can't you read? .. 4 seconds well used

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Cyril Haearn
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can't you read? .. 4 seconds well used

Post by Cyril Haearn »

Many many years ago I was driving in a bus lane in London, not sure why, maybe I thought it was allowed.

A motorcycle policeman pulled me over and shouted: "Can't you read? That is a bus lane, can't [sic] drive there mate! Get aaht of it!"

It took four seconds and I think he did just the right thing, he did not treat me with unnecessary "respect" or try to give me therapy.

This was a formative experience for me, h elped to make me a fan of traffic law enforcement.

Seems to me this sort of action should be used much more, but I fear I responded in an untypical way. Would many drivers answer back or complain to the chief constable?

The police whine about lack of time and resources. If they acted like this they could deal with hundreds of drivers in an hour.
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beardy
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Re: can't you read? .. 4 seconds well used

Post by beardy »

It has its place but there are a hardcore of motorists (and cyclists) who see anything short of an actual penalty as "getting away with it" and carry on just as before.

Speaking from experience. :oops:
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Paulatic
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Re: can't you read? .. 4 seconds well used

Post by Paulatic »

I imagine they aren't keen to do this as it won't tick any "target" boxes.
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The fat commuter
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Re: can't you read? .. 4 seconds well used

Post by The fat commuter »

Paulatic wrote:I imagine they aren't keen to do this as it won't tick any "target" boxes.

If the targets were the number of people committing an offence then that could be used as a target - rather than the number of tickets issued, or whatever.

I've been pulled over in the car in the middle of the night for driving way to fast on a through road in a city before. The policeman that pulled me over couldn't do me as it would be difficult to prove things. Once I'd passed the breath test he just explained why, even on what appears to be a deserted road, the speed limits still apply. Slowed me down a lot more than my previous two SP30s over nine years - never been done in the twenty years I've been driving since.
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Cunobelin
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Re: can't you read? .. 4 seconds well used

Post by Cunobelin »

Paulatic wrote:I imagine they aren't keen to do this as it won't tick any "target" boxes.



I have a brilliant idea, that enables the public to foil these targets..........Don't drive in the bus lanes, don't speed, don't park stupidly and illegally

Problem sorted
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Cunobelin
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Re: can't you read? .. 4 seconds well used

Post by Cunobelin »

I love the fact that the Alliance of Bad Drivers bleats continuously about being victimised every time someone actually gets caught breaking the law

The "Police" deciding on prosecution was always their mantra as this allowed "discretion" (otherwise known as getting off with it) yet as soon as the Police use their dscretion and decide to prosecute they become the baddies again

The point (as above) that there are those who feel any censure of their right to drive like muppets is unacceptable
Valbrona
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Re: can't you read? .. 4 seconds well used

Post by Valbrona »

Nowadays ... having a Police Officer stop and give a verbal reprimand to anyone for non-authorized use of a bus lane is a complete and utter waste of police time and taxpayers money. If a Police Officer is going to do something like that at least fine the road user and make it worthwhile for Mr and Mrs Taxpayer.

That apart, I don't believe it should be the job of the Police Officers at all to be dealing with minor/non-arrestable motoring offences. There are other people and video cameras that can do it much more cheaply. A kid on his Pizza Hut scooter could be wired up with a camera to deal with minor motoring offences ...
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Postboxer
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Re: can't you read? .. 4 seconds well used

Post by Postboxer »

But then my pizza would be cold.
Tonyf33
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Re: can't you read? .. 4 seconds well used

Post by Tonyf33 »

I was driving on an unfamiliar dual laned road toward a town centre at about 6:15/30pm week before last, all of a sudden I was at the start of a designated bus lane.
The vehicle in front (a large van) meant I couldn't see the sign until I was upon it as we were nose to tail, they hadn't pulled off (& ctually they carried on down the bus lane anyways :roll: ) & traffic was dense in both lanes right up to that point.
It was a 7am-7pm restriction going into a city centre, which I thought quite unusual in itself though I rarely ever drive through town/city centres, certainly not at that time. The vast majority I see aren't such a big block and not that late but hey-ho. It took me a good few metres to get into the now chock a block 'outside' lane with a Taxi up my trumpet & on his horn by this point.

why can't the signage or some advanced warning that the bus lane was coming up be positioned further up as opposed to being right at the point of entry, I would have being able to move over in plenty of time.
It's ok once you know it's there but like so many roadwork notices, no good having it right at the start, put it somewhere further up so people can avoid or plan where they have to be.
Grandad
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Re: can't you read? .. 4 seconds well used

Post by Grandad »

like so many roadwork notices, no good having it right at the start, put it somewhere further up so people can avoid or plan where they have to be.


