Biker fined £15,000 for 83mph

[jerry]

Sussex cops again ...an 83 year old man on a MV Agusta F4 was fined £15,000 at haywards heath Magistrates for doing 83mph on the A23 which is a 70mph road!!!!!!!!!!!

[Blufoot]

I need this guy as a client, what's his name?

[uksurfer]

http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/8449788.80_year_old_speeding_biker_handed_bill_for ___15_000/

i think it included many court room appearances too

[Gordon H]

Aye, but it's the smug comments regarding the accuracy and operator training etc - vindicated by the conviction that I find irritating.

"The equipment used has Home Office Type Approval and consequently has been comprehensively tested to a high standard. The Camera Operators are highly trained, so everything is done to ensure accuracy. This has been proved with Mr Gibbs conviction."

So that's ok then.......

[J_Dub]

Sussex cops again ...an 83 year old man on a MV Agusta F4 was fined £15,000 at haywards heath Magistrates for doing 83mph on the A23 which is a 70mph road!!!!!!!!!!!

No he wasn't! He was fined £500 plus costs! The other £10000 was his defense costs and if he was doing 83 on a 70 mph road he was speeding, any right minded person would take the points and fine and have a good whinge in the pub later!

[Mohawk]

No he wasn't! He was fined £500 plus costs! The other £10000 was his defense costs and if he was doing 83 on a 70 mph road he was speeding, any right minded person would take the points and fine and have a good whinge in the pub later!

Couldn't agree more. He's obviously got more money than sense.

[Saint aka ML]

No he wasn't! He was fined £500 plus costs! The other £10000 was his defense costs and if he was doing 83 on a 70 mph road he was speeding, any right minded person would take the points and fine and have a good whinge in the pub later!

Fully agree you go to court only if you have to in any other case:

Yes officer, sorry officer, big sad eyes head down and take the ticket!

[neilbaldry]

Couldn't agree more. He's obviously got more money than sense.

He rides an MV Agusta F4. He must have a few quid in the bank!

[SazzaG]

As much as I don't agree with speed camera's, etc. the law is the law, and he was speeding.

I don't know if anyone saw the recent Traffic Cops program on BBC1 - it had a section on the bikers going on the annual run from Ace Cafe to Brighton. There were some total to$$ers amongst them, and the police targetted them with an unmarked bike. Again, no problem with that. They stopped riders who were wheelieing through the traffic on the A24, had flip-up plates, etc etc. Bang to rights. Gives us lot a bad name!

And no, I'm not bitter about recently getting my first ever points for doing 38mpg in a 30 zone (in a 1.2 Honda Jazz. How embarrasing...)

[J_Dub]

He should of bought a pair of these.
http://www.falconmotorcycles.com/blog/falcon-blog/68-random/290-bobby-finders.html

[jerry]

I have just read the argus article and he was fined £4500 the costs were £10500 and he is correct the Home office has never tested the equipment on bikes only cars and independant tests by RAC/AA /MAG /TRRL and others have shown problems and wrong speed data when tested on bikes so he has a point .

[utopia]

Its hard to comment without knowing all the details. Yes, the law is the law, but its also sometimes an ass. And maybe this guy does have more money than sense,...but....
Imagine riding safely and considerately all the way back from Brighton, generally observing the speed limits, only to be clocked during a brief moment when you gave it a handful to overtake briskly, or to accelerate out of conjestion, or simply because the road opened up a little and seemed to demand a little more speed. I ride like this all the time and I'm considered to be safe and considerate, even a little slow, by my peers. 83 in a 70 zone (presumably a dual carriageway) is not dangerous in most circumstances. Also, many drivers seem to consider speed limits to be minima as well as maxima and get iritated by slower drivers, forcing the general flow of traffic to tread a tightrope between too slow and too fast. In practice, we all know don't we, that the expected speed on open dual carriageways in dry daylight is 70 to 80 mph? You can't watch the speedo constantly, that would be dangerous. So I can understand the feeling of injustice at getting pulled for such a minor failing, especially when there is so much blatant bad driving around these days which goes undetected and unpunished.
So here we have an 83yr old who's bought an MV Agusta. Thats cred for a start. Then he has the will to spend more cash fighting a cause which was already technically lost, but which seemed justified in the real world.
If thats the way it was, then I think I might quite like this guy.
Then again, he may have ridden like a plonker all the way and deserved all he got.
Its all in the detail.
Personally though, I'm happy to see someone making a stand.

[crust]

I'm guessing the argument was about the LT221, shows what a crock of ****e justice is in this country.

If he'd have been in Thames valley's area they would have conveniently lost the paperwork rather than risk it in court as I found out ;), other forces are the same.

The expert witness for the prosecution is the importer and he wont allow independant testing because obviously his income is at risk.

There was a very qualified expert who argued against the accuracy of these particular guns, unfortunately a lot of his work was government related and needed a licence, apparently that might not have been so easy to get if he carried on so he didn't.

Fair play to the bloke for having a go but this case just goes to show that having your day in court is a luxury most of us cant afford, especially if you're trying to argue against speeding.