Mini got me arrested!

[PMCS]

Was driving home yesterday and was pulled over by the police for speeding at 37mph in a 30mph zone. Although, according to the first cop i was doing 42mph, then the other cop gets out his car and tells me i was doing 45mph! Come on guys get your story sorted!

Anyways, during the pet talk the vehicle check came through, apparently i was driving a mercedes and not a mini! Thats news to me! Um... how do i answer that one? I made them take down the chassis number to check against their records. Alas, nothing. They put 2 and 2 together and thought i was trying to evade their presence as i was supposedly driving a stolen car. A mercedes that looked like a mini? I don't know. So i was arrested on the spot for theft of a stolen vehicle without the owners consent! (i think that was it) Anyways, aboot 5 minutes later info comes through on the radio that the chassis number matches that of the vehicle. "Its your lucky day son" - oh gee thanks! I told them i thought it was a dealer admin error and that they had given me wrong number plates. So i was de-arrested (whatever that is) and told that once i got home i could not drive the vehicle untill i sorted out the numberplates.

When i got home it turns out the last two digits on my number plate were different to that on my log book! In that they were the other way round, i.e YJ as apposed to JY. I went straight down the dealership this morning and had new plates made up. Which were provided with half a roll of stick um on yourself double sided tape. Arn't they generous! I am truly fed up now. What with the plethora of faults and an unimpressive service department. Shame, as its such a great car to drive (when it works/when im not being arrested!)

So Check you plates guys!

[monsta]

Sorry to hear about your brush with the law! At least they didn't make you wait in a cell over night etc...

You dealer needs his arse kicked for that, you should write a letter to MINI Customer services saying how you were arrested because your dealer can't spell and printed your number plates wrong. They should offer you some kind of compensation for the humiliation they have caused

[uua]

You mean in Britain the dealer actually makes up (manufactures) the plates? What do the criminals/prisoners do in jail? Or is that a synonym for car dealer (

Did the cops let you off the ticket for all the confusion?


=-uu

[PMCS]

Yeah i got away with the speeding. As far as im aware you can only be done for speeding if its officially measured and recorded i.e with a speed gun, not simply by being followed by 2 silly men in an astra who just guess the speed your going? I suppose they could have had me for dangerous driving if they really wanted to?

[min cpr]

The dept of motor vehicles made the error on the plate not the dealer. It happened to me twice. One with my pick-up truck and the police are not understanding. And then the dealer sold me the wrong car. SO, now Mini thinks I own two and keep sending me two of everything (Mugs, welcome kits, ect.) So at least I have that going for me.

[Bad Manners]

Quote:

Originally posted by PMCS
Yeah i got away with the speeding. As far as im aware you can only be done for speeding if its officially measured and recorded i.e with a speed gun, not simply by being followed by 2 silly men in an astra who just guess the speed your going? I suppose they could have had me for dangerous driving if they really wanted to?

On my first day in my MINI, I got followed and stopped by two silly women in an astra who just guessed the speed I was going. I was doing 32-33mph all through a 30mph one-way system. They said they had to do 50 to catch me up, and claimed I must've been doing 50 too.

Of course, when they radioed in my MINI, there were no details in the PNC because it was still fresh off the forecourt.

(I got off, since I wasn't speeding and hence they couldn't prove it)

[BillK]

min cpr wrote:

Quote:

The dept of motor vehicles made the error on the plate not the dealer.

That may very well be true in most cases in the U.S., but I believe PMCS is in the UK, and things may be different there. For that matter, the registration plate (license plate) may have been correct and the paperwork in error. I had a friend take delivery on a Ferrari (air freight no less) only to discover the serial number on the paper did not match the car. Customs was not concerned, but the Highway patrol was, they kept the car for a few days until all was sorted out. The errors can creep in from many places.

[BruceK]

Quote:

Originally posted by min cpr
The dept of motor vehicles made the error on the plate not the dealer....

License plates are not issued by the government in the UK - only the registration number itself is goverment issued by the DVLA (Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency).

