Can I get done by unmarked police?

adam cool dude · 22 Apr 2018 at 08:17

I have been asked to slow down before but the coppers inside were in uniform. Never pulled me over just with hand jestures. Was an unmarked Octavia VRS.

Mr Jack · 22 Apr 2018 at 08:40

The Police have a lot to do, it's not uncommon for them to deal with matters with a word instead of legal action. No different for a drink in the street than speeding. I've seen them shouting at someone to get off their phone whilst driving.

Nasher · 22 Apr 2018 at 09:48

You can deal with people on the phone yourself. Get right along-side them and beep the horn. They almost always get startled and drop it

Uther · 22 Apr 2018 at 10:13

When you say you 'accelerated quite hard to get back up to speed out of the 50' you mean back up to 70 right? So nothing to worry about.

I don't speed at all on motorways now, cruise control set at 70-71, and watch all the tools flying past, then slamming the brakes on, then accelerating, then slamming the brakes on...I'm not worried about police, it's the cameras that will get you.

Dav4 · 22 Apr 2018 at 11:42

Uther said:
When you say you 'accelerated quite hard to get back up to speed out of the 50' you mean back up to 70 right? So nothing to worry about.

Yehhhh maybe a little more than that

I think it was because they were near me while doing 50 through the temporary zone and then because I dropped it to 3rd to accelerate straight out of there fairly quickly that it probably looked worse to them than it actually was speed wise. That’s when they started accelerating to catch me up and then I proceeded to overtake a few more cars further up until they pulled alongside me.
I’m normally good at keeping a look out for unmarked traffic police they all use the same Bmw’s and Skoda Vrs on the motorways Etc but wasn’t expecting them to be in a tatty Hyundai estate lol. Even though they were obviously normal plain clothes officers they could still report me. Hopefully as most of the replies on here have said they probably won’t bother though and just gave me a telling off.

Skillmister · 22 Apr 2018 at 14:00

Nasher said:
TBH if I see any relatively new and mundane looking coming up behind me quickly I slow down if I'm over the limit. Anything more than a few years old or sporty, no problem

Come to North Wales and you'll be in for a shock then, they have all sorts of unmarked cars/vans/bikes/lorries and they are put and about all the time

koooowweeee · 22 Apr 2018 at 14:22

Dav4 said:
They were definitely real police they were driving an unmarked Hyundai estate which is what most of the normal plod drive around here.
Thanks for the replies anyway I had a quick google before posting on here and some replies on other forums were saying they can still send a nip through the post if they think I was driving at an excessive speed because all police cars have a dash cams etc and they seemed to be driving along side me for quite a while before warning me so was worried they could still report me.

Not very undercover if they all drive them. They change them all the time.

Katalyst · 22 Apr 2018 at 14:33

Nasher said:
TBH if I see any relatively new and mundane looking coming up behind me quickly I slow down if I'm over the limit. Anything more than a few years old or sporty, no problem

Yep, i think the exact same way. I'm maybe too paranoid, but whatever!

Dan103 · 23 Apr 2018 at 12:07

had two run ins with police. One with unmarked octavia vrs. pulled me over blue lights come on. admitted i was going faster than i should have on the motorway. told me to slow down and be safe no issue. Listened to him thankfully he let me go without a penalty.

skaif · 23 Apr 2018 at 12:18

I had this years ago, unmarked Vectra in the fast lane slowing down traffic by undertaking / overtaking and driving a bit manic. Eventually pulled over a Saxo for undertaking him!

Burnsy2023 · 23 Apr 2018 at 12:44

dowie said:
no it isn't a myth, if they want him to pull over they need to be wearing uniform

https://www.askthe.police.uk/content/Q587.htm

it is from the road traffic act 1988 I believe

Both yours and andi's posts are both true and not contradicting. Most offences don't require uniform. Stopping vehicles and administering road side breath tests are the exceptions to the rule.

layte · 23 Apr 2018 at 13:23

m4rmite said:
If they don't have calibrated speed cameras they can pull you over but can't prosecute ( even if marked car) - no proof.
Of course if they pulled you they would say it was dangerous driving (which is worse potentially).

I was offered an awareness course for having my mobile phone in my hand ( not using to call but music kept playing out of it when i connected my earpiece so i kept stopping it), i was pulled by an unmarked car but very obviously police officers inside the car.

