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catfood12
Original Poster
130 posts
11 months
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Having to do day trips up north at least once a week at present. I end up leaving the office in Nottingham (up north from where I am!) at 8:30PM or later and toe it 200 miles back home. I've not seen one police car on M1, A43, M40, A34, M3 or M27 en route, in weeks of doing this. The motorways are losing their charm, in my eagerness to get home each time, I've begun to maintain a reasonably rapid pace, whilst keeping 'em peeled. Whilst keen not to push my luck after about 8000 miles of this pesky commute, where are all the BIB ? Have cutbacks, paperwork, donuts or other assignments mean they're no longer patrolling the motorways regularly late evening in the week ?
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Mandown46
147 posts
13 months
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Im HATO, the area I cover, there will be at least one traffic car per county force. Ususally however, thats one traffic car for the entire county, non motorway roads too.
They do patrol the motorway too though, so although you chances of being pulled are diminished somewhat, they still are there.
Ive also seen speed camera crews operating from motorway overbridges at night, much, much harder to spot for motorists.
I suspect that the resident BiB will be able to give you a clearer answer.
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clunkbox
113 posts
9 months
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I've seen one operating quite often in the Stirling area around midnight, around the town and on the M9/A9. They are still out there.
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Elroy Blue
5,678 posts
61 months
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24hr m/way cover in the Midlands, but fewer of them following cuts
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rewc
1,603 posts
102 months
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Elroy Blue said: 24hr m/way cover in the Midlands, but fewer of them following cuts I wonder if accidents have risen and whether more criminals are using the road network as a result?
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Sgt Bilko
1,544 posts
84 months
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It's all about targeted intelligence these days. A motorway ANPR can literally read thousands of VRNs in an hour (in some stretches over 300,000 a day). Far easier to sit just downstream of an ANPR site and wait for the control room to shout up for something of interest i imagine. That is assuming they haven't been shafted for a non roads policing job (ala local domestic as they are the "nearest" available unit.
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Sir Bagalot
1,909 posts
50 months
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I've never seen a marked car on the M3. Have seen plenty of unmarked cars pulling people for speeding though, so watch out!
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alfasud1
58 posts
32 months
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Yes. Primary routes are covered 24/7.
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Redmax
629 posts
82 months
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I saw an unmarked Vectra stopped on the bridge at J10 of the M40 last week, but that's the only Traffic vehicle I've seen in over a year of commuting A43 & M40.
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IT1GTR
393 posts
24 months
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Sir Bagalot said: I've never seen a marked car on the M3. Have seen plenty of unmarked cars pulling people for speeding though, so watch out! I see them quite often Sunday nights on the M3, the ones I do see are mostly unmarked too.
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Sgt Bilko
1,544 posts
84 months
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Sir Bagalot said: I've never seen a marked car on the M3. Have seen plenty of unmarked cars pulling people for speeding though, so watch out! Define the word, "covered"? Do you mean someone is on there 24/7 Or do you mean, someone is assigned that area along with other areas, trunk roads, and non-motorway roads policing duties?
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bennyboydurham
1,207 posts
43 months
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Been driving since 1992 and there just doesn't seem to be the number of motorway BiB there once were. Got tugged TWICE in the same journey in my young and stupid days on the M62 after making too much progress in my Escort Ghia X. Amazingly I must have lucked out on the attitude test twice because both cops sent me off with nothing other than a severe fly in my ear.
Conversely I got done for 81 on an empty, straight and bone dry stretch of the M4 early one Sunday morning by a scamera, a speed at which most traffic BiBs would leave you alone.
I can't help thinking that lack of traffic cops and the rise of the HATO has lowered driving standards.
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Furry Exocet
1,868 posts
50 months
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Hato's cover the Surrey stretch, but you'll see the Police on, there going to jobs
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XDA
1,826 posts
54 months
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alfasud1 said: Yes. Primary routes are covered 24/7. But not routinely patrolled though, as per OP's question?
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Deva Link
26,916 posts
114 months
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catfood12 said: Have cutbacks, paperwork, donuts or other assignments mean they're no longer patrolling the motorways regularly late evening in the week ? It's not just at night - I regularly drive during the day from the North West to the central South or South East and back and it's very rare to see a marked car. I do see a fair number of unmarked ones though, usually on the hard shoulder dealing with someone, particularly on the M6 Toll and the M40.
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Toni896
2,137 posts
95 months
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there seems to be a rise in the amount of unmarked cars patrolling Manchester motorways ...
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7db
5,533 posts
99 months
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Deva Link said: I do see a fair number of unmarked ones though, usually on the hard shoulder dealing with someone, particularly on the M6 Toll and the M40. Surely this is the most likely place to see them even if they only spend a short time there, if they are driving along you are considerably less likely to encounter them travelling along with you as they do. And moreover isn't that the flaw in reporting observations of patrolling vehicles?
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Gafferjim
837 posts
134 months
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bennyboydurham said:
I can't help thinking that lack of traffic cops and the rise of the HATO has lowered driving standards.
HATO's came into being exactly for this reason, the motorway traffic cops were being used elsewhere more & more, so when something happened on the motorway, even a minor problem turned into lots of hold ups until police finally got there. But also the police are now concentrating on police work, instead of looking after MOPs that breakdown, removing debris, dealing with all the other non-police jobs that HATO now does. Yes, there are also more & more unmarked cars out there, some you just wouldn't imagine were police vehicles.
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Deva Link
26,916 posts
114 months
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7db said: Deva Link said: I do see a fair number of unmarked ones though, usually on the hard shoulder dealing with someone, particularly on the M6 Toll and the M40. Surely this is the most likely place to see them even if they only spend a short time there, if they are driving along you are considerably less likely to encounter them travelling along with you as they do. And moreover isn't that the flaw in reporting observations of patrolling vehicles? You used to see marked cars all over the place though - often stopped on observation ramps or bridges, or driving along at low speed. The point I was making about unmarked cars is they're probably around, even if you don't spot one.
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