Operation Elderflower by Nantwich Police

Motorcyclists in Cheshire face a police crackdown after one was caught speeding at 120mph on a 60mph road.

Operation Caesar is to use unmarked police bikes to catch motorcyclists speeding in Cheshire’s roads.

The new bikes are equipped with four cameras which record the view from the front, rear and side of the bike as well as the speed it is travelling at.

One of the first offenders they caught was on the A54 near Winsford.

He was convicted of dangerous driving of a motorcycle after an unmarked police bike filmed him going from 0-120mph in a 60mph zone from Sandybrow traffic lights to the Fishpool restaurant.

Sgt Rick Weaver, of Cheshire Police Roads Policing Team, said: “These unmarked bikes pose a real threat to motorists and bikers who flout the rules of the road in Cheshire and put other road users in danger.

“This man was speeding at more than twice the legal limit for the road.

“At that speed, the slightest mistake either on his behalf or that of another road user could have had fatal consequences for himself or others.

“The evidence from the cameras onboard the unmarked bike led to this individual receiving a 12-week suspended prison sentence suspended for 12 months, 18-month disqualification and having to take an extended driving test, 100 hours community service and a total of £345 costs.

“These new bikes will be a great tool in combating those who believe they can ignore the rules of the road in our county.”

34 Comments

  1. This was a load of rubbish. The person convicted of this was a fellow. Rider he passed the copper who was stationary and the officer reached. 120mph in order to catch up to him as my friend stopped. At a set of traffic lights the officer then approached him,,,, just. The usual bullsh# the police do to bikers on a regular basis

  2. First hand experience, it is not about catching wheelie popping excessive speeders.
    15% over the speed limit work it out! This proves for me it is a money making scam, targeting easy to collar motorcyclists at greater risk from being rear ended off a car driver or nudged sideways from a careless driver.
    It would be interesting to see the figures up to todays date 7/9/15 of how many car drivers have been given penalties compared to motorcyclists!

  3. I expect the police bike pushed the rider into this situation by riding aggressively behind him enticing him into a ‘race’ therefore entrapping the rider into the offence. Police rider safe in the knowledge he is above the law and can ride at any speed he wishes to follow in the ‘race’ he initiated and because he has had special police road craft training it makes it ok for him to follow at 120+MPH. It happened to me but I didn’t take the bait-wankers with egos on fireblades…

  4. Guy Clements says:

    Another minority group to face a ” crackdown ” if only the police would invest in catching burglars and muggers with the same vigour! No money in that is there! This stuff makes me sick!

  5. How come bikers always seem to come worse off when it comes to penalties. If it was a car driver they would get a small fine and or a refresher course.

  6. Virgil Allen says:

    lets target the bikers and turn our attention away from the tin box tail gaiters ,road hogs ,lane hogs the car drivers that speed and are dangerous, the car drivers whom are poorly taught and kill motorcyclists and push bikers due to lack of care and attention on the road, YES some idiots over cook it on the bikes but why sell bikes that are able to do this speed on our roads? Riding a bike on the M25/A1(m) is really just a dice with death ,its unworkable laws brought in for no reason to produce revenue or Tax for an under funded Police force which in general is staffed by idiots it self.

  7. quite simple here in N.L. at double the speed limit he would have had his bike taken away. along with his license.. along with a hefty fine. 120 on a country road is being stupid. and endangering life not only his.. we all know the cage driver that thinks theres nothing else but him barreling along in th e middle of the road. probably on the phone.to his mates. and as we bikers all know the use of indicators is beyond many car drivers. they learnt mirror signal mirror blind spot manouver. but once they got the licence if they indicate at all its after they have started the manouver. in fact sometimes once it has been completed. negative mirrors.!

  8. Spending by any motorist is an offence and penalties are awarded accordingly regardless of the mode of transport used. More money would be better spent on combating the gangs that steal motorbikes and enabling the force to recover the stolen motorbikes.

  9. It’s all very well whinging, but I don’t see how anyone can justify travelling 60mph above a 60mph limit. It gives the majority of bikers a bad name, and I’d rather see them off the road.

  10. Graham wells says:

    Maybe one they’ve persecuting us bikers they can use there fancy new bikes to catch all the Europeans legging it of trucks that come into the port at Dover it would be quite a spectical I’d pay to watch it

  11. Shoulda banned him for life and crushed via bike. And jailed him. And I’m a biker, but the difference is I have a brain and value human life.

  12. Money could be better spent on stopping illegals crossing the border.

    • They just can’t do it, even so now whole e.u is sharing all those wich comes from ship’s.
      Immigration should be diferent topic. But to let you all know i seen couple emigrants ships shooted in order to sink them. That is the way they stoping it.

  13. we all live within the rules of the land but I think theres more chance of accidents happening when motorists sit in the middle lane of our motorways sort them out

  14. More easy revenue generation.

  15. Funny old world. Earlier this year a bloke in a Land Rover Discovery hit me head on after he took a bend on the wrong side of the road calling his laziness “a momentary ‘lapse of attention”. My vehicle was stuffed in a hedge – where it remained for five hours – waiting for a winch truck.
    Police were in attendance twice – once for the initial accident because the other chaps car had blocked of the road. Then again to close the road off whilst my vehicle was pulled out of the hedge. I’m still in physio eight months later. There were no consequences legally to the other driver at all. No points. Nothing.

