Saw on last weeks 5th Gear a shot of a newspaper article about a Royal Mail van that had been wheel clamped, and it included a photo too.
I was under the belief that it is an offence to interfere with the delivery of Royal Mail, and I think I got that impression from a thread of a few months ago about Royal Mail vans being able to go through red lights, for exact same reason.
Or am I just making all of this up in my own mind?
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"Royal Mail vans being able to go through red lights"
Urban myth, surely.
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Man you\'re talking pink fluffy dice even emergency vehicles ie police, ambulance only get to treat red lights as give ways and have to justify the action-of course royal mail vehicles can\'t go through red lights! roflmao
As for not allowed to be clamped, I\'m not 100% about that, but I\'d say why not if they are illegally parked, it\'s just a civilian vehicle after all. Somebody, correct me if I\'m wrong!
Just a note for future posts. $wearing is swearing, no matter how you get around the filter. As for three letter acronyms for the same, well you\'ll see that\'s been edited too.
Agree with your post, just not all the language used.
No Dosh
mailto:alan_moderator@honestjohn.co.uk
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Not sure about the red light bit, but I suspect it could be true.
with regards to the clamping the following is relevant.
Statutory Instrument 2001 No. 878 (C. 31) The Postal Services Act 2000 (Commencement No. 3 and Transitional and Saving Provisions) Order 2001. S 69. - (1) A person commits an offence if, without reasonable excuse, he intentionally delays or opens a postal packet in the course of its transmission by post.
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Would the clampers have a reasonable excuse then? Any reasonable person would surely accept that the post van has to pull up to deliver a parcel, or to empty a postbox.
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I think what I read stated that it is an offence to interfere with or impede the delivery of mail, and that technically, a red light does this. I didn't intend to imply that they implicitally can jump red lights, just that there is one of those ancient laws that could allow for such a thing.
This is the only motoring related forum that I frequent so I thought I had read it here, but as a search hasn't uncovered anything, I guess that it is something that I have made up.
pdc
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Hehe sorry admin no offence with the language intended.
No, I'm certain posties can't run red lights legally and I doubt clamping a post van is an offence if it is illegally parked in an area where cars/vans normally get clamped, especially now the post service is privatised-they're not government vehicles now are they?
Although what kind of person would bother to clamp a post vehicle anyway? I doubt the kind of language I'd have to use to describe how I feel about clampers would get through the filter-suffice it to say I don't think clampers qualify as sub-human!
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Guru-Meditation
There were reports recently of a clearly marked police van, with blue lights, that had been clamped while parked in a police vehicle only bay, outside a police station, in London, by an over zealous warden.
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Erm.....I think you'll find the Post Office hasn't been privatised YET. So they are still government vehicles. It's still the ROYAL Mail.
Surely the amount of time their vans are stopped on yellows lines isn't sufficient to get a clamping van to them. If it were (or if the clampers struck lucky), then I think the law relating to delaying the post could apply.
I'd have thought it would be difficult to argue that red lights delay the post unduly.
Terry
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Hmmm...there I go, armed with all the facts again!
Yeah I heard that one about the polis getting clamped too I don\'t know what kind of person would clamp a police van parked in a police vehicle only bay.
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From the Rushmoor Borough Council website:
While traffic regulation orders invariably make provision for emergency services, it is generally expected that authorities will provide 'automatic' dispensation from enforcement to these vehicles when they are responding to emergencies.
Likewise, for Royal Mail liveried vehicles undertaking delivery/collection where there is no reasonable alternative, or statutory undertakers (gas, water, telecoms) responding to emergency calls or providing essential services in the highway.
ParcelForce vans actually count as Royal Mail vehicles for the purposes of traffic orders, although other couriers (DHL, etc.) don't. Is this unfair competition? Probably, but ParcelForce is still the one losing money.
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Erm.....I think you'll find the Post Office hasn't been privatised YET. So they are still government vehicles. It's still the ROYAL Mail.
I think that's the crux of it.
When I worked with the GPO, as was, thirty plus years back I was told that Royal Mail vehicles were exempt from certain traffic law enforcement which would 'delay the progress of the Queen's Mail.' Exactly which laws I didn't stay around long enough to find out but I was told that the vehicle had to have the Crown on the side and was therefore a 'Crown vehicle' which gave it the exemption. Whether the Crown being part of the Royal Mail logo counts I wouldn't know but wouldn't it be one of those wonderful British idiosyncracies if they were exempt just because of a picture of a crown on the side.
Cockle
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Does this mean that next time I am tailgated by a Parcelforce lorry in the outside lane of the M25 I am obliged to let him past?
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So I was right then Guru-med. Is there an apology coming my way for the original tone you took?
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I believe the Mail van clamping incident refered to is one which took place in our fair South Coast city . The postie had parked (as usual) on a private office forecourt off a busy main road whilst he emptied a post box --apparently a long-established routine at that spot . The same firm of wheelclampers operating elsewhere in the city then went on to clamp a police car in very similar cicumstances . The police officer parked on the forecourt of a factory (again in a very busy area) whilst he made some quite genuine enquiries locally . In both cases the operators of the vehicles had to pay up to get the clamps removed as the law as it presently stands backs the clampers!
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Not really related but one interesting fact is that Government vehicles do not carry insurance.
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Alvin: which must mean therefore that Royal Mail vans are not govt vehicles. One of them backed into me the day before yesterday, so I now know that RM vehicles are insured by Vehicle Services AMC of Birmingham.
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Topaktas.. I can only presume they are not Government vehicles or things have changed. I worked 30 odd years in Government service and we were informed that insurance was not carried.
The reason given was with scores of thousands including military the Crown carried responsibility to deal with any claims and dealt with it themselves.
Also any claims under any other circumstances such as third party accidents were dealt with by the Home OFfice solicitors themselves. Maybe our friendly legal eagles know more on this.
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Daft that isn't it? Wonder why the Post Office didn't sue the clampers for interfering with the delivery of post?
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Daft that isn't it? Wonder why the Post Office didn't sue the clampers for interfering with the delivery of post?
Or the police prosecute for obstructing a police officer in the prosecution of his duty.
Terry
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