Is it just me

[andy the hammer]

Is it just me or what, when you are driving along the road and realise that on one of those rare occasions you are just over the speed limit and when you look up there it is the dreaded mobile police speed trap.

 

Last weekend Hilary was away so my son Craig and I decided to take the boat on a trip to Milton Keynes on our return trip Monday morning we had just travelled through Blisworth, with Craig at the helm I decided to take the dog for a walk on the towpath and asked him to drop us of at the next bridge hole.

 

As we approached the bridge hole I noticed a chap on a mountain bike with a life jacket and carrying a small computer and as we approached he asked for our registration number, of course I could not remember it and by this time we had just passed him so he could not read the plates in the window.

 

I stepped of the boat and he informed me that he was from B.W. and that he was checking all boats moored and travelling on his section of water and that this was done for two weeks every year, so after he had checked our details on his computer I carried on walking the towpath.

 

Whilst walking the towpath I noticed a couple of moored boats with parking ticket type envelopes hanging from them so he had been doing his job.

 

Is it just me or is there anybody else this happens to when there is a official person about you are the one that is stopped.

 

Regards

 

Andy

[Theo]

Is it just me or what, when you are driving along the road and realise that on one of those rare occasions you are just over the speed limit and when you look up there it is the dreaded mobile police speed trap.

 

Last weekend Hilary was away so my son Craig and I decided to take the boat on a trip to Milton Keynes on our return trip Monday morning we had just travelled through Blisworth, with Craig at the helm I decided to take the dog for a walk on the towpath and asked him to drop us of at the next bridge hole.

 

As we approached the bridge hole I noticed a chap on a mountain bike with a life jacket and carrying a small computer and as we approached he asked for our registration number, of course I could not remember it and by this time we had just passed him so he could not read the plates in the window.

 

I stepped of the boat and he informed me that he was from B.W. and that he was checking all boats moored and travelling on his section of water and that this was done for two weeks every year, so after he had checked our details on his computer I carried on walking the towpath.

 

Whilst walking the towpath I noticed a couple of moored boats with parking ticket type envelopes hanging from them so he had been doing his job.

 

Is it just me or is there anybody else this happens to when there is a official person about you are the one that is stopped.

 

Regards

 

Andy

 

I met a nice chap on the L&L a few months ago. the job was new to him but he had been stirring things up! The girl in the office was inundated by peopple panicking and trying to buy a license or apologising for not displaying it.

 

N

[Troll]

I cant understand it, i`ve seen wardens or what ever they are looking at unlicensed boats and just walking on to the next , never yet seen any type of ticket.

 

If I had I suspect the owner would simply chuck it in the cut and move off rather quickly to another location.

 

What would these parking type tickets say?

[Jason Wilson and Family]

I cant understand it, i`ve seen wardens or what ever they are looking at unlicensed boats and just walking on to the next , never yet seen any type of ticket.

 

If I had I suspect the owner would simply chuck it in the cut and move off rather quickly to another location.

 

What would these parking type tickets say?

 

You sure they are unlicensed and not just 'not displaying'? I thought someone said they had a little gizmo they carried about to check reg numbers.

[andy the hammer]

I cant understand it, i`ve seen wardens or what ever they are looking at unlicensed boats and just walking on to the next , never yet seen any type of ticket.

 

If I had I suspect the owner would simply chuck it in the cut and move off rather quickly to another location.

 

What would these parking type tickets say?

 

These envelopes had the B.W. logo on them and I cannot remember what the writing on them was but they were tied to the handrail or the padlock on the main doors with a cable tie.

 

Regards

 

Andy

[Troll]

You sure they are unlicensed and not just 'not displaying'? I thought someone said they had a little gizmo they carried about to check reg numbers.

 

 

yes I`m sure I know for a fact this paticular guy has never yet had a licence and hes proud of it, I just cant believe how he gets away with it continuously

[carlt]

What would these parking type tickets say?

[sueb]

BW get all the staff they can and check the whole canal system every November.

Sue

[David Schweizer]

The Patrol Officer came past my former mooring every two weeks, and put notices on boats that had overstayed or were not licenced. He was very efficient without being officious.

 

Pity that neither the Moorings Officer or Regional Manager, who seem unable to write replies to letters or return phone calls are not so competent.

Edited November 13, 2008 by David Schweizer

[mrbeats]

What upsets me is the effort Police put into catching traffic offenders.

As an example from even far back as 1999 there were 16,000 road accident casualties nationally in which at least one offender was over the limit.

The Police put a lot of effort into catching such offenders and we see a lot of campaigns on tv for drink driving ect.