This means that car dealers or auto parts stores actually manufacture a car's license plates on demand (following established UK government standards for license plates ).

In the UK it used to be easy to show up at a parts store and have license plates made up with any number you wished, but you must prove you own the car that matches the plates you want by showing your V5 document (like a title in the US).

So, in the UK if somebody backs into your car and damages your front plate, you just visit the local car parts store (like Halfords) and have a new plate made up to replace the old one.

[belfastcooper]

Quote:

Originally posted by PMCS
As far as im aware you can only be done for speeding if its officially measured and recorded i.e with a speed gun, not simply by being followed by 2 silly men in an astra who just guess the speed your going?

In fact, in the UK, the opinion of two police officers is sufficient for a prosecution for 'excess speed'. No need for radar, laser, cameras or vascar. Just opinion of two plod!!

The prosecution will only be for 'excess speed' and will likely roughly carry 3 points and £60 fine. As they cannot prove you were doing 90 in a 30, the min penalty applies.

Also, you don't have to break the speed limit for 'excess speed'. 29mph past a primary school at 9am on a dark wet morning might be excessive and so can be prosecuted.

Take care out there !!

[SoggyCornFlakes]

I don't think it is excess speed in that case but "due care & attention". If the limit is 30 and you are doing less you are not speeding. Kind of beings up the old chestnut of what is the real danger, speed or driving ability.

[sjbartnik]

Quote:

Originally posted by Bad Manners
On my first day in my MINI, I got followed and stopped by two silly women in an astra who just guessed the speed I was going. I was doing 32-33mph all through a 30mph one-way system. They said they had to do 50 to catch me up, and claimed I must've been doing 50 too.

Of course, when they radioed in my MINI, there were no details in the PNC because it was still fresh off the forecourt.

(I got off, since I wasn't speeding and hence they couldn't prove it)

Did the driver get a ticket because she admitted that she had been going 50 in a 30?

So it's OK for them to go 50 in a 30 but it's not OK for you to do so?
I hate stupid people

Did you explain to them that if you were doing 50 and they were doing 50 to catch up, they would not have caught up because you would have been going the same speed?
Or how about the fact that they caught up indicates they were going faster than you, since you have to go faster than someone to catch up with them?

Oh I wish that had happened to me, I could have a field day with them!

[Bad Manners]

Quote:

Originally posted by sjbartnik


Did the driver get a ticket because she admitted that she had been going 50 in a 30?

So it's OK for them to go 50 in a 30 but it's not OK for you to do so?
I hate stupid people

Did you explain to them that if you were doing 50 and they were doing 50 to catch up, they would not have caught up because you would have been going the same speed?
Or how about the fact that they caught up indicates they were going faster than you, since you have to go faster than someone to catch up with them?

Oh I wish that had happened to me, I could have a field day with them!

I've posted this before in another thread somewhere:

There's a couple of traffic lights on corners around the Kingston-upon-Thames one-way system, where I was being tailed. While they were following me, one of these sets of lights turned from green to amber.

Now, what do ya do when traffic lights turn yellow in front of you when you have a police car behind you? You stop! Well I stopped. MINI's good at stopping on corners.

The cop car behind me lost control and ended up slightly sideways an the lane one over from me. They backed up, straightened out, the lights went green and we continued, me not going quite fast enough to get a speeding ticket, them in a car that has no calibrated speedo.

When they eventually flashed the blue lights to pull over, they told me they thought I was gonna go through that amber light

Don't forget I was still running in the MINI - still on my first day's driving (well it was actually about 2am) and probably still less than 200 miles on the odometer!

[kingeric]

To be done for speeding in the UK they either need to get you with the old radar gun or follow you for 1mile using the digital read out in their car to prove the speed.

If you've been told otherwise I think you've been mislead.

Get a lawyer, goto court get off.

Also its only dedicated traffic police that can give on the spot sppeding tickets.

[yippie42]

breakin the law-breakin the law

[xnetco]

Which dealer did you buy the car with?