been caught being a berk.
I hate doing traffic stops, and I don’t like dishing out points for people who are just driving their cars. I drive when I’m off duty, sometimes I do stupid things by mistake like park in the wrong spot, or a don’t see someone on a roundabout, perhaps even go a bit quickly on some roads- we all do it, but thankfully I’ve never come off badly. But when you get caught - and we all do - don’t give the poor copper grief and shout at him, it only makes us cry. And sent you court of course. Muhaha.
(, Sat 14 Oct 2006, 13:08, Reply)
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