Speed limit high jinks

By: Drivers.com staff

Date: Friday, 29. June 2007

In the UK last month a milk truck driver convicted of warning motorists of a speed trap ahead had his conviction overturned by a High Court. Government prosecutors had argued that the purpose of the trap was to catch people, so driver Charles Glendinning had obstructed police in their duties.

So, are speed traps about catching people or are they about slowing traffic? Interesting question. Police forces sometimes send information about speed traps to the media because (they say) it helps slow traffic. Selective Traffic Enforcement Programs (STEPs) are a strategy in which police forces target a particular area at a particular time (major highways on a holiday weekend, for example) and run a media campaign to let the public know about their upcoming enforcement blitz.

So what did Glendinning do that was so different?

Not much, according to High Court Lord Justice Scott Baker. "What's the difference between Mr Glendinning's arm signal and a sign warning motorists of speed cameras," he asked. Mr Justice Owen suggested that some people might think the police would appreciate "the efforts of others to prevent speeding".

Police argued that Glendinning was obstructing them in their work, but this was rejected by the High Court on the grounds that there was no evidence that drivers had heeded Mr. Glendinning's warnings.

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All Comments (7)

Showing 1 - 7 comments

Webby,

Good. I warn other motorists too.
Flash my headlights, warn customers by text/ phone amd even put up
"RADAR AHEAD" signs.

i like to go fast.

DK,

Colin - keep us informed! Police in different places have very different attitudes on this. The rules are all over the place.

colin,

well today having just got back from work i seen a police strong team of about 39 stoping and fining people by the dozens with a tripod mounted camera so i went up the road about 100 yards past the camera and started to use the sign for slowing down and was arrested 15 minutes later and then releast pending a court hearing but i dont see myself as obstruvting the police i was trying to warn of a hazard ahead as the police at one point had stopped the flow of traffic so to me this was a hazard so i was doing a good thing to stop an accident from happening so i will keep you posted as i hear more but i cant understand how a speed camara warning system in a car is legal but a human warning system is not can some one explain this to me

SDK,

I think that this is a bad thing that Gelndinning did but at the same time is was the right thing to do. Imagine how many people would have gotten caught speeding if it wasn’t for Glendinning but then these people have made a decision to break a law and they should be punished. If you knew about a speed trap would you tell anyone?

Cody,

Some people just wanna go FAST

Bill,

Speeding is a good thing, going slow in the left lane, not so much