Sometimes, someone gets caught driving so fast that you don’t need context to understand how reckless they were. Like a British traffic cop recently caught driving at 154 mph. And while such things might be swept under the rug in the US, it’s clear that in the UK the police really do face the consequences. Who knows?
BBC reports that in January this year, Constable Adam Smith was arrested for speeding on the A1(M) near Boroughbridge in North Yorkshire. He was initially caught traveling at 98mph but was later given a top speed of 154mph. None of the news sources we saw included the speed limit at the time, but it appeared to be 70 mph. However, even if that speed were 75 mph, 154 mph would still be more than double the legal limit.
To make matters worse, PC Smith appears to have experience working in the field of road safety. Yorkshire Police are working to combat street racing and in October, three months before he was arrested for speeding, he recorded a video in which he told members of the public “is this Selby?” not Silverstone.” However, he clearly just thinks that the law doesn’t really apply to him and that he’s free to drive as dangerously fast as he wants.
To his credit, however, at his recent misconduct hearing, Smith did not blame his reckless driving on some mysterious invisible hand controlling his legs. his station and admitted that his actions had “no controlling purpose”. Chief Constable Tim Forber called PC Smith’s actions “completely unreasonable”, saying his actions could “significantly undermine” public trust in the police.
Forber fired Smith and placed him on the College of Policing’s Barred list, a list the United States could certainly use, along with any police officer who faces consequences for any actions Which is theirs?
“This speed was clearly excessive, completely indefensible, and this is a completely different situation than an officer or member of the public being prosecuted for speeding,” Forber said during the hearing. moderate speed due to loss of concentration. “Accordingly, the only appropriate outcome in this case is dismissal without notice.”
