Christopher J. Buckley

It’s no secret that I hold a very keen interest in legal matters concerning the enforcement of the Road Traffic Act 1991. As our government takes further steps towards a stalinist state , driving without a basic knowledge of the law and, most importantly, your rights should be a concern to anyone who uses British roads. Our government and traffic police have become obsessed with ’speeding’, regardless of the arguments that ’speeding does not automatically increase accident rates’. In fact, figures used to ‘prove’ speed cameras result in fewer fatalities, in no way take into account the massive safety advances manufacturers are making year upon year.

1. Act professionally and address the officers politely at all times. Remember: roadside officers can make life very hard for you if they wish to. However, never surrender your legal rights just to make ‘life easy’ for them. I will address this further on.
2. Become initimate with the Association of Chief Police Officers’ Guidelines on best practice. The CPS’ ability to secure a conviction (if you choose to fight your fixed penalty — if offered!) is significantly reduced if these guidelines are not correctly followed.
3. Never produce your driving licence at the road side. You only have to provide the officer with your name, address and occupation.
4. Ask the officer(s) for their evidence against you. Whilst you do not have a legal right to disclosure at the time of the stop, it is good practice for an officer to supply it to you. Be pro-active and and ask them to explain exactly how the equipment works. Make sure you ask what time markers the officer used to check your time – this could be crucial later in challenging your offence. Remember, all the time-distance recording equipment is operated manually — human errors can and do occur.
5. Stand your ground. Do not feel intimidated by an officer trying to bully you into a confession or admit what speed you were doing. If an officer asks you what speed you were travelling at, do not answer this. You are under no legal obligation to do so. Answering this question will usually only serve to give the officer ammunition against you. It has often been the case that without a verbal confession, an officer would have been unable to issue an offence code.
6. Think before you speak. This might appear obvious, but you would be surprised at the number of people who convict themselves by admitting to an offence, even if they actually weren’t committing any! Did you know that car manufacturers’ configure their speedometers 5% above an accurate reading? So, you admitting to a speed of, say, 80mph is actually incorrect!
7. Become familiar with the tools traffic police use to gather evidence of speeding with:. Pepipoo has excellent information concerning time/distance devices such as Provida and Vascar units. A traffic officer will quickly realise, when questioned about these devices, that you are fully aware of how he should have been operating it — if their car is even fitted with one! Any ‘chances’ the officer might be taking with you to admit your guilt (as is so often the case at a road-stop) will drastically diminish once you become armed with a knowledge of how these devices should be used.
8. Ask the officer if you are suspected of committing a criminal offence: The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 stipulates that if an officer suspects you of committing a criminal offence then your conversation becomes an interview situation. This requires a police caution to be verbally issued; one of the rights quoted to you is that ‘you do not have to say anything’. An officer will start to treat you with a great deal more respect (if any was shown in the first instance..) once you cite PACE and your rights as a suspect. If you are cautioned, do not say anything until you have spoken to a solicitor — that is your enshrined right. It is my experience that if an officer knows they are trying it on it will be confirmed that you not suspected of a criminal offence. This being the case, you are free to go on your way.