ajs said:In my previous life, and thats all i will say on the matter i drove unmarked police cars such as, blue subaru impreza, silver honda accord type r, skoda vrs, loads of vauxhall omegas, mondeo st220, bmw 5 series estates. Now just a distant memory.
Little inside knowledge, if you are behind what you think is an unmarked PV, check the number plate at the bottom. If its an unmarked PV it will have something like a 6 digit ref no, like 901-437. If you can see a figure similar in make up then its an unmarked PV. Omegas also have centre rear headrest removed to allow pop up stop plate. If its parked its obvious its an unmarked and the tax disc will show its a police car by having it written on it, dead give away, but if you are that close you can tell i hope.
No more inside tips, unless you twist my arm![]()
pvr said:What is a 171?

Lucy said:pvr said:What is a 171?
A warning for driving like a twat basically, and it's with you for 12 months. If you get another one (a 172) in that 12 month period then you get your car taken off you and have to pay to get it back. Say if you got one on a Friday, you wouldn't be able to get your car back until the Monday.
I went round a roundabout sideways, came off it in second gear at about 40mph, planted my foot to the floor and did "excessive speed" apparently up the dual carriageway, and then overtook a lorry where I shouldn't have when it went down to one lane. But then the Volvo came up behind me and put the blue lights on.
The Zed made me do it![]()
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aquazi said:Lucy said:pvr said:What is a 171?
A warning for driving like a twat basically, and it's with you for 12 months. If you get another one (a 172) in that 12 month period then you get your car taken off you and have to pay to get it back. Say if you got one on a Friday, you wouldn't be able to get your car back until the Monday.
I went round a roundabout sideways, came off it in second gear at about 40mph, planted my foot to the floor and did "excessive speed" apparently up the dual carriageway, and then overtook a lorry where I shouldn't have when it went down to one lane. But then the Volvo came up behind me and put the blue lights on.
The Zed made me do it![]()
![]()
So it's basically a driving ASBO?! Must be a northern thing
Learn something new everyday.
Lucy said:pvr said:What is a 171?
A warning for driving like a twat basically, and it's with you for 12 months. If you get another one (a 172) in that 12 month period then you get your car taken off you and have to pay to get it back. Say if you got one on a Friday, you wouldn't be able to get your car back until the Monday.
I went round a roundabout sideways, came off it in second gear at about 40mph, planted my foot to the floor and did "excessive speed" apparently up the dual carriageway, and then overtook a lorry where I shouldn't have when it went down to one lane. But then the Volvo came up behind me and put the blue lights on.
The Zed made me do it![]()
![]()
Lucy said:I went round a roundabout sideways, came off it in second gear at about 40mph, planted my foot to the floor and did "excessive speed" apparently up the dual carriageway, and then overtook a lorry where I shouldn't have when it went down to one lane. But then the Volvo came up behind me and put the blue lights on.![]()
RustyZ4 said:I recently followed an M3 out of Maidstone, he was doing a steady 30mph (in a 30 zone), so my first thought was, he is a driver with to many points, scared of getting some more,
I had a lad in a Peogot 206, sitting 2 inches off my bumper and really starting to piss me off, he then pulled out, shot down the middle of the road on to chevrons (bollards every 100 yards or so) past both of us, giving it large, just made it infront of the M3 before he hit the bollards and kept going,,
and yes you guessed it, the M3 suddenly launched after him, blue lights flashing, made my day![]()
GAZA62 said:RustyZ4 said:I recently followed an M3 out of Maidstone, he was doing a steady 30mph (in a 30 zone), so my first thought was, he is a driver with to many points, scared of getting some more,
I had a lad in a Peogot 206, sitting 2 inches off my bumper and really starting to piss me off, he then pulled out, shot down the middle of the road on to chevrons (bollards every 100 yards or so) past both of us, giving it large, just made it infront of the M3 before he hit the bollards and kept going,,
and yes you guessed it, the M3 suddenly launched after him, blue lights flashing, made my day![]()
That would put a huge grin on my face![]()
Thing that worries me with these unmarked cars is what if you are out late at night in your Z and something like the unmarked car i saw in action a few years back ( 5 series 3 big lumps bald heads unshaven dodgy looking fellas ) asks you to pull over theres no way i would stop so where do you stand ?
GAZA62 said:Thing that worries me with these unmarked cars is what if you are out late at night in your Z and something like the unmarked car i saw in action a few years back ( 5 series 3 big lumps bald heads unshaven dodgy looking fellas ) asks you to pull over theres no way i would stop so where do you stand ?
Boogle said:You don't have to pull over for an unmarked police car, but if you choose not to you must immediately drive to the nearest police station.
ajs said:You do have to pull over for an unmarked police car.By not stopping you commit an offence of failing to stop and this then technically becomes a pursuit/fail to stop. We are all grown ups and i think we would spot a true unmarked police car. The officer MUST be in uniform though, and all that crap about if he is not wearing his hat is rubbish. To carry out a roadside breath test the officer also again has to be in uniform, so an unmarked car can pull you and the occupant has to be in uniform, so if some jumped up CID plain clothes officer gets out and tries to breathalise you then you can refuse. All they will do is get an officer in uniform to do the breath test.
12 years Traffic and armed response, past life now.
Hope this helps, I just keep my mouth shut if i am pulled and stand my ground very politely.
Lots of advice etc available. PM
ajs said:Sounds odd to me, if they were doing traffic stops, then at least one of them should be in uniform and recognisable as a PC. Armed units sometimes operate in plain clothes but would not be doing run of the mill traffic stops.When an unmarked armed unit carries out a stop it is normally a hard stop, ie contact. Your t shirt jeans brigade, I cant comment as i dont know what they are really doing.