Ingenious way to catch speeding drivers?

We have seen many Facebook posts about a new way the police are catching speeding drivers. Until now we only had to worry about automated roadside speed cameras and the mobile version of these speed traps, the tripod-mounted speed guns. Now, it seems like police officers are driving unmarked vehicles and following other drivers until they can issue a fine for some transgression, index.hu reports.

It was only a few days ago that we reported about the changes in the technical inspection of cars and how it may affect roadside checks. Now we have other traffic-related news.

Drivers’ reports say that an ordinary-looking Audi shows up in the fast lane, staying aggressively close to the car right in front of it. In case there are no free spots in the right lane, the drivers automatically speed up to get out of the seemingly dangerous situation and to find a way to change lanes safely.

We can easily imagine the situation where we are driving with the legal speed limit (say 110 km/h) in the fast lane, where the right lane has several big trucks driving around 70-80 km/h, staying way too close to each other.

It is not exactly safe or comfortable to slow down and squeeze your car in between two trucks. But from what these drivers have been saying, it sounds like the policemen are tailgating, driving aggressively, staying inside safe braking distances, not leaving much choice for the drivers in front of them. Many are afraid to step on the brakes, thinking it could cause a rear-end crash.

Many drivers hope that if they speed up, they can soon find a spot in the next lane, and get out of the way. Of course, if they keep driving with those speeds long enough, the Audi turns on the flashing lights, stops the drivers and issues a speeding ticket.

The ingenuity of this trick lies in how they choose the perfect spot: for example, the speed limit on Road #8 is 110 km/h, but there are many sections where the speed limit suddenly falls to 70 km/h – an easy spot to catch speeders.

Audi – unmarked police vehicle

Another aspect of this is that the unmarked cars the police are using have a certain reputation in this country.

Hungarian drivers perceive big, luxury German cars, like the Audi, BMW or Mercedes as cars that are usually driven by “important” rich people who do not care about traffic laws, do not mind paying the fines, do not use turn signals, park their cars where they are not supposed to or take up two parking spacing with them.

In short, they may have a bad reputation that also urges other drivers to get as far away from them as possible.

Drivers say they are being provoked. Police say they are not aggressive and they are not doing anything dangerous. Police officers are not tailgating, and they are definitely not urging drivers to speed up so they could issue fines. Their only goal is to make the roads safer, discourage speeding and prevent accidents.

Source: index.hu