A Bristol man has been banned from driving for a year after he overtook an unmarked police car on the M4 at up to 150mph. Sajawal Khan told officers he was returning from London in the early hours of November 14 last year, after celebrating his birthday.
Driving a silver Mercedes, the 23-year-old zoomed past an unmarked police car between the two Swindon junctions of the westbound M4 in Wiltshire. PC Alexandra Way was the officer in the unmarked car, and she radioed for backup, and police then monitored Khan travelling at speeds between 120mph and 150mph across Wiltshire towards Bristol.
Khan, from Stottbury Road in St Agnes, Bristol, was pulled over and police found he had three passengers in his car. A spokesperson for Wiltshire police confirmed: “An officer was on patrol on the westbound carriageway of the motorway between Junctions 15 and 16 in the early hours of 14 November, when she became aware of a vehicle travelling behind her and approaching her rapidly.
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"As the silver Mercedes passed her unmarked police car, it was clear that it was being driven well over the speed limit so she radioed for support from colleagues. It was monitored by police to be travelling at speeds between 120mph and 150mph, staying in lanes 2 and 3, despite lane 1 being clear, so was pulled over by police.”
Khan was summonsed to Swindon Magistrates Court on Tuesday, May 3, and pleaded guilty to one charge of speeding. He was disqualified from driving for 12 months, fined £508 and was also ordered to pay £110 costs and a £51 victim surcharge - a total of £669.
PC Way, from Wiltshire Police’s Roads Policing Unit, said: “We work hard to keep our roads safe and we focus on something called the fatal four, which is the four factors which are most likely to contribute to a fatal or serious injury road traffic collision. These are drink/drug driving, not wearing a seatbelt, driving while distracted, and driving at excess speed. There is no doubt that driving more than twice the legal speed limit on a motorway poses a huge risk, not only to the driver themselves and any passengers in that vehicle, but other road users as well,” she added.
“We will continue to crack down on this sort of illegal and dangerous behaviour, by educating motorists about these risks, but also taking enforcement action when we see drivers breaking the law,” she said.
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