Spotlight on Ask a Policeman 4

What, With This Car?

The three heroes of “Ask a Policeman” have their cushy lives rumbled when the BBC come along to celebrate the “lack of crime” in Turnbotham Round. A letter from the powers that be states that as there is no crime in the village, there is no need for their jobs to exist. They then of course set themselves the task of defeating a few crimes in order to keep their paypackets, and the crime that they have chosen to defeat is speeding. Some of the best scenes in the film follow, as they measure out timings and distance and attempt to catch drivers in the act of breaking the law.

I wondered how much of a problem speeding actually was in 1939 – not nearly as much as today of course, when everyone has a car that is capable of going over the limit, and when our cars are such quiet and comfortable bubbles that people often speed without realising. But I searched the newspaper archive for reports on the subject from that year and found some quite amusing little snippets:

Sunderland Echo, May 1939

A fine of 40 shillings was imposed at Sunderland Crown Court today…Mr S was alleged to have travelled at speeds as high as 45 mph in a built up area. When told of the offence by P.C. R he replied “What? With this car?”

Express & Echo, April 1939

“How unkind of you” was the reply of a woman motorist of Taunton, when told by a police officer that she would be reported for having exceeded the 30 mph speed limit. She also observed “one does not notice the speed, does one?” She was fined £1.

Sheffield Evening Telegraph, August 1939

The Sheffield United goalkeeper was fined 40 shillings at Barnsley for his excessive speed. When asked to account for this, he replied that he was “in a hurry to get to Leeds.”

I’ve heard of people being in a hurry to get away from Leeds before, but never to the 3^rd best city in Yorkshire…

The outbreak of the war in September considerably reduced the number of speeding cases. From an average of 2,500 cases per month in the first part of the year, in November there were less than 1,000 cases.

Have a look at my book 'Roads to Corryvrekan' - set at the other end of WW2