When are you obliged to stop?

**Expert** · 2nd November 2010, 09:34

I was talking to my brother in law the other day, he's just gone back to the uk for a while after living in Belize.
He was telling me that over there they've got a problem with people painting up their cars to look like police cars and pulling people over and taking money for "fines"/ confiscating their cars or bikes/ feeling up the girls and beating up the guys, (or heaven forbid the other way around) in the name of the law.
I thought that was rather enterprising but he told me that's happened in the uk too, you get unmarked cars over there like you do here, and people were getting flashing lights to put in the front window and pulling people over to take money for "fines" etc. it probably works well on imigrants that would just pay up.
I got pulled over buy a bloke in the uk in an unmarked car flashy lights in the front window, suit on not a uniform, and he started spouting off all sorts of laws at me beside the road. i thought it unusual at the time, he probably was a real cop though cause he called me "sonny" and all real cops do that even if they're younger than you..

My question is; who are you actually obliged to pull over for? What if you suspect the car with the flashy lights is a fake and they just want to pull you over to steal your bike and duff you up?
Is there a court in the land that would convict you for not pulling over under these circumstances?
You're supposed to give your name and address to a uniformed officer, but what standard of "uniform" does a car need before you can be satisfied it is a real police car and pull over?

I'm bound to get some joyless, condescending berk like shrodingers cat, sat behind his incredibly clever sudonym, ready to flex his amazing intelect on me from behind his temp desk, so if you have anything boring to say, start your own thread.

.

**Patrick** · 2nd November 2010, 09:45

If the car has lights and siren, you should stop.

If he is not in uniform, ask to see his Police ID card.

No ID card, ride on.....

**Mully** · 2nd November 2010, 09:50

Oh this thread has the potential to be epic

Patrick, I heard somewhere (probably in the bush, where I do all my lawyering) - that if you're in any doubt about whether the undercover car (not applicable for marked patrol cars) is a Police vehicle or not, you're allowed to carry on to the nearest Plod Station.

Any truth to that?

**SMOKEU** · 2nd November 2010, 10:02

The officer has to identify themselves as such upon request from any member of the public, you can always ask them for their QID and if they refuse to tell you that, or they don't know what you're talking about then that's a clear sign that they're not a real officer of the law.

**White trash** · 2nd November 2010, 10:04

Me ol' mate Mikey painted his bike blue and wrote "Officer Mikey" all over it then spent the morning riding up and down the Hutt motorway all morning pulling over car drivers and abusing them. It's all good fun until the feds catch up with ya....

**miloking** · 2nd November 2010, 10:08

You dont have to stop if they cant keep up with you...if they can pull over.

**Patrick** · 2nd November 2010, 10:20

Originally Posted by Mully

Oh this thread has the potential to be epic

Patrick, I heard somewhere (probably in the bush, where I do all my lawyering) - that if you're in any doubt about whether the undercover car (not applicable for marked patrol cars) is a Police vehicle or not, you're allowed to carry on to the nearest Plod Station.

Any truth to that?

Nope. As above. See the ID, if none, drive on.... and grab the rego to report it..... Since most folk have cell phones, ring 111 if in doubt. Comms will soon let you know its for real.....

Failing to Stop for red/blue lights or siren (Or both, since they have both...) = Arrest, car impounded, minimum 3 month disqualification on top of any other disqualification imposed arising from the same incident.....

**SMOKEU** · 2nd November 2010, 10:21

Originally Posted by Patrick

Nope. As above. See the ID, if none, drive on.... and grab the rego to report it..... Since most folk have cell phones, ring 111 if in doubt. Comms will soon let you know its for real.....

Failing to Stop for red/blue lights or siren (Or both, since they have both...) = Arrest, car impounded, minimum 3 month disqualification on top of any other disqualification imposed arising from the same incident.....

So if you know you're probably going to lose your licence anyway, then you might as well do a runner if you know you can get away with it.

**Edbear** · 2nd November 2010, 10:27

Originally Posted by SMOKEU

So if you know you're probably going to lose your licence anyway, then you might as well do a runner if you know you can get away with it.

And how many runners get away with it...?

**SMOKEU** · 2nd November 2010, 10:29

Originally Posted by Edbear

And how many runners get away with it...?

The majority.

**Edbear** · 2nd November 2010, 10:37

Originally Posted by SMOKEU

The majority.

You wouldn't think so going by recent news... There have been many spectacular failures by muppets who thought they could.

**SMOKEU** · 2nd November 2010, 10:40

Originally Posted by Edbear

You wouldn't think so going by recent news... There have been many spectacular failures by muppets who thought they could.

Those are just the ones who get media coverage. The majority of police pursuits are abandoned due to an "unjustified risk to members of the public". Most of the pursuit crashes are due to some dumb 17 year old who stole a Skyline by shoving a screwdriver into the ignition and thinking he can drive like a Formula 1 driver in a car sacked on kutties.

**Edbear** · 2nd November 2010, 10:41

Originally Posted by SMOKEU

Those are just the ones who get media coverage. The majority of police pursuits are abandoned due to an "unjustified risk to members of the public". Most of the pursuit crashes are due to some dumb 17 year old who stole a Skyline by shoving a screwdriver into the ignition and thinking he can drive like a Formula 1 driver in a car sacked on kutties.

How many runners have you done?