police breaking the law to catch you

[jmedsr]

can a police officer break the law to catch someone speeding.
the highway patroleman are parking on the shoulder of the freeways and uising radar to catch speeders, i beleive it is only in emergencies when a vehicle can park on the shoulder.is this ok can they do this.

[NORMANTHEDOG]

of course they can,as long as there is no danger to other road users.

[imprezashit]

I dont think they are supposed to do this. I thought thats what the small risen laybys are for, that are clearly marked for the police.

As far as I am aware, you are correct in thinking that the hard shoulder is for emergencies.

"section 244 - YOU MUST NOT stop on the carriageway, hard shoulder, sliproad, central resevation or verge, except in an emergency or when told to do so by the police, an emergency sign or by flashing red light signals."

However i would not trust this as you know the police have all their secret laws

[Grunty]

Your use of the words 'freeway' and 'highway patrolmen' shows that you are probably American, or you work for the BBC. This answer assumes that you are talking about the British motorways.

I am not aware of any exemption that allows the hard shoulder to be used for this purpose. They are probably using a specially-constructed raised area on the opposite side of the shoulder from the carriageway.

The exemption to breaking the speed limit to catch you is allowed. They can break the limit, not just in emergencies, but when the speed limit would hinder the use to which the vehicle is being put.

[Simeon]

Chasing a speeder is an emergency as it could be considered that the speeder is a danger to other motorists. So in this case two wrongs does make a right