Driving to work this morning on Motorway, an idiot in an Impreza was driving very badly, switching between lanes making people literally swerve to avoid him. This wasn't the usual rush hour driver, this was really bad!
I phoned the police and explained his driving, gave reg number and they said they would see if they had anyone in the area.
I get to the sliproad at end of Motorway (50mph slip) and lo and behold, there is the Impreza crawling along with a Police Discovery behind him. Once they get to the end of the slip road, the blues and twos go on and he is pulled in.
Don't know what was done or said but I must admit I felt quite chuffed that he had been pulled. Don't know if mine was the only call they received, or he had actually been driving badly when he passed the Police but he might drive a bit more carefully tomorrow!
Better that than a death on his hands.
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That's really unusual. I would have expected them to ignore him, but prosecute you for using a mobile while driving.
Still, well done! Many times I've wanted to do that, but for whatever reason, haven't followed through with it.
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That's really unusual. I would have expected them to ignore him, but prosecute you for using a mobile while driving.
BobbyG was probably hands-free, but you can use the phone anyway, in an emergency (whatever that is).
I remember watching one of those Police STOP programs where a car was being driven recklessly along a motorway and the Police said they'd had multiple calls about it.
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Many times I've wanted to do that, but for whatever reason, haven't followed through with it.
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ditto. except the reason i have not done so is that i do not know which telephone number to ring.
bobbyg - can you give details of which number you called the motorway police on?
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I've only ever done this once and that was over a German registered Mercedes that was driving so aggressively down the M1 that he would in my opinion have killed somebody.
I called 999 as I thought it was warranted. They said they would pass it on to the motoroway patrol. Don't know what happened after that.
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999 is the best number to call if, like this, it is an emergency. They will be able to decide if it needs to be acted upon immediately or not. When you dial 999 from a mobile your are put through to the nearest local Police control station to where you are . This is done through some complicated system of tracing which transmitter your call is going through.
I have done this a few times, once when I saw a BMW with all it's windows smashed being driven by 2 young guys (turns out the car had been vandalised the night before and they were legitimate owners), once when I came across an accident that had just happened on the M4, once when I nearly went into the back of two cars that had had a prang in the overtaking lane of the M5 on a tight bend and had got out of their cars in the overtaking lane to exchange details (!!!!!!!!!!) and once when I came across a lorry losing bales of hay on the M4 one at a time which were falling into the path of following traffic.
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Dalglish, I phoned 999 whilst in the car just outside Edinburgh and got routed to the police through a call centre in Nottingham. As I said on my call, I realise there is very little you can do, but if there were any police in the area it might be worth them looking out for him.
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i reported a yellow punto driving the wrong way up the m4 once
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police operator "have you got its registration number"
me "dont be silly i was concentrating on getting out of its way, its heading east on the west bound carriageway between junction x and y"
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Dalglish, I phoned 999 whilst in the car just outside Edinburgh and got routed to the police through a call centre in Nottingham.
Yes, all 999 calls are routed to whatever call centre has a free line, which could be anywhere. I don't think the Police can track where you are, they certainly couldn't when I phoned them once from a payphone.
Always have the number of the local station in your mobile to get hold of them in non-emergencies. Could save someones life if 999's having a busy spell.
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Mike Farrow
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Dalglish, I phoned 999 whilst in the car
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thnaks to bobbyg, slightlyfatrep, thommo, etc. for giving this information. i had always felt somewhat reluctant to phone 999 as it is difficult to judge whether my view of an emegency would be shared by the authorities, and in the fear that i might be accused of wasting police resources.
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I have to agree. Opinions on how bad the driving is may vary, so I would hate to see people using 999 every time they see something.
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