Bruce,
I am not in any way saying that you are guilty of this, so please don't take offence. I'm just sticking in my 2p's worth, but........
What sticks in my throat is when law makers and enforcers blatantly and willfully break laws. That shouts hypocrite at me. Don't get me wrong, I'm of the, 'Rules are for the guidance of the wise and the blind obedience of the foolish', school of thought and as long as you're not harming or inconveniencing anyone else then I think 'rules' are fair game, but when I get busted for doing only 83 MPH on a non congested three lane motorway in perfect driving conditions and then I'm witness to hypocritical behaviour by the same organisation(s) that have penalised me, it's bound to have a detrimental effect on the level of respect I have for the authorities.
Now I appreciate that the Police have an arduous job at times and are only human after all, but on more occassions than I care to remember, I've seen police vehicles driving irresponsibly particulalrly on motorways. I'm talking speeding for no good reason, (I know emergency vehicles are exempt from speed limits, but when there's no need then they should practice what they preach IMO!), horrendous lane discipline and tailgating to name a few.
If your job is to uphold the law then you should damned well stick to it!!
I do exceed the speed limit from time to time but only where it's safe to do so. My ex-police driving instructor, (Bloke by the name of Scott if memory serves correctly, maybe you know him.), actually promoted exceeding the posted limit on appropriate occassions. That criteria is never taken into account. It's always cut and dried. You were speeding therefore you're a criminal. Recieving a 'bollocking probably infuriates me more than getting a ticket and again doesn't instill any greater respect due to the fact that I know a number of Policemen & women and the tales I have relayed back from them about their antics, (on and off the job!), contradicts their assumed authoritative position.
And don't get me started on (s)cameras!!!!