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A New South Wales Highway Patrol officer has come under scrutiny online for his pull-over conduct of a green P-plate driver in Fairfield, west of Sydney.
Posted by user cust.bmw, the Highway Patrol officer can be seen entering his vehicle before the driver passes him.
The officer flicks on his lights and sirens to chase down the driver and gets stuck in traffic. The Highway Patrol then proceeds onto the opposite side of Horsley Drive, almost colliding head-on with a vehicle coming in the opposite direction.
When the officer catches up to the BMW driver and pulls him over, the reason for the stop is “displaying P-plates on a prohibited vehicle”.
The officer then further doubles down and says, “You are displaying P-plates on a prohibited vehicle, produce your licence”, before finally asking, “Is this actually a [BMW] M140i or is it an upbadge?”.
Checking the vehicle registration shows that the car is actually a BMW 120i, a P-plate-legal vehicle. However, all New South Wales Highway Patrol vehicles are fitted with an Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) system – capable of reading up to six number plates in a second and feeding information on a vehicle straight back to the internal computer.
The actions of the officer attracted plenty of scrutiny, with some even suggesting taking the stop to court.
“Bro broke multiple laws to pull you over. If you take this to court, you will win very quickly,” said one user.
“So he thought it was a great idea to take off after you, even driving on the wrong side of the road, which could have caused multiple accidents, just for that,” said another.
However, a few spotted that the driver did accelerate past the officer, getting into his vehicle.
“Hits the throttle next to the cop so he gets pulled over for content. Bro, go race your car, don’t be posing,” said one user.
This could be classified as breaking Regulation 291 of Road Rules 2014: Making unnecessary noise or smoke, which carries a $423 fine and three demerit points.
Despite this, is the officer legally allowed to pursue a vehicle like this for minor traffic infringements?
Can the police break the road rules?
In certain circumstances, the police are allowed to break road rules, as we covered before here.
As part of Regulation 305 of the Road Rules 2014, “A provision of these Rules does not apply to the driver of a police vehicle if in the circumstances the driver is taking reasonable care, and it is reasonable that the provision should not apply, and if the vehicle is a motor vehicle that is moving — the vehicle is displaying a blue or red flashing light or sounding an alarm.”
The important part of that rule is the “reasonable care” section, which is one that is subject to nuances and the discretion of the court.
The most notable and recent mention is the long, drawn-out court case of police officer Harry Thomas Little. In 2018, the senior constable hit a motorist pulling out of a side street in the Sydney suburb of Cronulla, while in pursuit at double the speed limit of a motorist he spotted on their phone. The collision left the motorist with a permanent disability.
The court found that Little did not have his flashing lights or siren on, and in 2022, the senior constable was convicted of negligent driving causing grievous bodily harm, sentenced to a 12-month community corrections order and was disqualified from driving for 12 months. He avoided jail time and a more serious conviction of dangerous driving causing grievous bodily harm.
Prior to Little's sentencing, Crown prosecutor Jot Mehta told the court not even an officer should be above the law, the Sydney Morning Herald reported in 2022.
“Nobody is above the law, and the offender above all else should have known the importance of following good driving procedures," Mr Mehta said at the time. "There has to be a message to the general public, but also other Highway Patrol officers, as to what reasonable care is.”
Zane Dobie comes from a background of motorcycle journalism, working for notable titles such as Australian Motorcycle News Magazine, Just Bikes and BikeReview. Despite his fresh age, Zane brings a lifetime of racing and hands-on experience. His passion now resides on four wheels as an avid car collector, restorer, drift car pilot and weekend go-kart racer.