Rightly so too.

However in the same year there were over 50,000 people who fell victim to violent crime in London alone but where are the Police in those circumstances.

Perhaps they are not interested because the system makes no money from dealing with such offences.

 

An Italian old man used to say to me in a local caffe ''your country is full of legal Mafia never mind Italy!!

Edited November 13, 2008 by mrbeats

[fuzzyduck]

On a related note, Steve Cropper who used to hang round the Leicestershire area, is a legend for getting &*&^% off N.B %&^&^*%& "$%&£( to get a BSS, insurance, and a licence, using his Juju.

 

The towpath telegraph tells me he's left BW, a loss.

Edited November 13, 2008 by fuzzyduck

[gaggle]

mr beats so what are you saying ? do you want the police out patroling the canal for boats breaking rules.

Edited November 13, 2008 by gaggle

[mrbeats]

No Gaggle im just replying to the fella's 1st two lines mate.

On second thoughts oh bloody hell no lol !!

[saltysplash]

What upsets me is the effort Police put into catching traffic offenders.

As an example from even far back as 1999 there were 16,000 road accident casualties nationally in which at least one offender was over the limit.

The Police put a lot of effort into catching such offenders and we see a lot of campaigns on tv for drink driving ect.

Rightly so too.

However in the same year there were over 50,000 people who fell victim to violent crime in London alone but where are the Police in those circumstances.

Perhaps they are not interested because the system makes no money from dealing with such offences.

 

An Italian old man used to say to me in a local caffe ''your country is full of legal Mafia never mind Italy!!

 

 

What annoys me is the way traffic enforcement cameras have taken over from traffic patrol officers with the result that, in london at least the closing of 4 south east traffic garages and reduction in number of trained traffic officers.

 

Speed cameras only catch those people who have registered their cars, not the scrotes driving around with no insurance or licence.

 

For what its worth, putting effort into reducing traffic offences is expensive. large numbers of coppers trying to enforce road safety isnt a big money spinner which is why they are being diverted to other things more in keeping with the governments need for figures and the revenue from traffic cameras used as a token gesture of traffic crime reduction.

 

As far as violent crime in London is concerned, If only the Police knew where it was going to happen they could lie in wait and catch the thugs bloody handed.

Far more people are maimed and killed on our roads then ever suffer at the hands of violent criminals, yet these deaths are still perceived as a nessessary evil of the internal combustion engine.

 

Government targets denote where the local police cheifs are going to concentrate their forces

[mrbeats]

What annoys me is the way traffic enforcement cameras have taken over from traffic patrol officers with the result that, in london at least the closing of 4 south east traffic garages and reduction in number of trained traffic officers.

 

Speed cameras only catch those people who have registered their cars, not the scrotes driving around with no insurance or licence.

 

For what its worth, putting effort into reducing traffic offences is expensive. large numbers of coppers trying to enforce road safety isnt a big money spinner which is why they are being diverted to other things more in keeping with the governments need for figures and the revenue from traffic cameras used as a token gesture of traffic crime reduction.

 

As far as violent crime in London is concerned, If only the Police knew where it was going to happen they could lie in wait and catch the thugs bloody handed.

Far more people are maimed and killed on our roads then ever suffer at the hands of violent criminals, yet these deaths are still perceived as a nessessary evil of the internal combustion engine.

 

Government targets denote where the local police cheifs are going to concentrate their forces

 

Im not wanting to split hairs with you matey but violent crime is miles higher than deaths from road accidents.

But sadly it don't get the media coverage as the Police cant sort it out as well as motoring offences so dont want to shout about it so much.

The whole knife crime thing for example is noting new but is currently being sensationalised again but only due to the media not the results of good Policing.

[carlt]

Im not wanting to split hairs with you matey but violent crime is miles higher than deaths from road accidents.

But sadly it don't get the media coverage as the Police cant sort it out as well as motoring offences so dont want to shout about it so much.

The whole knife crime thing for example is noting new but is currently being sensationalised again but only due to the media not the results of good Policing.

Are you comparfing deaths with injuries?

 

There are far more deaths, on the roads than deaths, through cimes of violence.

 

There are far more injuries, on the roads than deaths through crimes of violence.

 

By confusing the two, you yourself are sensationalising the problem.

 

On a related note, Steve Cropper who used to hang round the Leicestershire area, is a legend for getting &*&^% off N.B %&^&^*%& "$%&£( to get a BSS, insurance, and a licence, using his Juju.

 

The towpath telegraph tells me he's left BW, a loss.

Steve Cropper, the waterways copper! A legend and all round nice guy!

