Following a presidential motorcade

lifeandtimes

Hi,

I'm not sure if this is better suited for her or the motor forum so please move if required.

I recently saw the presidents motorcade come up north circular road, the guards all came ahead to stop traffic and most of the cars had pulled to the side, as the presidents cars past I noticed a car that was pulled over pull out and swiftly follow it all the way up the road(not speeding but the full speed limit) and pull off just before the Phoenix park. In doing this the car was able to pass all the traffic that was ahead of them.

It made laugh as it's a real chancer thing to do but I was wondering what the implication would be if the guards had turned around to see this person following them and taking advantage of the situation.

Does anyone know what this would fall under or if it's wrong at all?

Granted the driver wasn't speeding or driving recklessly,more like getting ahead of everyone before the could pull back onto the road and all the other drivers being sensible waited until the driver was past to do.

Thanks

coylemj

If he was effectively in the slipstream of the president's motorcade and not breaking the speed limit or driving in bus lanes then I can't see any legal issues. Half the other motorists were probably p1ssed off that he was queue jumping and the other half envious cause they didn't have the balls to do the same.

Victor

Potentially, it's a novel way to get free overnight accommodation.

Or, if it wasn't the president, but some foreign dignitary, have guns pulled on them, as happened a garda that encroached on Hosni Mubarak's cavalcade years ago.

Peregrinus

It's perfectly legit, provide they don't break the law (run a red light, fail to give way where they should, exeed the speed limite, etc). Some car has to be the first car to come along the road after the motorcade has passed; why should it not be his?

bobbyss

Surely lights must have been broken as the President would not have been hanging around to stop at those?

Peregrinus

bobbyss wrote: »

Surely lights must have been broken as the President would not have been hanging around to stop at those?

Yes. The advance riders will stop the traffic from side roads, and the motorcade will pass through the junction, regardless of the state of the lights.

If you're following the motorcade, you need to stop at the lights.

Should you go through, detection is almost inevitable, since the advance riders who have stopped the traffic from the side roads are still there - they don't move on until the motorcade has passed through the junction.

I should add that these presidential motorcades are rare affairs. When the President is making, or receiving, a state visit or something of similar formality is going on, you get these motorcades. But mostly the President travels in a car that just drives in the normal fashion, and doesn't have a motorcycle escort.