Safe Speed Forums

I would like you to support a petition on the 10 Downing Street website called for the dismissal of the Chief Constable of South Yorkshire, Meredydd Hughes for driving at 90mph in a 60mph area. For any ordinary citizen, this would be a serious offence meriting an appropriate punishment. The fact that the offence was committed by a Chief Constable who was also the chair of roads policing at the Association of Chief Police Officers makes the offence even more unacceptable. This was not just a momentary lapse of concentration, but a blatant disregard for the laws he is meant to uphold.



It seems that we are in an era where officials in high office are no longer accountable for their actions and do not take the honourable course by resigning their positions.



The petition reads:

The PM should dismiss Meredydd Hughes - Chief Constable of South Yorkshire for a flagrant disregard of the laws of the road. He was caught driving at 90mph in a 60mph limit. His views on speeding in his role of chair of roads policing at the Association of Chief Police Officers were unforgiving. He said 'the public is not just composed of drivers... - not just 'petrol heads' who want to go as fast as they like' in a public awareness film about the dangers of speeding. It seems that he is quite happy to decide how fast he can drive himself without regard for the safety of other road users or the law which he has been tasked to uphold. We are entering an era where government officials and public servants believe they are above the law and will not take responsibility for their own actions.



& can be found at:



http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/Meredydd-Hughes/



Visit the BBC website at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/7128548.stm and see Meredydd Hughes in an anti speeding video.



Please support this petition and pass this email on to everyone you know.



Best regards,

He is very much two faced, that coupled with someone of his position means he deserves to be ousted on that basis alone.

However,


My bold. The highlighted text is merely wild weasel wording on the part of the petition creator; it is obviously not necessarily true and should be deleted from the petition text.

I won't sign a petition on the basis of something I might well do myself, with total regard for any other potential road users of course. He proved what we've been saying all along.

_________________
Views expressed are personal opinions and are not necessarily shared by the Safe Speed campaign

Surely, the petition should be something like.

Med Hughes a highly trained Police Officer and others have all committed that heinous crime of speeding and proved that it is a safe thing to ( edited undertake) do within good conditions. Therefore is it not time for this scam of speed kills and its enforcement by cameras be stopped and properly policed by uniformed officers who can unlike cameras determine safe driving and those travelling at excessive speed and driving dangerously can be brought to book.


If Med and others can do it so can I

I agree otherwise I'd have signed it by now.

Unless the petition is for a dismissal on the grounds of dishonesty and hypocrisy then I cannot support it.

I'm disgusted at the man's overall behaviour, but I can not support the petition on the basis of the current wording. His speeding offence does not, in itself, concern me in the slightest.

Best wishes all,
Dave.

You may want to rethink that choice of word?

(I know I'm quoting without full context but clarity could be improved, imho.)

Count me out also. The message of the petition is wrong.

Me too. Exactly.

_________________
Paul Smith
Our scrap speed cameras petition got over 28,000 sigs
The Safe Speed campaign demands a return to intelligent road safety

My grumble with Merry ist that he spout one thing .. but he then not do as he spout.


Ach... I know he was safe enough.. competent enough und he did this on a very empty road anyway.

But .. he should have known Brunstromia .. und its desire to make cash. Why else on the Chirk Road at that time of day when the dangerous roads' carnage make a mockery of Dick und make him und Med look like real fools.

Should he resign as CC?

No.. because there more to his work over-seeing all crimes und I am fair enough to say that despite moronic stance on road safety issues und some hypocrisy in this area.. .. his job as CC mean he in charge of all S Yorks police issues und they do have some plaudits due to them in other areas of policing under his leadership.

I have concerns over road policy stupidity .. but I do not have "tunnel vision" all the same


I would have greater respect for Merry if he simply said he as normal as everyone else when driving a motor car though

_________________
Nicht ganz im Lot!
Ich setze mich immer wieder in die Nesseln! Der Mad Doc ist mein Mann! Und ich benutzte seinen PC!

UND OUR SMILEYS? Smile ... und the the world smiles with you.
Smiley guy seen when you read
Fine me for Safe Speed
(& other good causes..)

Greatest love & Greatest Achievements Require Greatest Risk
But if you lose the driving plan - don't lose the COAST lesson.
Me?
Je ne regrette rien!

My edition of the Highway Code, admittedly a bit out of date (1966) states that the white circle with the black diagonal bar means "Speed Limit Ends" (not as it does now that National Speed limit applies.) Anyone who learnt to drive before 1977 when the 60mph National speed limit and 70mph motorway speed limit came into force will have an innate subconscious memory of this meaning. It was needed to pass the driving test.

It was safe enough back then to 'do a ton' so rather odd that with today's safer vehicles and supposedly better roads that it isn't considered safe now. The restriction was brought in to protect fuel supplies, nothing to do with safety.

Whatever he may have said on camera for political purposes, I believe MH may have been thinking himself back on the open roads of his youth when 90mph was acceptable. He really needs to look back at history and make the case that with modern vehicles being more efficient at higher speeds, the need for the fuel saving speed limit may not still be relevant given that it wasn't introduced for safety reasons.

When on earth did the need for the limit change from being for fuel saving purposes to supposedly safety purposes and who stated that this reason had changed? Was it when the speed cameras were introduced to justify ripping off the motorist?