Paul Jolly: That BMW in your mirror isn’t always what you think

Speeding on our roads is pretty much unavoidable from time to time but the chances of getting a fine and points on your licence is now far greater than say, 50 years ago, before speed detection devices. The police had to catch you then.

Long distance motorway journeys are unlikely to catch drivers out during normal weekdays due to the millions of tonnes of freight lumbering up our network every hour of the day. This ensures a slow average speed for everybody else.

But come the weekend, which is the sensible time to travel, and the lorries are largely gone, the motorways are akin to race tracks. Private car use increases considerably with out-of-town shopping trips, family visits and of course sporting events. Indeed Saturday afternoons in the football mad regions of Liverpool/Manchester/Birmingham are best avoided.

Overhead average speed cameras are the single most effective method of controlling speeds but I now notice police using mobile speed cameras on motorways positioning themselves on bridges, lay bys and other refuge areas. Traffic cars are also on the constant lookout and their radio network alerts other patrols of speeding cars to pursue. The use of unmarked police BMWs is also highly effective for serial offenders.

So who are they mainly catching at weekends? Well, true to form, it is young males in high-performance sports saloons, often testing their BMWs to the limit. The brand has always had the allure of high-performance related vehicles since the 1970s.

Just imagine the joy the police drivers get urging the BMW ahead to race on towards disqualification while they follow in their unmarked BMW. They probably take turns on who switches the hidden blue lights on!

Full disclosure. I lost my licence before age 19 exactly thus!

I was recently checking how an old customer was enjoying his new car and he replied all was well except for the recurring fault with his rear view mirror. 

“Oh,” I said. “What seems to be the matter with it?”

“Well!” he replied. “Every time I look in it, there’s a b----- BMW in it!”