Not only roadworks. My pet hate when driving is when an additional lane appears just before a junction and the only indication of which one to take is painted on the road and is concealed by stationary vehicles.
Flinders
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Re: can't you read? .. 4 seconds well used

Post by Flinders »

Try driving around Stafford. It has the worst signed roads/lanes I've ever seen, anywhere.
Mind you, the locals who know the lanes ignore them, and the diamond crossings, and so do the local police.
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661-Pete
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Re: can't you read? .. 4 seconds well used

Post by 661-Pete »

This incident seems to recall the legendary recourse to the 'clip around the ear-'ole' - administered by your friendly neighbourhood bobby. Whether it actually happened - I don't know.

I do recall, way back when I was a student, being pulled over in my old banger because I had a rear light not working. The copper then came up with the remark that I was driving erratically, it transpired, the story about the rear light was only a pretext. But I explained that I had merely changed my mind about a turning I was going to take - an excuse which was good enough for him. Anyway he delivered what he called a 'verbal caution' about the light, there by the roadside. I wonder if this means I've had a police record, ever since (this would have been early 1970s)? I know that nowadays a police 'caution' is a fairly serious matter, it goes on the computer and is one step short of a prosecution.
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iviehoff
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Re: can't you read? .. 4 seconds well used

Post by iviehoff »

Valbrona wrote:That apart, I don't believe it should be the job of the Police Officers at all to be dealing with minor/non-arrestable motoring offences. There are other people and video cameras that can do it much more cheaply. A kid on his Pizza Hut scooter could be wired up with a camera to deal with minor motoring offences ...

Routine video/photographic enforcement is heavily restricted. When councils started using it for parking offences, it was quickly clamped down on. The manner in which you can use it for speeding offences is heavily regulated. The camera that used to enforce RLJ and box junction offences at a junction I know was taken away because it was no longer permitted. It seems odd that routine use of covert videos can enforce the London congestion charge, driving without insurance, but not traffic offences, but there we are.
Psamathe
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Re: can't you read? .. 4 seconds well used

Post by Psamathe »

I think society has changed. In my younger days, being stopped and given "a talking to" would have made sure I took a lot more care in future probably in a far broader context than the incident I might have been stopped for. These days it would often be seen as having got away with it and/or that the Police really don't bother and used as a signal that you can behave in such a manner with impunity. Maybe the message would be spread via posted videos and social media so others would appreciate that you really can break the law and get caught and not get punished.

If that "talking-to" was recorded as a "verbal warning" and a so next time instead of a "talking-to" you got the "book thrown at you" then fair enough. We have the technology to achieve that but I suspect that some would start declaring how unfair it is being given a "Police Record" with no recourse to contest the facts, no right of appeal, etc. - and after the £10bn public enquiry .... And then we have to distinguish between "unreasonable Police behaviour" and "reasonable Police behaviour" and then it becomes maybe more down to personal opinion than much else e.g. I believe the Police were/are quite wrong in their collection and retention of DNA (take, test and check against historic crimes is fine, but to retain beyond that is just building a national DNA database) but I would support recording drivers being given a "talking-to". Others would probably disagree and would probably have good reasons behind their stances. Maybe this is how our society has changed - the authorities have become more authoritarian and the public less trusting of them.

(And there will be more rambling irrelevant thoughts of society ... sorry)

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thirdcrank
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Re: can't you read? .. 4 seconds well used

Post by thirdcrank »

Let's not confuse the laws of nature with traffic regulations. We are pretty much stuck with the former while the latter can be changed and frequently are, as are the rules for enforcement.
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