Driving offence - am I in bother ?

[andys]

Just had a moment in the car - was on an unknown road - Leeds area around York Road.

Came off York Road, so was on a kind of dual lane - one way affair, then approached what I thought was a junction (still thought it was one way) so was unsure which lane to be in.

There was no other traffic around (early sat morning), and I went for the right hand lane as I was heading right, but as I approached, the camber of the road dropped away and I realised it was a roundabout ... , as there was a tiny island to my left, I couldn't drop back into lane, so just turned left onto the roundabout.

No other cars were around, realised what i'd done instantly and was going very slowly as I wasn't sure and thought it seemed odd to be over to the right !

Thing is - a community support officer lady watched me do the whole thing and took my number. I stopped and wound down the window, apologised and said I did not know the area - she asked where we wanted to be and pointed the way onwards.

Questions are:

As she took my number - am I likely to get reported, if so can I get a fine / points etc in the post :(

Can community support officers log / report / charge me for 'due car and attention' or similar ?

Bit worried as I don't want points / a fine, it was a genuine mistake, as you approach the roundabout, you can't make out it's a roundabout as it falls away from the road, I thought it was a junction on a one-way road - so genuine mistake. If there had been other traffic it would be obvious that is was actually 2 way traffic / a roundabout.

Cheers Guys.

[twisty]

Hi Andy,

i don`t think you will hear anything from it (touch wood) but if i were you,i might go back,find somewhere safe to park up and take a camera,make a few notes about times,directions and in your view as a driver,just how poorly the road markings and signs confused or did not give good enough info.

Good luck.

Simon F.

[andys]

Cheers fella.

Might do that - just worried that if the community officer sees nothing else today - she will have my 'incident' to report and probably get a tick next to her name for reporting me.

Wasn't sure if a genuine simple mistake is an offence when it doesn't impact on anyone - the roads were all clear.

It's not like I was on the phone or speeding, just made a bad call on a confusing road and then couldn't correct it. I could have backed up, but that may have been worse in the eyes of the law - easier to just go around, turn left onto roundabout and be done with it and get out of the way !

Targets and all that nonsense.

[Dudders]

Wouldn't worry Mae, sounds plausible.

[Darren Wales]

I will put you out of your worry now.
In those circs she won't do a thing, can't anyway as she is not qualified too and given you did what you did and apologised, the police wouldn't necessarily report you even if it was a real copper.

I know you dont know me but Trust me on this one!
Darren
��

[andys]

Cheers guys.

Starting to feel a bit better about it now :)

Feel pretty stupid for doing it in the first place, but there was nothing on the road and it wasn't clear what was what!

[Jabber]

Am a bit surprised that you owned up to being such a poor driver really Shilly. As we get older though these things do seem to occur more often. Lol

[andys]

Am a bit surprised that you owned up to being such a poor driver really Shilly. As we get older though these things do seem to occur more often. Lol

Cheeky bugger :)

[PaulRotheram]

Community support officers have no power of the law and cannot infringe any actions of the law against you - even if they witness it.
Special constables on the other hand do have powers of the law even if they are voluntary.

They probably took your number down in case an offence was made before or after they saw you as they may of seen you as suspicious.

Its crazy that community support officers get paid and have no powers of the law, yet special constables volunteer and have all the powers as a regular officer!

[mark christopher]

Traffic wombells are ace...

[jimmy]

I had to go to court for speeding ( 3 months after I passed my test) and it cost me about £500 and 5 points for 100.00 mph on the M62. I was doing 'a bit more than that' but I slowed down and it was timed between bridges.
I was a bit lucky really. I never ever speed on the motorway anymore (maybe 80mph max, but that's not speeding, thats 'the speed'.
Lotus 111R got traded for a £700 1.6 Eurnos Roadster (mx5) since you can push it at slow speed and it's ace.

[jsw123]

I had to go to court for speeding ( 3 months after I passed my test) and it cost me about £500 and 5 points for 100.00 mph on the M62. I was doing 'a bit more than that' but I slowed down and it was timed between bridges.
I was a bit lucky really. I never ever speed on the motorway anymore (maybe 80mph max, but that's not speeding, thats 'the speed'.
Lotus 111R got traded for a £700 1.6 Eurnos Roadster (mx5) since you can push it at slow speed and it's ace.

I just got 3 points for doing 83mph in a 70, it was an A road as a pose to an actual motorway but I was bit surprised tbh.

A community support officer by themselves can't really do much in any situation, your fine.

[andys]

Cheers again guys.

I think / hope she wasn't a 'proper' copper - she was on foot on her own and in a high vis jacket - so I've assumed she was one of those community support type police person.

I've not really seen a copper on the beat - but see loads of these kitted out high vis types in my area - normally in pairs though.

As mentioned - I reckon she took my number just in case I was a drunken nutter and did something silly after I'd passed her :)

Jimmy - I too drive steady on the motorway - too many cameras and police around and just not worth it these days. Also I get more mpg at 65/70 !

Cannot recall the last time I had the type r in 'vtec' may as well trade it for a tiny diesel how I drive... No - I couldn't do that!

[Karting]

Cheers again guys.

I think / hope she wasn't a 'proper' copper - she was on foot on her own and in a high vis jacket - so I've assumed she was one of those community support type police person.

Easy way to tell for the future:

Coppers with powers have BLACK shoulder tags
Fake coppers without powers have BLUE shoulder tags

(Well thats what it is in the Met Police force)

[SlowOne]

No matter why or how you did it, there is no excuse for breaking the Law that means you cannot be charged.

However, that doesn't mean that anyone will prosecute you. I agree with the others here, it would seem to me unlikely you will hear another word on the matter. And I can sympathise completely with feeling stupid about it! :blush: !!