Read in yesterdays Sunday Times about traffic police monthly targets. Each officer has to achieve a set number of tickets for
No seat belts, speeding, number plate offences, etc etc. There was a target number for each offence. Unamed officers were said to be a tad angry about it. It was Thames Valley from memory.
So watch out on the M4 at the end of the month!
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They did this last year at about the same time, what with the currently restricted eastbound section between J7 and J5 I doubt they'll be patrolling that. Nothing to worry about myself per se but I would like to see some of the countless middle-lane drivers which the M4 attracts pulled over for a word in their shell-like.
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Agreed! I observed a near accident ahead of me on the M11 on Saturday. It was caused by a pink fluffy dice in a Galaxy who was sitting in the middle lane at 60-65 in a world all of his own.
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The lack of traffic officers means, broadly, that you will get away with anything that can't be caught on camera or by a parking attendant. The public would rather see a good clear up rate on burglaries and violence but they won't get it while the emphasis on policing has shifted to management techniques and performance indicators. I am sure than most rank and file officers would like to get on with the job in their own way, using discretion re cautions instead of prosecutions etc. I don't think that we shall ever see it though.
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In East Yorks were I live speed signs have appeared all over the place so traffic is moving at 5mph less than what is permissable.I nearly had my rear end re arranged last week as one driver saw a mobile camera bracked hard (even though they were below the limit) and every man and his dog smelt rubber and something else when I looked in my mirror to see a large van getting nearer and nearer.If they are fixed drivers get used to them and go slower if they are mobile then they catch drivers unaware and panic.
A mate of mine is a traffic warden and the majority of tickets he issues are on cars not registered with their current keeper and thus no one pays.Its the same for these speeders.They have no MOT etc and very little chance of been caught.I would rather the police spend time on unroadworthy/no MOT etc rather than a perfect car doing 45 in a 40.
If you speed past schools though you should have your nuts cut off your wheeels
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From what you say, I guess that you live in Hull. What do you make of the ridiculous 30mph speed limit on the A1174 Beverley road? I have tried keeping to a reasonable speed (32~33mph) along that stretch but it always creeps up.
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There are roads near me which are ordinary single lane each way, 60mph speed limit; they then reach a roundabout and become dual carriageway with a 40 limit and cameras. Barking or what?!
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In SW London we enjoy a couple of 20 mph speed limits on main roads and they are not by schools and no hills involved. A307 with a tight bend from Kingston to Richmond complete with speed activated flashing sign & A308 Kingston to M3. Both are narrow roads that were previously 30 mph but no cameras to date. Conversely the A309 the old Kingston bypass has a red light camera that has not flashed for YEARS.
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Agreed about the East Riding. A1174 difficult to keep to limit. Have they made it all 30 now? it used to switch between 30 and 40. Have you seen the campaign in Cottingham to restict Dunswell lane? For those who don't know the area, its a combination of a narrow twisty two lane road with a 10 ft drop to a ditch on either side and a reasonably straight country lane with caravan factories dotted along it. I think this campaign (following someone's 'friends accident') is playing into the hands of the traffic controllers. Are we not responsible enough to judge an appropriate speed within national limits? (O.K., so some people aren't, but enter natural selection...) This particular stretch of road is similar to many in Lincolnshire. The East Riding do seem to be going for the lowest common denominator, and thus the lowest possible speed limit.
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Ditto quite a few other counties, eg Worcs.
Dual A 50mph; feels a bit slow
Single twisty A 50mph; feels about right apart from one small brow and a couple of bends where 30-40 is more the mark. Shortly the whole lot is to come down to 30 with bits at 40.
Off both these are a number of C Class roads varying from open straight roads down to little nadgery single tracks with grass down the middle, hedges and banks both sides. All @ NSL naturally.
So if we can be trusted to drive appropriately down the latter why not the former?
I for one am fed up with politicians (national and local) who are politicians simply so as to interfere with other peoples lives.
Government should be about making sure the boring things in life are sorted, hospitals working, schools teaching, park benches painted, flower beds planted and the streets swept. Seeing as they can't do that properly they prat about with other stuff. So they can build a "statue" and say I did that.
To go back to the initial comment don't blame plod for this stupidity.
[disengage rant mode]
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Police targets are nothing new.
Some years ago a friend of mine from college joined the Police force. After his initial training period he was informed that he wasn't doing too bad generally, but was seriously warned that he wasn't producing enough paper-work, i.e. nicking people! (The last two words are my own, but that's definitely what they meant).
I knew he wasn't ever going to make it in this line of work, but I kept my views to myself. He left and went into electronic enginnering a couple of years later.
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Although I am frequently very critical of the Police (and do not take the time to differentiate my comments) what I am actually critical of is Police management. I have several relatives who are officers (and a brother who is a special) and the ordinary rank and file are acutely aware of the problems because they face the publics anger every day.
A comment from a (former) traffic officer was illuminating. He said that when they had traffic divisions they not only kept an eye on traffic but what was going on generally as well and motorists were keen to co-operate with them and would provide a lot of information for the collators office.
Now that ordinary motorists see the Police as uniformed tax collectors they are hostile and completely unco-operative and as a result a key information source has simply stopped.
Make of that what you will.
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I went through at Easter and it was up and down between 30 and 40mph. I currently live in Warwickshire / Worcestershire area and there is a stretch of B road with drives from housses directly onto it with a 40mph - this is fine and most people stick to the limit. In my opinion this is a worse stretch than the A1174 in terms of potential hazards from cars / pedestrians but the Highways Department / whoever have set a reasonable limit.
The question is are Humberside Police wanting revenue from the varying limit? 40mph feels comfortable along this stretch of road but to go as low as 30mph on what is effectively a main road is questionable
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I live outside Hull to the west and I was referring to Clive Sullivan Way on the overhead bit.I know the bit of Beverley Road you mean and you do feel a bit of a (swear word) doing 30 on a road that it is fine to do 40.As an aside there is oftemn a mobile on Spring Bank as you head into town.The only problem is the time I come to work you do well to keep moving.Perhaps plod could put it somewhere else.Answers on a postcode or whatever it is
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The speed restrictions on the A1174 from Beverley to Hull and then along the A1079 from Dunswell into Hull were brought about due to the dispropotionate ammount of injury accidents on that stretch of road, plain and simple. Not only the Police but to a greater extent the local council has a duty by engineering and Police enforcement to try and reduce accidents. Casualty reduction is o performance indicator for the Police. Those accidents have reduced substantially although I do not know the figures. So the objective has been achieved.
On a personal basis though I have to agree that the limits on sections are frustratingly low.
Fullchat
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