Safe Speed Forums

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manchester/3671161.stm

The police chief in charge of traffic in Greater Manchester has been caught speeding along a motorway at 104mph.

Assistant Chief Constable Steve Thomas was fined £450 and given six penalty points by North Staffordshire magistrates on Thursday.

He said he sincerely regretted his "error of judgement", but had thought he was driving safely at the time.

Mr Thomas said he remained committed to reducing the number of traffic
accidents caused by speeding.

Magistrates heard that Mr Thomas had been clocked doing 104mph on the M6 Toll road near Birmingham.

After appearing in court, he defended his actions on the day.

In a statement he said: "On the day in question, the driving and road
conditions were good, and I was part of a group of around 15 cars all doing around the same speed.

"I considered that my manner of driving was safe. However, exceeding the
speed limit by this amount is unacceptable and I sincerely regret my error
of judgement.

"Excessive speed is a contributory factor in many road traffic incidents and
it's everyone's duty to drive safely and at a reasonable speed at all
times."

He added: "I remain committed to reducing the number of serious road traffic accidents that occur in Greater Manchester."

A GMP spokesman confirmed: "Assistant Chief Constable Thomas has
responsibility for traffic issues at GMP and those responsibilities will
remain."

As well as being in charge of roads policing, Mr Thomas is head of
divisional policing in Greater Manchester.

A spokesman for anti-speeding campaigners, Brake, said: "Driving at
excessive speeds like this greatly increases the chance of a car crash.

"Someone in Mr Thomas' position, who has seen at first hand the consequences of speeding, should know better."

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Note in particular that he said he believed his driving was safe.

And don't you normally get a ban for over 100 mph?

Regards,

Peter

_________________
"Show me someone who says that they have never exceeded a speed limit, and I'll show you a liar, or a menace." (Austin Williams - Director, Transport Research Group)

Any views expressed in this post are personal opinions and may not represent the views of Safe Speed

Quote:

Mr Thomas said he remained committed to reducing the number of traffic
accidents caused by speeding.

Well he'll have one mighty task on his hands because no accidents are CAUSED by speeding but MAY have been a contributory factor in a few percent...GOOD LUCK !!

Andrew

Bloody hypocrite.

This is excellent news. If I'm in a hurry I can do a ton on the m-way and only worry about getting fined a few hundred quid and six points as long as I can show that the conditions were good and there were others doing the same sort of speed. I mean, if that defense worked for Steve Thomas it'll presumably magistrates will accept it from any other driver.

Yeah, right.

I wonder what happened to the other 15 drivers, did they get caught and if so what penalties did they recieve?

Duncan