 

BW will lose all their best workers and we'll end up with private bully-boy bailiffs, patrolling the system.

[NB Alnwick]

Far more people are maimed and killed on our roads then ever suffer at the hands of violent criminals, yet these deaths are still perceived as a nessessary evil of the internal combustion engine.

 

Sadly this is true and because road accidents are so commonplace it is only the more sensational incidents that ever get reported in the press. Between 3,000 and 4,000 people are killed as a result of road traffic incidents every year and nearly a hundred times as many people suffer injury or have their lives ruined as a result of being involved.

 

Fortunately, modern vehicles are safer than they once were so the survival rate as a percentage of the total number of incidents is improving - nevertheless, the roads still represent one of the biggest threats to human life in this country and those deaths and injuries could be substantially reduced if drivers would just obey the law - especially in respect of speed.

[Chris Pink]

Im not wanting to split hairs with you matey but violent crime is miles higher than deaths from road accidents.

 

 

You are worse than the Daily Mail.

 

You cannot compare violent crime with road accidents unless you use a bit more intelligence than is shown in your post.

 

I assume you refer to;

 

http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs04/rdsolr1804.pdf where it is necessary to extrapolate to get "50,000 people who fell victim to violent crime in London"

 

An examination of those figures will show that only 50% of those crimes resulted in any injury, with only 5% being described as "serious violence"

 

Have you done a similar analysis for your claimed figure for road traffic accidents?

[WJM]

I dont think speed is the culprit. A very competent driver can travel at relatively high speeds without being dangerous. Good examples are the properly trained police and ambulance drivers. The real culprit is driver incompetence, people who float from lane to lane, who have no idea what is going on around them. When they combine their incompetence with speed then it gets nasty, but the underlying problem is their inability, not their speed. A major contribution to road safety would be to give police powers to stop bad drivers and compel them to do additional driver training.

[wonderdust]

I dont think speed is the culprit. A very competent driver can travel at relatively high speeds without being dangerous. Good examples are the properly trained police and ambulance drivers. The real culprit is driver incompetence, people who float from lane to lane, who have no idea what is going on around them. When they combine their incompetence with speed then it gets nasty, but the underlying problem is their inability, not their speed. A major contribution to road safety would be to give police powers to stop bad drivers and compel them to do additional driver training.

 

Agreed, the standard of driving in this country is getting markedly worse!

Edited November 14, 2008 by wonderdust

[jeb]

I dont think speed is the culprit. A very competent driver can travel at relatively high speeds without being dangerous. Good examples are the properly trained police and ambulance drivers. The real culprit is driver incompetence, people who float from lane to lane, who have no idea what is going on around them. When they combine their incompetence with speed then it gets nasty, but the underlying problem is their inability, not their speed. A major contribution to road safety would be to give police powers to stop bad drivers and compel them to do additional driver training.

 

What do you mean by that ? Drivers who know how to overtake properly, or drivers who move from the inside lane of a motorway to the outside lane to overtake the pratt who has decided to turn a perfectly good motorway into a dual carriage way.

[Timleech]

What do you mean by that ? Drivers who know how to overtake properly, or drivers who move from the inside lane of a motorway to the outside lane to overtake the pratt who has decided to turn a perfectly good motorway into a dual carriage way.

 

One of the major problems is drivers who believe that they're competent to drive faster than rules or common sense allows, but they aren't.

 

Tim

[Sir Nibble]

Whilst not wishing to disagree with any of the above, advances such as ABS mean that modern cars can stop far more quickly. It is also the case that motorways, our fastest roads, are also statistically our safest roads. Accidents are not caused by speed, they are caused by human error and speed gives less time to sort it out before metal meets metal. I always say that you don't need to have an accident, you can share someone elses!

[jeb]

One of the major problems is drivers who believe that they're competent to drive faster than rules or common sense allows, but they aren't.

 

Tim

 

I agree with that, it was just the description of float from lane to lane. Many a time I have had to do just that to get by someone who is travelling in the middle lane of a near empty motorway overtaking absolutely nothing. Its one of my pet hates so I will leave it now.

[WJM]

"What do you mean by that ?"

 

One of my favourites - two lanes onto a roundabout, two lanes off. What makes some drivers think the lane system is momentarily abandoned into a porridge-like free for all as you traverse the roundabout. Taking the racing line, they change lane twice without ever knowing they have done it. The bliss of oblivion!

 

Another favourite is the vast army of retired articulated lorry drivers now driving small cars who just cant get out of the habit of swinging left before turning right, and vice versa! An articulated lorry is the only place I can think of where you could learn driving skills like that!