A speeding motorist who overtook an unmarked police car on the M4 while reaching speeds of up to 150mph has been handed a driving ban and fined £500.
A Roads Policing Unit officer from Wiltshire Police was on patrol on the motorway’s westbound carriageway between Junctions 15 and 16 in the early hours of 14 November when she became aware of a vehicle travelling behind her approaching her rapidly.
As the silver Mercedes passed her unmarked police car, it was clear to the officer that it was being driven well over the speed limit, so she radioed for support from colleagues.
Police monitored the vehicle to be travelling at speeds between 120mph and 150mph, staying in lanes 2 and 3, despite lane one being clear, so police pulled it over.
The driver Sajawal Khan, 23, of Stottbury Road, Bristol, had three passengers in the car and said he was travelling home from London after celebrating his birthday.
Khan appeared at Swindon Magistrates Court yesterday (03/05) and pleaded guilty to speeding. He was disqualified from driving for 12 months and fined £508. He was also ordered to pay £110 costs and a £51 victim surcharge.
PC Alexandra Way, from Wiltshire Police’s Roads Policing Unit, was the arresting officer.
She said: “We work hard to keep our roads safe and we focus on something called the fatal four, which is the four factors which are most likely to contribute to a fatal or serious injury road traffic collision.
“These are drink/drug driving, not wearing a seatbelt, driving while distracted, and driving at excess speed.
“There is no doubt that driving more than twice the legal speed limit on a motorway poses a huge risk, not only to the driver themselves and any passengers in that vehicle, but other road users as well.
“We will continue to crack down on this sort of illegal and dangerous behaviour, by educating motorists about these risks, but also taking enforcement action when we see drivers breaking the law.”
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Well done Wiltshire Roads Policing Unit (RPU) in helping to make our Motorways safer to use. However one thing does concern me, WPC Way from Wiltshire RPU has stated that they work on the Fatal 4 but surely Wiltshire Police should like other RPU’s in the U.K. be using the Fatal 5 (Certainly Surrey & Sussex RPU work using Fatal 5) the 5th fatal item being using a hand held device whilst in charge of a motor vehicle