Safe Speed Forums

Is this picture legal ?

I persnally think not as it clearly shows a womble/civil servant clearly disobeying 'the law'
the law in this case is clearly visible and says 'Police Vehicles Only'
We all know that these litter pickers are not Police vehicles but merely an expensive health and safety experiment that angers more people than it helps.

The law being the law ,this person parking his vehicle in this position is impersonating a police officer, which in my book carries a hefty sentence.

During my daily crawl down our motorways i see this occurrence happening time after time. How long is it going to be before one of these impersonators causes an accident , as other road users will testify to the fact that every time one of these litter picking vehicles is seen creeping down the motorway there is a big bunch of traffic behind it as other unaware road users think that they have 'the power' to catch people doing 71mph. Wombles sat on these perches has the same traffic bunching effect.

Some of the motorway signs do appear to be changing to say 'Authorised vehicles only' to which these vehicles indeed are legally entitled to use.. The ones that say police vehicles only are there for police not glorified wombles.

A no entry sign means NO ENTRY , a Police vehicles only sign means POLICE VEHICLES ONLY thats the law !!

Can anything legal be done to proscecute the driver of this vehicle in the picture ? i have the reg number time and date

but stopping on the hard shoulder of a motorway is fine,

sorry i forgot stopping on the hardshoulder of a motorway to take a photo is classed as an emergency

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now retired

sorry MR ...engine cut out , .. was inspecting the reason why .. just happened to see the incriminating evidence in front of me and as a good citizen thought it rude not to record it. After all you so say cant deny a criminal act with a photo to prove it can you !, after all you spend your pathetic life doing that kind of thing for a living .. its just nice to get pond life back every now and again !!! you of all people should understand that .. how many times have you been waving your majic revenue wand at people whilst parked illegally!

You will be glad to hear that it was just a minor fault and i was on my way again in no time , didnt need the expert services the HA provides ( i.e block 2 lanes of the carriage way off and just stand around looking gormless for a few hours)

and of course this will be confirmed by the 2 officers in the patrol car, i wonder if they used the rear facing camera on a side view to check you were safe when when you obviously popped the bonnet to inspect why your engine cut out

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now retired

face it .. what you see there is an illegal act .. if you realy have to prove i was there illegaly then go for it .. i'll glady pay the 60 fine (if you can prove it that is )

what you see here proves something a little more serious than a pathetic 60 quid fine . I'll do my homework on what sentence impersonating a police officer gets and getback to you.

impersonating a police officer me or the highway agency,

not a leg to stand on either way

but

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now retired

I agree that from a distance they appear to be a police vehicle, but up close they clearly belong to the highways agency so I doubt that an impersonating a police officer charge would ever stick.

They probably have a dispensation, allowing them to use the police only laybys on Mways.

I am sure I have read that they do have such a dispensation, and it makes sense in helping them do their job.

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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

A lot of people can't tell the difference between Police and HA vehicles. That's why when they attend to incidents on the M25 that everybody slams on the brakes and a queue forms.

Don't know if it still exists , but motorway contractors - eg those working on the comms system used to get a "licence " to park on hard shoulder etc - from number of vans etc i see near the huts /boxes on the verge ogf motorways looks like it still happens.

Now were we talking about Wombles

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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

You'll need a helicopter to see "Highways Agency" written on the roof of their vehicle.

Two have just started patrolling in our area. The newspaper article said one of the "officials" is an ex-police officer. Whatever their duties it might be wise to treat a vehicle looking like a police traffic vehicle as if it is one. After all, disputing something with a Community Support Officer is likely to bring a real policeman along.

I am sure all of us would prefer to see lots more real policemen so why can't we have them, Mr Blair????

Would be nice to find out what the "official " did as a police Officer , and why he decided to get out - ( or was he "surplus" to requirements.)



But what year -- and thats what the criminal element know.

Real policemen --you're joking - why pay real money for real policemen when you can get plastic imitation PCSO s for a lot less - trouble is that their powers are plastic imitation ones - but there's a few more and it makes for good propaganda to say that there are more police on the streets - pity they can only fine cyclists and dog owners for dogs crapping - as is said - pay peanuts --get monkeys.

_________________
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

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Chris

He probably retired at 49 years of age because there is little incentive to stay on and always the possibility of being accused of something and risk losing the lot. In fact, I can't remember the figures but if you stay in too long the pension actually reduces.

Word is that the Highways Agency have been 'actively' recruiting retirees as they viewed it as a ready pool of trained staff. However, it seems that the thought of continuing to work shifts over all 7 days of the week, and being out in all weathers, didn't appeal to many. (As if it was ever likely to. )

I was at Trowell Services the other night and saw one of their vehicles in the car park. A nice, pleasant, warm evening. I then saw the TIPPO's coming out of the building. AND STILL they were wearing those damn jackets. It's as if they need to be surgically removed.

well a few times lately i've actually seen them dealing with incidents.. i've been quite pleased as they're having a +ve effect on the traffic flow & safety.

if they want the job to risk their lives on the hard shoulder i'm quite happy if it gives the trafpol more time to do their jobs (all 2 of them it would seem).

quite why they need 4x4s to do their job, surely you could fit alot more cones in a transit?... quite whether they have a remit to fool motorists into thinking they're the police or whether its just something they enoy i'm not sure... but when they're doing what i think they ought to i'm all for it.

wonder if we can catch one and find out what their remit actually is...

