BIB on the Motorway late at night. Do they still patrol ?!

BIB on the Motorway late at night. Do they still patrol ?!

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Discussion

catfood12

Original Poster:

1,410 posts

141 months

Wednesday 10th October 2012
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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 ?

clunkbox

237 posts

139 months

Thursday 11th October 2012
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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.

Elroy Blue

8,686 posts

191 months

Thursday 11th October 2012
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24hr m/way cover in the Midlands, but fewer of them following cuts

rewc

2,187 posts

232 months

Thursday 11th October 2012
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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?

Sgt Bilko

1,929 posts

214 months

Thursday 11th October 2012
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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.

Sir Bagalot

6,463 posts

180 months

Thursday 11th October 2012
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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!

alfasud1

128 posts

162 months

Thursday 11th October 2012
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Yes. Primary routes are covered 24/7.

Redmax

752 posts

212 months

Thursday 11th October 2012
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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.

IT1GTR

554 posts

154 months

Thursday 11th October 2012
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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.

Sgt Bilko

1,929 posts

214 months

Thursday 11th October 2012
quotequote all
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?

bennyboydurham

1,617 posts

173 months

Thursday 11th October 2012
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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.

Furry Exocet

3,011 posts

180 months

Thursday 11th October 2012
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Hato's cover the Surrey stretch, but you'll see the Police on, there going to jobs

XDA

2,141 posts

184 months

Thursday 11th October 2012
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alfasud1 said:
Yes. Primary routes are covered 24/7.
But not routinely patrolled though, as per OP's question?

Edited by XDA on Thursday 11th October 16:00

Deva Link

26,934 posts

244 months

Thursday 11th October 2012
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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.

Toni896

2,188 posts

225 months

Thursday 11th October 2012
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there seems to be a rise in the amount of unmarked cars patrolling Manchester motorways ...

7db

6,058 posts

229 months

Thursday 11th October 2012
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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?


Gafferjim

1,335 posts

264 months

Thursday 11th October 2012
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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.

Deva Link

26,934 posts

244 months

Friday 12th October 2012
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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.