The unmarked car will have a calibrated speedometer, so along with the word of the officer stating something along the lines of 'I followed xxx at x-mph as shown on the calibrated speedometer' would be enough for a NIP to be sent and enough for the magistrate if it went to court.

TheVoice · 23 Apr 2018 at 14:05

koooowweeee said:
Not very undercover if they all drive them. They change them all the time.

Far from it, in most forces the CID/enquiry/pool cars linger around for ages.

layte said:
The unmarked car will have a calibrated speedometer, so along with the word of the officer stating something along the lines of 'I followed xxx at x-mph as shown on the calibrated speedometer' would be enough for a NIP to be sent and enough for the magistrate if it went to court.

An unmarked Roads Policing/ARV would, but a regular vehicle not used for specialist duties won't. They get some blues, a radio and that's about it.

d_brennen · 23 Apr 2018 at 15:58

Nasher said:
TBH if I see any relatively new and mundane looking coming up behind me quickly I slow down if I'm over the limit. Anything more than a few years old or sporty, no problem

There's a pretty nice Audi unmarked around these parts and a VW Golf GTi too. Look like a drug dealer's choice of rides tbh

Nasher · 23 Apr 2018 at 17:52

d_brennen said:
There's a pretty nice Audi unmarked around these parts and a VW Golf GTi too. Look like a drug dealer's choice of rides tbh

They would fall under mundane looking

At one time they used to roll in Impreza STIs. Which is a much bigger threat for anyone looking to make a run for it.

On Holiday · 23 Apr 2018 at 19:02

Nasher said:
They would fall under mundane looking

At one time they used to roll in Impreza STIs. Which is a much bigger threat for anyone looking to make a run for it.

I got a few comments such as "I thought you were a copper" myself back when I owned my grey WRX STI Hatchback.

Agree with the new + mundane thing though, if an Audi or BMW comes rolling past me, I'll drop close to what the speed limit is and have a quick peek in before setting off again

I got off lightly from a nice officer in an Audi A6 recently. I know I won't get off so lightly in the car I have now tbh.

koooowweeee · 23 Apr 2018 at 19:18

TheVoice said:
Far from it, in most forces the CID/enquiry/pool cars linger around for ages.

An unmarked Roads Policing/ARV would, but a regular vehicle not used for specialist duties won't. They get some blues, a radio and that's about it.

Not in my area. Would be stupid to keep the same cars for a while. Word get round very quickly. See people posting about it on Facebook all the time.

andi · 23 Apr 2018 at 23:34

dowie said:
no it isn't a myth, if they want him to pull over they need to be wearing uniform

https://www.askthe.police.uk/content/Q587.htm

it is from the road traffic act 1988 I believe

It is not an offence for you to fail to stop for an officer in uniform, that doesn't mean you can't pull people if you're not in uniform.

As Burnsy says, in certain circumstances you need to be in uniform to administer a breath test, but I can't think of any offences you cannot prosecute if you're not in uniform.

The old myth is that a copper can't give you a ticket if he's not wearing a hat. It's up there with having to let pregnant ladies urinate in your hat. Also nonsense.

dowie · 23 Apr 2018 at 23:40

andi said:
It is not an offence for you to fail to stop for an officer in uniform, that doesn't mean you can't pull people if you're not in uniform.

As Burnsy says, in certain circumstances you need to be in uniform to administer a breath test, but I can't think of any offences you cannot prosecute if you're not in uniform.

The old myth is that a copper can't give you a ticket if he's not wearing a hat. It's up there with having to let pregnant ladies urinate in your hat. Also nonsense.

What I posted was correct and was in direct reply to a person talking about being pulled over, just quoting me as you did before and saying it is a myth is a bit dubious, hopefully the link to the official police answers website clarifies what I was referring to.

A member of the public can report someone for dangerous driving if they like, that isn't really relevant, the post was about pulling someone over.

NewGamer11 · 24 Apr 2018 at 08:38

Plenty O'Toole said:
Agree with the new + mundane thing though, if an Audi or BMW comes rolling past me, I'll drop close to what the speed limit is and have a quick peek in before setting off again

Same. It appears I need to add Skoda Octavia vRS to the list too though. I did see an unmarked Golf GTI with the lights on that was "pressing on" recently which I was surprised by.