rf065
Senior Member
- Joined
- May 30, 2007
- Messages
- 3,523
- Reaction score
- 1,003
- Location
- Grossbritannien
- Your Mercedes
- SLC300 - C250d Estate 4 Matic & Z900rs
Hi all, have not posted in a long time but thought I would share this one with you all.
Picture the scene, just before lunchtime driving along minding my own business, I notice a police car coming up fast behind me, as he puts his blue lights on, I'm thinking he is about to pass me. Sadly, he wants me to pull over.
When he arrives at the window and asks if I know why he stopped me. I reply no. He says, you were using your mobile phone while driving. I reply, I have not used my mobile all day. He then says, you had your hand near your face and it looked as though you had an object in it. I agreed I may have inadvertantly put my hand near my face but I was not holding a phone or any other object.
He asks to see the phone which was sitting in a cubby hole at the front of the centre console and asks me to show him how to access the call logs. He checks these which confirm that no calls/texts have been made since the previous day and then says, you could have deleted them.
I'm invited in the back of his car as wants to explain a couple of things to me, incredibly, this is to offer me a fixed penalty notice or the option of going to court. I decline the fixed penalty as I again stressed I had not touched my phone at all. He then let me go and said you may or may not hear any more about it.
Well that was 3 weeks ago and now I have received the official letter advising me that the police report contains enough evidence to prosecute me if I do not accept the fixed penalty notice.
Naively thinking that the phone records will prove my innocence, I found that the phone companies are very reluctant to supply this information unless served a court order. In my case, the phone belongs to my employer and they have to try & get the records for me. Obviously the phone bill is no use as it only proves I never made a call, it does not prove that I never received any either.
So, go to court and face two mistaken policemen who are well rehearsed and have the same story? Asked a lawyer and he said about £800 for them to defend me, but I would almost certainly win. So next problem, the law changed a couple of years back and before if I won I could claim back all my expenses and prove my innocence without it costing me a penny. Since the law changed, I would now only get around half the money back.
If I accept the fixed penalty, the fine is £60 & 3 points, defend in court and lose and the fine is up to £1000 and 3 points. Defend in court with a lawyer and win, lose around £400, anyone else think there is a bit of a scam about all of this?
Russ
Picture the scene, just before lunchtime driving along minding my own business, I notice a police car coming up fast behind me, as he puts his blue lights on, I'm thinking he is about to pass me. Sadly, he wants me to pull over.
When he arrives at the window and asks if I know why he stopped me. I reply no. He says, you were using your mobile phone while driving. I reply, I have not used my mobile all day. He then says, you had your hand near your face and it looked as though you had an object in it. I agreed I may have inadvertantly put my hand near my face but I was not holding a phone or any other object.
He asks to see the phone which was sitting in a cubby hole at the front of the centre console and asks me to show him how to access the call logs. He checks these which confirm that no calls/texts have been made since the previous day and then says, you could have deleted them.
I'm invited in the back of his car as wants to explain a couple of things to me, incredibly, this is to offer me a fixed penalty notice or the option of going to court. I decline the fixed penalty as I again stressed I had not touched my phone at all. He then let me go and said you may or may not hear any more about it.
Well that was 3 weeks ago and now I have received the official letter advising me that the police report contains enough evidence to prosecute me if I do not accept the fixed penalty notice.
Naively thinking that the phone records will prove my innocence, I found that the phone companies are very reluctant to supply this information unless served a court order. In my case, the phone belongs to my employer and they have to try & get the records for me. Obviously the phone bill is no use as it only proves I never made a call, it does not prove that I never received any either.
So, go to court and face two mistaken policemen who are well rehearsed and have the same story? Asked a lawyer and he said about £800 for them to defend me, but I would almost certainly win. So next problem, the law changed a couple of years back and before if I won I could claim back all my expenses and prove my innocence without it costing me a penny. Since the law changed, I would now only get around half the money back.
If I accept the fixed penalty, the fine is £60 & 3 points, defend in court and lose and the fine is up to £1000 and 3 points. Defend in court with a lawyer and win, lose around £400, anyone else think there is a bit of a scam about all of this?
Russ
