Col-ashtonmobile Posted May 28, 2010 Report Share Posted May 28, 2010 Firstly let me just say i have respect for the police service , a few of my mates are the bill and i have ties through rugby with the met police , but this happened last night , I was on my way back from east surrey hospital after visiting my mum who as some of you know had a heart attack weds night so i was feeling a bit tense to say the least, a police car follows me from the godstone roundabout all along the caterham bypass down into the valley then up my hill then outside my house gets the blues flashing as i,m about to park up, as i,m about to reverse into my drive he bangs on my door shouting ' STOP ' i said ' i,m not going anywhere i,m parking up ' so i park up and he says ' right sir we,ve been following you from the A25 and you have committed an offence so i need to caution you ' ' right ' i said quite not knowing what i had done ' he cautioned me and then said ............... ' you have no stop light on the offside rear light a defective light is an offence ' i, said ' ok if you dont mind turning your blue lights off because now you,ve got all my neighbours looking out the windows at me i,ll check the bulb ' and as i remove the bulb i show it to him and it is black where it is blown ,' i said ' the bulb is blown and could have happened at anytime it does not mean the light is defective surely , if a bulb blows in your house you dont replace the lght unit you just replace the bulb ' so i go to my van pull out a new bulb fit it in and have the light working i then said ' i cant see how a bulb blowing constitutes an offence being committed , i cant see the rear stop lights so i need to rely on yourselfs or other motorist to advise me i only have one stop light surely ' he then said ' well as you,ve got the light operative now i,ll let you off ' he then drove off leaving me totally confused . what,s everyone,s thought,s on this cos i,m at a loss where the commiting an offence comes from ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trevmk3 Posted May 28, 2010 Report Share Posted May 28, 2010 not sure mate, ive been given producers for having a light out before that you have to get stamped at an MOT station and send back to them, but i think you probably scuppered him by getting another bulb and replacing it on the spot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pipster007 Posted May 28, 2010 Report Share Posted May 28, 2010 I hope Ma Ashton is doing well It sounds like he was having a slow night. But how hard would it have been just to stop you and let you know. I've told many people that they have a brake light out at an opportune moment e.g pull next to them at traffic lights and let them know. I know in America you can be pulled over and given a citation for defective lights, even it's only a blown bulb. Daggle would be the man to ask Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daggle Posted May 28, 2010 Report Share Posted May 28, 2010 Yep a blown bulb is an offence, all lights must be in good working order. So by having a light out, it is a moving traffic offence and gives you the Police an entitlement to stop you and maybe even breath test you It sounds to me from the way that he spoke to you that he was a newbie, it maybe that you were the first person that he has dealt with out on the streets, he was probably very nervous underneath. I wouldn't loose too much sleep over it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mk1mexico Posted May 28, 2010 Report Share Posted May 28, 2010 Why follow him all that way?? why not just stop him and deal with it at the side of the road?? Guess they were hoping you would do something else wrong along the way Colin to justify the pull. All the best to your Mum by the way Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fiesta Steve Posted May 28, 2010 Report Share Posted May 28, 2010 I work in transport, and it is the drivers duty to check the vehicle before starting off each day. But a bulb could have been working as you set off that day, a bulb has to blow at some point usually when being use, so I am with you on this, its a bit ott. Surely bulbs blow on police cars too ?? So police officers must also break the law ?? You are only aware of these things when you are told by someone else. Even if you check the lights before you start (I'm sure the police have to?) and you find a brake light bulb out that probably means you were braking the law the day before when it blew, so you should give yourself a ticket Mr police man Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vista Posted May 28, 2010 Report Share Posted May 28, 2010 You are only aware of these things when you are told by someone else. Lots of modern cars give you a warning on the dash when a bulb fails. Certainly the last 3 or 4 cars I've owned have done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fiesta Steve Posted May 28, 2010 Report Share Posted May 28, 2010 You are only aware of these things when you are told by someone else. Lots of modern cars give you a warning on the dash when a bulb fails. Certainly the last 3 or 4 cars I've owned have done. My Mk1 Fiesta doesn't seem to have that feature Although my Range Rover does. Infact, I think I drove for a long time with no brake lights when the switch gave up on me, should have done my checks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col-ashtonmobile Posted May 28, 2010 Author Report Share Posted May 28, 2010 i still cant get my head round it,s an offence and warrant,s ' anything thing you say maybe given in evidence ' which is what he cautioned me wth it, a blown bulb ffs , not 2 so i had no brake lights at all but just 1, it could have blown at anytime , how am i to know whist i,m driving the vehicle, why did he not just say ' sir you have a brake light inoperative get it fixed straight away ' which i did anyway , as i said its the caution that,s bugging me and all my neighbours looking out the windows as if i,ve been caught robbing or dealing drugs, perhaps i should have said ' no comment until i,m in the presence of my solicitor ' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mk2Jo Posted May 28, 2010 Report Share Posted May 28, 2010 Col, I'm sorry to hear about your mum Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daggle Posted May 28, 2010 Report Share Posted May 28, 2010 Colin, you have a PM mate, , be happy to talk you though it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jiffer Posted May 28, 2010 Report Share Posted May 28, 2010 to me it all depends on the person, I had a bulb out on my van a little while back and a traffic car was behind me and then pulled up along side at a roundabout he pliped his siren so I undone my window he said. you have a brake light out, have I, which one? drivers side mate, make sure you get it done. ok no problem he said take care, gave me a wave and went off as said just might have been having a bad day or inexperiance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lotusless Posted May 28, 2010 Report Share Posted May 28, 2010 hope you mum is ok now colin as for the copper as daggle said it was probably his first ever stop dont let it bother you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
banarama Posted May 28, 2010 Report Share Posted May 28, 2010 what a c,,t he was then because hes got a bit of power behind him.he should of told you to get it sorted. a young pc id suspect Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
w p e Posted May 28, 2010 Report Share Posted May 28, 2010 jobs worth comes to mind Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GT_lenny Posted May 30, 2010 Report Share Posted May 30, 2010 i got stopped a couple of months ago for a blown brake light , i changed the bulb before he'd written the producer when he realised i'd fixed it he tore up the producer there and then and told me to bugger off before he found something else wrong Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
banarama Posted May 30, 2010 Report Share Posted May 30, 2010 i got stopped a couple of months ago for a blown brake light , i changed the bulb before he'd written the producer when he realised i'd fixed it he tore up the producer there and then and told me to bugger off before he found something else wrong well dome mate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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