Kev wrote on 10. Aug 2006 at 20:54:



A different take on it I suppose 

I wonder how any of us would be in that situation if we were the law?

I know I would love to be a traffic cop from time to time.

It can't be easy listening to all the excuses you've heard time and time before.  Trying to remain calm when you know the offender is clearly lying through his teeth etc.

Recently, I whizzed passed a patrol car which was joining the dual carrirageway.  He finally caught me miles up the road and was upset that he couldn't catch me in his diesel escort.  A few civil words later and I was on my way feeling very lucky.

Blow me down, the very next day, like an idiot, I did the same thing and unbelieveably another cruiser was joining as before.  This time I was very quickly caught by one of the larger Vauxhall products!

The first thing I was asked was "Are you in the job?".  I guess I must look like an officer of the Law!

I said "No, but I'm begining to wish I was".  A few civil words later and I was on my way!!!!

Stopped twice in two days and both times got away with it.

They're not all bad!

The Engineer that told me this swears it truly happened.........

Working for a forklift company we have about 40 mobile engineers
one of them who will remane nameless was driving along the M62 eating his lunch and doing about 80

when in his door mirror he spots the dreaded blue lights ......So he pulls over .........
Mr plod walks up the side of the van opens the door and says "what do think your on"
quick as a flash our guy says....cheese an tomato do you want one!!!!!!!!!!!!

didnt work though he still got a ticket

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!!!!

I always thought that emergency vehicles were NOT exempt from speed limits, the exception being Traffic, and only with good reason i.e. pursuit etc.

They are however exempt from red lights etc. but you must have your blues and siren on.

Or am i wrong?

i, like most people have been stopeed a few times, and more often than not i was doing something wrong.....

I went through a stage of getting pulled on a nightly basis, reason, my number plates were illegal, eventually i got bored of the constant telling off and changed the, only to be pulled again and again, this time for not wearing a seatbelt, however i was wearing a 4 point harness, the police behind couldn't see it though, again after a while they got wise to this fact and left me alone.

Now i am a little wiser, yes i still speed, yes i have 3 points, and yes it stung when i got caught, but there is no point in trying to dodge something that i was guilty of. After i got back in the car my wife said ' i would have given them hell if that was me' why, just to feel better? It's not worth it.

Again i have met some police who will pull you over, have a 'word' and let you on your way, i have a lot of respect for people who are prepared to use their judgement.

There is an age old saying of 'why aren't you out catching muggers and murderers' and there is a lot of resentment about speed cameras and the points system, at the end of the day if you break the rules and get caught then you have to expect a punishment no matter how small your crime was

Andy B wrote on 11. Aug 2006 at 07:06:

the trouble is that if all you saw was people being pulled over, bollocked then let off it wouldn't make for good TV ratings ... same as big brother and all the rest of that type of program, only the "interesting" bits make the final cut ... and I'd imagine probably over 90% of the traffic patrol work is probably just cruising along and boring as hell !!

TV gives a distorted view ... like any media, it shows you what the makers want you to see ...

Kev wrote on 11. Aug 2006 at 12:22:

if they are running B&2 then a red light and similar becomes "give way" - if they go through a red light and cause an accident then it's deemed their fault.