Video of man driving at 100mph on Snake Pass lands culprit in court

Joe Achilles, a motoring journalist from London, filmed himself driving the high-powered sports car along the A57 Snake Pass on Saturday, November 3 last year.

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He attached a Go Pro camera to the side of his car and uploaded the footage of his journey to his Facebook account, where it was spotted by officers from Derbyshire Constabulary’s Roads Policing Unit.

The officers, who at the time were investigating a different matter, spotted that the car was driving at well over the speed limit.

They instructed specialists to determine the exact speeds

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Sergeant Adam Shipley said: “We needed to be able to prove the speed the car was travelling at along what, myself and my team know only too well, is one of our most deadly roads.”

Steve Callaghan, who worked out the speed of the car, said: “I examined the video file and was able to find the location of the incident, starting at the car park of the Snake Pass Inn, driving east towards Sheffield.

“The Facebook video showed road markings and traffic signs that were distinctive, and which were able to be identified in the video as well as the Google Earth Pro application.

“Distances between the signs were measured with the application and the timing of the journeys between the signs was calculated from the video file.”

With the distances and times established it was possible to calculate a series of average speeds between the landmarks.

Eleven average speeds were calculated as the £100,000 super car was driven towards Sheffield in the face of oncoming traffic.

Not one of the eleven speeds was within the 50mph limit.

The slowest he was travelling was found to be 58mph and the fastest was 93mph.

Achilles was found guilty of speeding at a hearing at Southern Derbyshire Magistrates’ Court, where he was fined £615 and ordered to pay costs of £620.

He had six points added to his licence.

Sergeant Shipley said: “This type of driving is careless, reckless and selfish.

“On this occasion, thankfully nobody died, but all too often the outcome very different.

“For a man who drives for a profession I am appalled that he seemingly has so little value for the lives of other road users.

“The roads of the UK are not race tracks and should not be used as such.

“Strapping a Go Pro to the side of a car and driving in this manner – all in a bid to get viewers on social media – is quite frankly pathetic.

“I hope this case sends a message to others like Joe Achilles who think they can come to our county and put lives at risk.

“We may not see you at the time but know that we have the capability to ensure that you are brought to justice.”