Safe Speed Forums

Seen this in the Newspaper.com

There’s another link to the Daily Mirror which was the source.

Edited:

Daily Mirror link

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Useless laws weaken necessary laws.

Frankly she deserved it, everybody knows (or should know) that you should never stop on a motorway except in an emergency, and being lost is not an emergency. Most people exit the motorway at the next full junction and stop to look at a map (which she had), this is not a risk for a lone woman if they are sensible in locking their doors and stopping where they can leave quickly.

I hardly ever stop on any normal roads to look at a map, I always find a quiet side road or layby to pull in to avoid blocking traffic.

Gareth

I to don't have a great deal of sympathy, although perhaps a stern ticking off might have been more appropriate. Either way it should have been made clear to her that stopping on a hard shoulder is illegal and a relatively dangerous place to be.

Especially since she was a foreigner and not familiar with UK road regulations, a severe ticking-off rather than a fine would seem the appropriate response from the copper.

I have no doubt what IanH and InGear would have done.

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"Show me someone who says that they have never exceeded a speed limit, and I'll show you a liar, or a menace." (Austin Williams - Director, Transport Research Group)

Any views expressed in this post are personal opinions and may not represent the views of Safe Speed

I don't for one moment believe that she would have stopped by a police car had she been aware that, under the circumstances, it's illegal - and so she was not deliberately breaking the law.
With that in mind, her punishment was totally unjustifiable.

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Only when ideology, prejudice and dogma are set aside does the truth emerge - Kepler

edited

If the public have access, then the usual rules apply.

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What makes you think I'm drunk officer, have I got a fat bird with me?

Is reading the highway code compulsory, or merely advisable?


Perhaps there SHOULD be guidlines, entitled "How not to react like a prat, and reduce the respect for the police". If there WAS a good reason for offering the penalty, then he should make that clear.

So why was he risking his life, AND the motorist by NOT sending her on her way ASAP?


Maybe a few public information adverts like the "I've been pinched" variety would be the answer?

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Time to take responsibility for our actions.. and don't be afraid of speaking out!

edited

If it's illegal to stop on the hard shoulder unless you're in an emergency or witnessed an accident, then how come the police stick up signs the next day saying if you saw the accident stop at the next emergency phone and call this number.

Also, what was the copper doing on the hardshoulder in the first place? Anyone know?

I hate these foreigners getting away with everything on or roads, quite frankly i believe she diserved it and if anything they were to leanient, anyone that stupid needs to have their licence revoked.

Hmmm

I can't help wondering if there is more to the story than is reported. Perhaps she WAS given a ticking off by BiB and reacted badly too it

(Johnnytheboy imagines stereotypical latin handwaving... )

and after riling said BiB sufficiently was issued with a fine.

I, like an above poster, would be interested in what our resident BiB's would think had happened.

I would imagne they were initially stunned into silence at the absolute stupidity of the woman (she was from the midlands, not a 'foreigner'). Whatever the reasons, she deserved everything she got.

All that makes me wonder what i should do if i see something dangerous on the motorway - like a bloke stopped in the hatched area, where it goes back to 3 lanes( yep - to the right of L3) on the M6 south between J4 and 3.
At the time i cleared the top-found a phone and reported it . Now - i could drive on to the HS, get out, and dial 999 or in the present climate would i be risking displeasure .

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lets bring sanity back to speed limits.
Drivers are like donkeys -they respond best to a carrot, not a stick .Road safety experts are like Asses - best kept covered up ,or sat on

I stopped and used an emergency phone to report a drunk pedestrian strolling along the hard shoulder of the M8 late one night.

Was that an emergency?

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Less Kodak, more Kojak.
In times of deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.

incincipation(spelling) ????( wandering from bar to bar)

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lets bring sanity back to speed limits.
Drivers are like donkeys -they respond best to a carrot, not a stick .Road safety experts are like Asses - best kept covered up ,or sat on

That's one I've wondered. What constitutes an emergency? When should you use the emergency number to contact the police? Sometimes I have felt the need to report a bad driver because they should be stopped and told that what they did was dangerous but it has never been the sort of thing to use the emergency number for. But I don't know any other way to contact the police... Hmm...

I once saw what looked like an up-turned floorboard with nails in on the outside lane of a dual carageway, on a bend.
I thought about stopping to move it, but being england there is never any room to park at the edge of the road and people could get up to very high speeds at that point and I didn't want them to hit me. So I decided to call the police, however due to the then new mobile phone law I was scared to do this while driving, so I waited until I got off the road and found somewhere to stop. I should have pointed out that the reason it took me 5-10 minutes before calling was because of the mobile phone law.

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Andrew.

Just to expand on that, anywhere where the public has access is considered a public highway - I got a severe b*llocking off a copper for riding across a supermarket carpark with no lid on.


IMO if you see a dangerous driver or something on the road you are perfectly within your rights to use a mobile phone - as far as I am aware you are allowed to use a phone 'in an emergency'. Seeing a drunk driver or something hazardous in the road IMO constitutes an emergencey.

I seem to recall a while ago some talk of a national police contact number other than 999 for general enquiries and non emergencies. Damn good idea IMO.


IMO it SHOULD be compulsory. I also think that anyone wishing to drive in this country should have to pass a driving test here. There are far too many 'foreign' drivers on our roads that haven't got a clue and are unsafe as a result.

Lum - it's quite common to see trafpol stopped on the hard shoulder in my experience. They are usually looking out for dangerous driving. No I don't agree that its safe to stop on the hard shoulder, but I'd rather that than have no trafpol on the motorway at all.

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Science won over religion when they started installing lightning rods on churches.

Surely if the police want to stop on motorways and look out for dangerous drivers, they should use the correct pull off area’s, and shouldn’t be sitting on the hard shoulder.

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Useless laws weaken necessary laws.

I agree Dixie but there aren't very many of those dedicated areas about. Like I said, its NEVER safe to stop on the hard shoulder, but I'd rather they were there than not at all.

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Science won over religion when they started installing lightning rods on churches.