Busted @ 28 mph

From the Jeremy Clarkson debacle...

http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/13/1347.asp

In reply to tuna55:

Man there are a lot of racist Harley riders!

Maybe he thought they were attractive and was trying to get their attention?

Tyler H wrote: I guess his sister is less than impressed at being labeled as 'heavily pregnant.'

Unless she was just Heavily and not pregnant.

tuna55 wrote: From the Jeremy Clarkson debacle... http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/13/1347.asp

I lost it after "revving his car in a racist manner"

fidelity101 wrote:

tuna55 wrote: From the Jeremy Clarkson debacle... http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/13/1347.asp

I lost it after "revving his car in a racist manner"

Yeah that's pretty crazy. Unless you can make the engine play a Nazi propaganda tune or something, I don't think any engine noises should be able to count as racism.

If there is hope, it lies in the Proles.

Hey, at least they didn't ding him for the tinted headlights, which are not only illegal everywhere, but also stupid in terms of actual night visibility (you know, the thing that headlights are intended for).

I'm not familiar with the "BMWs have a common fault with the handbrake" thing. Handbrake is a pretty simple mechanism on an e36. The only common problem is if people don't maintain/adjust them, to my knowledge.

Also worst excuse ever "I was asked to drive the car in a funeral." Really, who asked you to drive that junky-looking POS in a funeral procession, exactly?

25 different cars in a 5-year span? Perhaps stop buying cars and spend a few bucks on a set of tires that aren't a danger to other people on the road. I don't care about the other stuff at all, but no "automotive enthusiast" drives around on public roads with unsafe tires. Only idiot non-enthusiasts do that.

Douchebags with unsafe rides are the REASON why enthusiasts who actually MAINTAIN their (modded) cars get pulled over too. So berkeley this guy....

fidelity101 wrote:

tuna55 wrote: From the Jeremy Clarkson debacle... http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/13/1347.asp

I lost it after "revving his car in a racist manner"

Yeah, and I thought nothing would be able to top "epochraful" as the dumbest thing I read today.

Will wrote:

fidelity101 wrote:

tuna55 wrote: From the Jeremy Clarkson debacle... http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/13/1347.asp

I lost it after "revving his car in a racist manner"

Yeah, and I thought nothing would be able to top "epochraful" as the dumbest thing I read today.

I'll bet we don't know the full story. He probably should have played nice with the cops..

irish44j wrote: Douchebags with unsafe rides are the REASON why enthusiasts who actually MAINTAIN their (modded) cars get pulled over too. So berkeley this guy....

^this x10

I really enjoy the "track" events this "club" hosts.....

I didn't know drifting in the high school parking lot qualified as a track day.

The retardation of these cops in the u.k. The bald tires are dangerous, that much I agree with. But that's where it stops! I love how the media ran with that whole "wires dangling everywhere" Berkeley them. Berkeley them all the way into outer space. Plus he was driving a slammed bmw. Which in the UK is the equivalent of a Mexican guy driving a crx in America. The cops profiled him. Then put him through the ringer. Again, the tires were dangerous, and a citation for that would have been appropriate. But losing your license for the rest is gross disrespect, and accentuates the lack of automotive knowledge these pigs have. I have utmost respect for any law officer that demonstrates knowledge of vehicle dynamics and mechanical operation. But you can't spout off crap and expect it to not go unnoticed.

Furthermore, 99% of any ten year old cars on the road don't have adequately working e brakes. People don't get those adjusted. The typical moron just drives their vehicle into the ground and buys a new one. You can't know if your anti lock system is working until you go to use it (unless he disabled his and it was throwing a light) the quick disconnect is horse poop. That's not dangerous.

So you guys think it is safe to drive around on public streets with 0 suspension travel?

Modify your car within the law of your locality, or don't. But then don't bitch when you get busted.

The laws here in Aus are pretty draconian for modified cars (that pos e36 would get laughed out of the inspection 'pits'). I miss being able to swap motors without an engineer sign off (as in North America), but I have a choice to obey the laws, or not (and pay the consequences. ) This driver had the same choice.

In reply to unevolved:

The bald tyres are/were a big deal. When I lived in the UK, tyres like that would get you a GBP1000 fine and 3 points on your license per bald corner, they upped the fine to GBP2500/corner by now. It's 12 points to get your license suspended, so that's not good.

The hand brake that only worked on one wheel is also an MOT failure and someone on a UK car Facebook group I'm on (who IIRC is an MOT tester) pointed out that the wiring harness issue has also recently become an MOT issue inasmuch as it has to be properly secured, which apparently it wasn't. So even by UK standards - which are pretty lenient for Western Europe - this car wasn't road legal. Just because he passed the MOT two months before doesn't mean he gets a free pass, the car is supposed to be MOT legal at any gen time.

