from motorcycle news
They say there?s never a copper around when you need one but that could soon be dangerously true in Nottinghamshire.
The force is scrapping its traffic division to rely on speed cameras as its sole road safety enforcement.
It?s also binning Operation Brake, a scheme which works to cut bike theft.
Notts police is denying the cost-cutting move in public, but officers have called MCN to express their dismay at the decision, which is part of a " restructuring " scheme.
One officer said: " It has been suggested within the force that this will bring about an extra 10 deaths on the roads each year.
" As far as road safety goes, speed cameras will be pretty much it and that is unacceptable. Speeding covers a narrow band of people, generally those in cars. We need to pay more attention to buses and lorries as well, which also cause accidents."
Even the most generous estimates reckon speed causes no more than a third of all accidents.
That leaves two thirds of all accidents without a team dedicated to stopping them happening in the first place.
By April, every traffic copper in the county including those on bikes will be moved to other departments.
One of those sections will be a response team staffed by officers with advanced driver training. But they will only respond, not be on the roads as a visible deterrent to prevent people driving like idiots.
Unsurprisingly, riders? clubs have attacked the plan. The BMF?s Jeff Stone said: " It?s a crazy move as cameras do nothing for road safety. We need more police on the roads, not more cameras.
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Did someone ever mention thin edge of the wedge?
Probably that loony bogush.
Just possibly muttering something about told you so at the moment.
While I'm on - couple of rumours I've heard - EU wants us to "harmonise" petrol, diesel AND green fuel taxes.
And ban non green fuel cars (but possibly not diesel taxis) from "pollution-free" zones in city centres.
Does it never end?
Well, actually, no!
But, hey, there's always bicycles.
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Thin end of the wedge...? What...no more Police...? Food for thought..!
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The force will also lose its off-road section, which uses two Suzuki DR-Z400s. They are used to catch criminals in inaccessible areas, be they estates or farmland. One officer said: " As soon as kids know there?s no off-road team, they?ll be out nicking bikes again. It will be back to epidemic levels. "
Nottinghamshire is one of the counties chosen to test a scheme where fines from speeding were ploughed back into more cameras.
Essex police also tested the idea and scrapped its traffic cops earlier this year.
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Can you tell me more about the demise of the Essex Traffic police. Where was this reported.
Thanks in advance
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Same article - a bit was missed of the end:
www.motorcyclenews.com/news/detail?sectionID=50677...7
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This doesn't necessarily mean that there won't be any police officers in Omegas driving up & down dual carriageways at 65 mph while nervous drivers try and get past them without exceeding the speed limit as I witnessed this a couple of Mondays ago on the A12 in Essex.
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strange that this is being scrapped as in 'Fleet News' today there is an article heralding the opening of a '£100m 25 year Police Fleet Management Facility' which is to be run by a private sector firm called Venson for Notts Police.
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You'll still have police vans, CID cars, support vehicles, mobile camera units, gatso film vans, VIP outriders, and maybe even a panda for the public :-(
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hey I live in Notts
Is this good news or bad news?
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(Un?) Fortunately it does. While there will still be a traffic "response" capability, there will be no "pro-active" traffic policing!
> But they will only respond, not be on the roads as a visible deterrent to prevent people driving like idiots.
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