    And then you have the punishment meted out to the biker for speeding but no actual accident … it doesn’t seem to make sense.

    Presumably the policeman that caught this biker was also doing 120 mph in order to keep up with him – me may even have caused the other rider to speed up thinking they were racing. How is this making the roads safer?

    • It’s not.

    • Spot on Guy.
      I got wiped out in a cycle lane, wearing hi-vis clothing, in daylight, twice. No penalties given to the other drivers. One accident frangmented a disc in my back and I can’t sleep properly now – oh well…
      I filmed another woman driving into me on my push bike and then speeding off doing double the speed limit, past 3 schools and a college and then happy splashing several kids/parents taking their kids to school.
      She got a Section 59 (Which is a nothing). She said that her husband had lost his life on a push bike, which makes it ok to drive into push bikes and do 40mph in a 20 zone at 8.55am in the morning.
      No one is condoning what the Motorcyclist did but there are other issues to sort out first.
      Catching people who speed is easy. They even changed the law to coincide with terrorism by means of if you are caught speeding, you have to admit to it. Any other crime, barring terrorism, – murder, rape, pedophilia anything – you’re innocent until proven guilty.
      HOW CAN PEOPLE SAY THIS IS NOT A STEALTH TAX?!?!

  16. So the Police are getting these super unmarked bikes to “chase down” speeding bikers eh? If it is an unmarked bike then how would anyone else know it was coming as they change lanes. Bearing in mind the cop bike will also have to SPEED to catch up with the speeder……

  17. Firstly…i work within the bike industry and see the impact speed has on those that are left behind on both sides. Yes….it is worth every (low rent or even zero supply by manufacturer) penny to catch the anti social, over powered and under experienced idiot who thinks that the public highway is their own personal closed circuit. It may be only the few, but it is the few that are relevant in increasing the antisocial image we have with other road users, accidents involving MC and ultimately deaths on our roads. Yes….car drivers have very bad and dangerous habits that can have a direct effect on the safety of bikers, but just because the ones you see out on the road using a phone don’t have a police car permanently following them around doesn’t mean it isn’t part of their focus, or that these unmarked bikes wont be looking out for other road users illegal acts. The next time you see one of our biking community overtaking you on double white lines, wearing nothing but trainers, shorts a vest and a helmet on the motorway, speeding through your town, revving the hell out of their bike at all hours, pulling wheelies on your street to impress his/her mates, or barrelling at speed in to a corner without thought of what or who may be around the bend, stop them and thank them for increasing other road users hate of our community and the polices need to respond to this type of behaviour.

  18. There are some idiot car drivers and bike riders, but generally the bikers are more at risk from the car drivers. Whether in a car or on a bike I see a higher percentage of careless driving than riding every day. On a bike, having threats come at you from the front is much less worrying than having it happen behind you where your vision is very limited, especially a sports bike. It is for this reason very often that you will find bikers travelling faster than drivers. 0-120-0 on a bike is pretty mundane tbh. Most bikes have only just got out if first gear at that speed and the punishment dished out is stupidly excessive. A police driver who u-turned in front if a motorcyclist and killed them was found guilty if careless driving and received a lesser penalty!

    • No jail time, just community service. The man was KILLED. Think of the impact that has on his family. Just think about it. Yet she is doing community service and unpaid leave I think it was.

      But you speed a bit, harming no one, impeding no one, and you go to jail !?!?!?!

  19. If these are to catch “in built up area speeders” then I support it. If it’s anything else it’s just a money making racket and power mad coppers riding good bits of kit.

  20. Ben robinson says:

    So they will go to these lengths to catch a few bike speeding but yet they still do nothing about the 1000’s upon thousands of drivers using there phones daily hitting bikers.
    All they get is a slap on the wrist yet again shows where there true intentions lye yet again victimise the bikers.

    • Robin Palmer says:

      Well lets face it, they’re no good at anything else and they’ve gotta get their stats up somehow… Easy targets.. mind you, 120mph in a 60? He was asking for it either way.

  21. Kurt Vonnegut says:

    The cops get to ride some nice racey tackle, not like the normal plodding stuff they’re saddled with, and also bump up their booking averages. What’s not to like? And how much did these new bikes cost? What’s the Return on Investment? Catching many thieves, are they?

  22. About time motorcyclists receive the same attention as car drivers, especially as they usually combine excessive speed and dangerous stretches of road.

    • Ohhhh get over ya self! How many of you car drivers pull out in front of us bikers and seriously injure them or worse still bloody kill them!!! Like my poor partner was!
      And no he was doing 30!

    • Well if you car driver KEEP OF YOUR PHONES AND KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE ROAD the road be a lot safer Motorbike riders

    • By what statistical or analytical proof can you back your statement? Or is this an opinion?

    • Get a bike richard, stop the brainwash of the bikers naughtiness!!
      Peace be with you…and your pomposity!

    • So you’re saying that car drivers get the same arrention? Utter rubbish, motorcyclists are being focused on in this new action. Unfair, unnecessary and unwanted. Spend police money stopping REAL crime.

    • The very fact that it is targeting only motorcyclists makes it a witch hunt..

      Is it not illegal to single out a group with regard to enforcing a law… Will it be motorcyclist this month, Muslims next, Blacks then STi Ford Focus drivers after that…

      Surely this use of public money should be to discourage any road user from breaking this countries laws..

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