Someone else in the same discussion also pointed out that the main reason for the sentence was that the owner of the car pled guilty to the charges (which included dangerous driving) and that means that the judge had to impose the minimum sentence in accordance with the charges. That's a legacy of Tony Blair's mob, they severely restricted the ability of judges to tweak a sentence to the defendants situation using common sense, so in a case like that, even if a judge wanted to come up with a more suitable sentence, the defendant had just put a floor under the whole thing. Part of this is the owner of the car receiving bad or no legal advice.

GRM's have cars that may not be considered road legal. This is why we tow. However, we do prepare them for safety in competition.

This guy should not have driven that car on the road. The excuse that someone asked him too just shows lack of judgment and accountability.

BoxheadTim wrote: In reply to unevolved: The bald tyres are/were a big deal. When I lived in the UK, tyres like that would get you a GBP1000 fine and 3 points on your license per bald corner, they upped the fine to GBP2500/corner by now. It's 12 points to get your license suspended, so that's not good. The hand brake that only worked on one wheel is also an MOT failure and someone on a UK car Facebook group I'm on (who IIRC is an MOT tester) pointed out that the wiring harness issue has also recently become an MOT issue inasmuch as it has to be properly secured, which apparently it wasn't. So even by UK standards - which are pretty lenient for Western Europe - this car wasn't road legal. Just because he passed the MOT two months before doesn't mean he gets a free pass, the car is supposed to be MOT legal at any gen time. Someone else in the same discussion also pointed out that the main reason for the sentence was that the owner of the car pled guilty to the charges (which included dangerous driving) and that means that the judge had to impose the minimum sentence in accordance with the charges. That's a legacy of Tony Blair's mob, they severely restricted the ability of judges to tweak a sentence to the defendants situation using common sense, so in a case like that, even if a judge wanted to come up with a more suitable sentence, the defendant had just put a floor under the whole thing. Part of this is the owner of the car receiving bad or no legal advice.

Gotcha, thanks. Wasn't trying to defend the guy, I just thought it was a really poorly written article.

Nathan JansenvanDoorn wrote: So you guys think it is safe to drive around on public streets with 0 suspension travel?

You've never seen some of the disasters that roll across the border into PA from Ohio. Bald tires and no suspension would be an improvement!

I'm late to this as the resident Brit, but BoxheadTim has pretty well covered it. I would say that 90% of 10 year old cars you seen here would never be on the road in the UK. This came up in anther thread the other day where people were bemoaning how bad we have it over here and why can't we get the good cars here. I pointed out then that this country, even Cali, it is far far far easier to own and modify a car than in the UK, let alone much of mainland Europe.

I can't see the handbrake in the pictures, but what's to bet it's hydraulic? That's not legal on it's own in the UK, you must have a mechanical link from the leaver to the wheels. Some people run tandem hydraulic and cables from the handle, others have a totally separate hydraulic and leave the standard hand brake alone. Also unlike over here where 99.5% of handbrakes are non functional within a couple of years, everyone uses the handbrake in the UK. First off a far higher % of cars are manual and you need it for hill starts and you are also taught to put it on every time you park over there.

In regards to MOTs, we had a british friend over for our wedding late last year and I took him to a small local autocross. About half of the non-stock cars at the autocross had things that would have failed. (including the traces of rocker rust on my meotter )

Fueled by Caffeine wrote:

Will wrote:

fidelity101 wrote:

tuna55 wrote: From the Jeremy Clarkson debacle... http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/13/1347.asp

I lost it after "revving his car in a racist manner"

Yeah, and I thought nothing would be able to top "epochraful" as the dumbest thing I read today.

I'll bet we don't know the full story. He probably should have played nice with the cops..

Yeah I'm betting that after he told the cop to go berkeley himself or something along those lines, the cop went into Robert Downey Sherlock Holmes mode looking for something to charge him with. Revving engine...Muslim guy nearby...bingo, hate crime!

Adrian_Thompson wrote: ...and you need it for hill starts...

No, I don't.

Driven5 wrote:

Adrian_Thompson wrote: ...and you need it for hill starts...

No, I don't.

Fair enough. You don't, but most people do most of the time.

GameboyRMH wrote: mself or something along those lines, the cop went into Robert Downey Sherlock Holmes mode looking for something to charge him with. Revving engine...Muslim guy nearby...bingo, hate crime!

Nah, Benedict Cumberbatch, not R.D.Jr

Adrian_Thompson wrote: Fair enough. You don't, but most people do most of the time.

That's just because most people were taught wrong.

no, the tire size was stupid too. stretched tires are a moron's game, and if that's your deal you are a moron too. stanced, yo.

i have the same pacman shirt. sweet. i'd roll that bmw too with some tires that actually fit the rims and maybe with a beer tap shifter instead of a dildo or whatever that is. almost all of my stuff has wires dangling from the dash.