The official version...
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/ACTS/acts2004/20040018.htm

...and the versions that are slightly easier to follow
http://www.betterhighways.co.uk/pdf/In_their_own_words_BW.pdf
http://www.southyorks.police.uk/podcasts/transcripts/trafficofficers.pdf

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Chris

[quote="ed_m"]if they want the job to risk their lives on the hard shoulder i'm quite happy if it gives the trafpol more time to do their jobs (all 2 of them it would seem).

quote]

No - i've seen 3 trafpols on M6 - must have been a union meeting.

As long as the HATOs stay on the hard shoulder , i'm happy - not the first time i've seen them flaping their arms on the edge of L1 ,like a DODO trying to take off and causing brake attacks from traffic in front - like some form of suicidal lemming.The 4x4 with flashing lights aint going to stop a foreign 44tonner ,and the jacket only makes him a better target.
Like to know what it is about this govt - first of all , reduce the police force , then panic and bring in substandard PCSO in place of proper cops - reduce trafpols, bring in robots and wanna be's in clone like police cars -
Perhaps they think that as we've got substandard MPs --we only deserve second rate Policing ( And DEFINATELY no slight on any of our BIB posters - who are proper police)

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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

First a request. Can the originator, or a Mod/Admin resize the photo. http://bluefive.pair.com/pixresizer.htm does a good job.



'Dealing' or 'Attending'? Or just relieving the boredom? Last Winter I was driving down the M6 in Staffs, in the dark, and, having passed a 'TIPPO' vehicle 'bimbling' along in Lane 1, suddenly Lane 3 slowed rapidly. The reason? A bump in Lane 3 on the opposite carriageway. HATO car consequently meanders ahead of me. Approaching the next junction Police and Fire vehicles join the other carriageway at speed. The reaction from the HATO vehicle? Well, they left on the exit slip, but I didn't recognise any signs of urgency.

Saying that, these people are not trained for 'response driving', except that a few may actually (as inferred above) have had many years of response driving experience.

As to the type of vehicles they use. The reason for a FWD is to be able to pull vehicles clear of the road. Certainly in the early days, before 'Spring Brakes' became commonplace. even a 30+ ton artic could be shifted by a Range Rover. Hook up the rope. Drain the trailer tank, and away it would go, even if, in the wet, the co-pilot had to stand on the front bumper to maintain traction. I kid you not.

Unfortunately, that level of expertise seems to have been eroded.

For example, a few day ago, on the M40, at the bottom of 'Guano Gulch', there was a trailer on its side with the rear of the towing vehicle 'upended'. Going past, the trailer appeared to be on the hard shoulder, but the towing vehicle was across Lane 1. Simple. Handbrake on, Release the tow-hitch and move the towing vehicle. Except that it would probably have been 'crunched' by the trailer as it dropped. But that's not a problem. The 'stated case' under the Removal of Vehicles Act relates to the Aberfan disaster in..........(thinks) 1966, when one of the 'ghouls' left a brand new Rover 95? obstructing the road. The only way to remove it was to get a 'grab' to puncture the windows and lift it into a field. the Insurance company sued the Police and the claim was denied.

Being something of a dinosaur, I'm of the era where we DID help push start motorists with flat batteries in the Winter. Or helped people to change wheels when they had a puncture. But in the 1980's the rules changed. Six months off sick and one could expect only half pay. Twelve months off sick rendered one with no pay whatsoever. Although there was/is a certain latitude as to injuries received 'in the course of one's duties' the question as to whether helping a 'vulnerable' motorist to change a wheel, when the jack collapses, is regarded as 'duties' has yet to be answered. Even some quarter of a Century after the rule was introduced. It comes down to the question. "Do my allegiances lie with the public I serve, or to my wife and children?" No contest.

There is an old saying. "Society gets the Police Force it deserves." And whilst I sympathise with many of the criticisms directed against the Police on this forum, perhaps those criticisms should be better directed towards our Members of Parliament who, at the end of the day, introduce these rules/restrictions.

Rant over.


But more to follow.

The sort of point i was making earlier - we get plastic MPs ---the quote on the article on spitting image the other night sums it up --
Maggie - "i'll have a steak, raw" - :waiter, "and the vegetables " ::Maggie - "they'll have the same as me" -- in this day and age we substitute Tony for Maggie - occasionly we get an MP to stand up to him - and the rest of the gang, chargrill that MP for fare of the country finfing out the truth.

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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 think the whole point has been missed here.

The sign clearly states 'police vehicles only'. The HA tractors are not police vehicles .. simple ! and a fact that cannot be argued either !!.

means , flout that law and you are at risk of being prosceuted. In my eyes it is a non police vehicle using a spot authorised by police vehicles only as the sign suggests, this is flouting the law! i'm not allowed to park on them because the sign says so.

its like everything else, the law is the law regardless on which side of the fence you are on, we all have to abide by them.

Ok so they may have special dispensation to use these tumps but the signs will have to be changes to reflect this. I have seen these 'authorised vehicles only' signs popping up around too and the wombles do use them and with that i dont have a problem.

Law enforcers use every trick in the book to try and remove hard earned money from our wallets.. no discretion used as targets have to be met .. this picture here is just a good example of the humble fella in the street getting one over the law!