• Imagine the scene. You are stuck in your Saab
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in a 6Icnn traffic jam on the M5 between Cheltenham and Tewkesbury. Suddenly, your car phone rings and you are told that a relative is dangerously ill in hospital. In front is a Jaguar police car, so you get out and ask if the police can help.
Inside the police car is Geoffrey Dear, chief constable of the West Midlands, and his aide, Superintendent Martin Burton who is driving, agrees to help. You follow the police car with its light flashing, away from the jam, for 20km until you reach the M42 junction, where the police car has to turn off. You continue on your journey, desperate to get to the hospital in Warwick in time. Unfortunately, within minutes you are stopped by West Mercia police for speeding.
The relative died before you could reach the hospital and a few weeks later you are fined £100 with £10 costs and given three penalty points for the speeding offence.
A far-fetched story, you might think, but it really happened to unfortunate 39-yearold sales manager Michael Davies from Dosthill, Tamworth. A spokesman for West Mercia Police said afterwards: "Our primary concern at all times must be the safety of all road users."