I feel the need, the need, for speed

Posted on June 28th, 2008 by ray.
Categories: General Blog.

Hah hah, I make no secret of my disdain to the application of speed cameras/traps in the UK, where the police will be hide away on deserted stretches of motorway rubbing their little hands in glee if they can catch someone doing 75 in a 70 zone rather than accident black spots, but every now and again I read something that makes me chuckle. This is one of them:

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“Two traffic patrol officers from North Berwick were involved in an incident whilst checking for speeding motorists on the A1 road last May. They were using a hand-held radar device to trap speeding motorists on the Edinburgh to London trunk road. One of the unnamed officers used the device to check the speed of an approaching vehicle, and was surprised to find that his target had registered a speed in excess of 300 miles per hour. The £8,000 radar then seized up and could not be reset by the bemused policemen.

The radar had in fact latched on to a NATO Tornado aircraft in the North Sea, which was taking part in a simulated low-flying exercise over the Borders and Southern Scotland.

Following a complaint by the Chief Constable of the Lothian & Borders Police force to the RAF liaison office, it was revealed that the officers had had a lucky escape. The tactical computer on board the aircraft not only detected and jammed the “hostile” radar equipment, but had automatically armed an air-to-ground missile ready to neutralise the perceived threat. Luckily the Dutch pilot was alerted to the missile status and was able to override the automatic protection system before the missile launched.

Lothian & Border Police Department have declined to comment, although it is understood that officers will be advised to point their radar guns inland in future.”
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