Tuesday 2 August 2016

Classic British Understatement

From the BBC:

A man caught speeding at 154mph (247km/h) has been banned from driving for 56 days....

He was driving a [ghastly little hatch back] when he was stopped by police. Officers said they believed it to be the highest recorded speed on a Suffolk road.

Appearing at Bury St Edmunds Magistrates' Court, Howlett was also ordered to pay £365.

Suffolk police said the sentence was "disappointing". Inspector David Giles, from the roads policing unit, said: "I don't think it is enough at all. I'm really disappointed frankly. It's not a real incentive to stick within the speed limit, in my opinion."


IMHO he should have been banned for life and been forced to watch as they crush his car. The police have my full sympathy on this one.

12 comments:

Lola said...

Crikey. I didn't think a Seat Leon Cupra would get to that.

Lola said...

May I play Devils Advocate here.

That bit of road is a dual carriageway. And is between junctions (if memory serves). And the sight lines are good (ditto). It was probably 'safe' to go that fast there, assuming that there was little traffic, the weather was good and there was no debris on the road. (I should say that I was on holiday touring in Germany in June and the autobahns were quite entertaining. It was actually easier to join in than drive like a I normally do).

Nevertheless he's clearly a twat and I doubt that he knows how to drive at that speed.

Mark Wadsworth said...

L it's the best advertising they ever had - completely free.

Curtis said...

I used to drive that bit of the A11 weekly, frequently after midnight. It was single-carriageway until January 2015 but is now the most "advanced" bit of road in the surrounding area.

I would say that between 10pm and 5am it is safe to do 110mph there if your reflexes are good and your car is functioning properly, although I never saw anyone doing more than 90 (and it wasn't me). 150 I think is not safe because nobody else is expecting it.

The bit just south of Thetford (not the upgraded bit) has a 50 limit for about 500 yards or so (northbound it is to make people slow down for the roundabout though nobody does, but southbound there is no real reason) and that is a police hotspot where several friends have been fined/given points for doing 53 or so, despite the "guidelines" of not prosecuting until 57.

Steven_L said...

Her indoors has the top of the range diesel Leon FR. It's over 100bhp shy of a cupra, but its a bloody fast little motor and it handles well too. The cupras (and a lot of other 'hot hatches' now) basically shift like 'supercars' did in the 1990's. Except you can lease them for £300 month or so.

I must admit I was very tempted to get one and it was only the naff interior and sub 30mpg fuel consumption that put me off. They are going for about £23k on Seat PCP finance via drivethedeal now.

So when MW says 'he should ... have been forced to watch as they crushed his car' I'd hazard a guess that it wasn't his car at all, that in fact he simply popped into a Seat dealership, paid at tops a £1,000 deposit, signed a form and picked it up 2 months later.

Lola said...

To be frank,booting a hot hatch in a straight line is easy. It's learning how to stop one like Lewis Hamilton that is the really skilled bit.

Lola said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Steven_L said...

As long as you leave the esp on they are easy to boot around the back roads too. Cars are damn clever these days.

Sackerson said...

This could be the way to go: http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/03/finland-home-of-the-103000-speeding-ticket/387484/

benj said...

In Germany he would have been ok doing this on their motorway.


Lola said...

Update

http://www.edp24.co.uk/news/crime/police_launch_appeal_against_sentence_after_lakenheath_man_caught_going_154mph_on_a11_is_banned_for_56_days_1_4642581?utm_medium=email&utm_source=eshot&utm_campaign=newsletterlink

Seems like The Law aren't happy either.

mombers said...

What a w@nk stain