MLM fines come into place today
Discussion
http://www.itv.com/news/2015-06-21/van-driver-beco...
It is getting a lot of mention on air this morning on BBC - mainly because it has taken SO LONG for the first case!!
A waste of legislative time by all accounts unless they follow this up with more prosecutions.
It is getting a lot of mention on air this morning on BBC - mainly because it has taken SO LONG for the first case!!
A waste of legislative time by all accounts unless they follow this up with more prosecutions.
divetheworld said:
karona said:
The article intimates that this is the first prosecution, is that true?About 10,000 fpns were handed out in the first year but this figure is for all the "new" offences which can now be dealt with by fixed penalty. Can't recall the number for middle lane hogs but about 1,000 is a guess.
PanzerCommander said:
I very rarely drive on motorways that are that busy tbh (I tend to avoid peak times if I can as they are a pain) so I have never had many issues moving into lane 3 or 4 to overtake the typical 60-65mph MLM.
Good for you. In the real world these pricks cause congestion and bunching and frustration so it's good to see them being done for it.I wonder if an MLM overtakes on a single carriageway does the "never move left" disease strike there too leaving them on the wrong side of the road for miles?
Something wired wrong in these folks' heads perhaps the odd 1k fine will wise them up
supermono said:
Good for you. In the real world these pricks cause congestion and bunching and frustration so it's good to see them being done for it.
I wonder if an MLM overtakes on a single carriageway does the "never move left" disease strike there too leaving them on the wrong side of the road for miles?
Something wired wrong in these folks' heads perhaps the odd 1k fine will wise them up
I didn't say it doesn't happen, it obviously does. I guess if I had to commute on motorways I'd probably experience them, thankfully I don't have to so they are rarely encountered. I do see lots of the 40mph brigade though I wonder if an MLM overtakes on a single carriageway does the "never move left" disease strike there too leaving them on the wrong side of the road for miles?
Something wired wrong in these folks' heads perhaps the odd 1k fine will wise them up
Mill Wheel said:
http://www.itv.com/news/2015-06-21/van-driver-beco...
It is getting a lot of mention on air this morning on BBC - mainly because it has taken SO LONG for the first case!!
A waste of legislative time by all accounts unless they follow this up with more prosecutions.
In the meantime, I wonder how many speeding fines have been collected at the £100 tariff that this legislation introduced?It is getting a lot of mention on air this morning on BBC - mainly because it has taken SO LONG for the first case!!
A waste of legislative time by all accounts unless they follow this up with more prosecutions.
Not just “Middle Lane Syndrome” either anymore. We have a lot of managed Motorway sections in our neck of the woods. In the evening it’s possible to travel at a legal 60mph almost the entire length from J4 to J7 on the hard shoulder (except past J6) while lanes 1 & 2 continue to carry all sorts of traffic at between 50/55 mph.
divetheworld said:
The article intimates that this is the first prosecution, is that true?
No, people would have been given fixed penalties for this but this is probably the first case at court which has received media attention. There will however have been numerous other cases that have gone to court, hundreds if not thousands. The reason this has come to light is because actually, and rarely, the prosecution has been a success. Most of the time, the punter get's off, because this is STILL a piece of legislation not fully understood or grasped by the courts. What does it tell you that a few years after the fixed penalties for DWDCA came in, this headline has hit when one prosecution has actually been a success?Don't expect any changes to the MLM practice, it for the most part goes unreported. The CPS don't like it, and in a marked police vehicle you rarely see it. I had a fabulous example of one last year. 1am, 3 lane dual carriageway. Marked traffic car, all on camera. The taxi driver in lane 2 travelling beneath the speed limit on the empty dual carriageway in front of me failed to see that I was a marked traffic car ( not that it is at all relevant but still ) and proceeded to drive for around 2 miles in lane 2, preventing me from passing him and ignoring a series of short friendly head light flashes to budge. It went on so long it was uncomfortable and half way through this cab driver started to gesticulate out of the window, pointing at lane 3 and make quite a fool of himself.
It was all thrown out at court simply because no other vehicles than myself were present. So this idiot get's away with it, the CPS are loathe to get involved unless there is a huge amount of evidence of inconsideration involved, and generally the offence is therefore ignored. It has certainly stopped me from pressing on prosecuting people for it, because as usual, the courts and CPS misunderstand the legislation and set an unrealistically high threshold of evidence before they will even consider it.
So expect MLM's to carry on business as usual, and expect traffic officers to be very sceptical about reporting it.
covboy said:
I'll bet the taxi driver concerned never did it again though !
(I know that's only one less !!)
Sorry, but I disagree. That taxi driver was probably laughing his head off and knows that there's a good chance it will be thrown out of the court in future. He'll also have told all of his friends! (I know that's only one less !!)
PoleDriver said:
Sorry, but I disagree. That taxi driver was probably laughing his head off and knows that there's a good chance it will be thrown out of the court in future. He'll also have told all of his friends!
Which is the exact cycle that the roads appear to be in. No wonder the offence is so difficult to report when you consider the burden of proof needed is so high.Gassing Station | Speed, Plod & the Law | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff