Cruising ban in operation
Discussion
From the Sandwell Police facebook page
"An 18-year-old caught racing another car at speed in a 40mph zone in West Bromwich is the first person to be found guilty under a new Black Country car cruising injunction.
At a hearing held at the High Court Birmingham District Registry on Thursday 30 July, he was found guilty of contempt of court and handed a three-month jail sentence, suspended for 12 months. He was also ordered to pay £500 costs.
The teenager admitted he was racing above the speed limit on the A41 Black Country Route between Great Bridge and West Bromwich on 3 May.
His Honour Judge Lopez, sitting as a High Court judge, warned him there was no place for racing on public roads and that such actions were reckless and could have resulted in somebody being killed.
The judge accepted that he showed genuine remorse. The judge warned him of the seriousness of breaching a High Court order and that he faced a prison sentence if he breached the injunction again.
Car cruising – the act of drivers meeting on the public highway on either an organised or impromptu basis to race or show off in their cars – is noisy, dangerous and illegal.
Wolverhampton, Dudley, Sandwell and Walsall councils, working in partnership with us, secured the ground-breaking car cruising injunction from the High Court last December. It came into force in February 2015.
It bans people from taking part in a car cruise anywhere within the four boroughs of Wolverhampton, Dudley, Sandwell and Walsall – or from promoting, organising or publicising any car cruising event in those areas.
Since the ban came into effect, authorities have noticed a sharp drop in groups of car cruisers congregating at hotspots around the Black Country.
Call us on 101 if you witness a car cruising on roads or public places in the Black Country."
Seem to recall on here the comments that it would be difficult to enforce ?
"An 18-year-old caught racing another car at speed in a 40mph zone in West Bromwich is the first person to be found guilty under a new Black Country car cruising injunction.
At a hearing held at the High Court Birmingham District Registry on Thursday 30 July, he was found guilty of contempt of court and handed a three-month jail sentence, suspended for 12 months. He was also ordered to pay £500 costs.
The teenager admitted he was racing above the speed limit on the A41 Black Country Route between Great Bridge and West Bromwich on 3 May.
His Honour Judge Lopez, sitting as a High Court judge, warned him there was no place for racing on public roads and that such actions were reckless and could have resulted in somebody being killed.
The judge accepted that he showed genuine remorse. The judge warned him of the seriousness of breaching a High Court order and that he faced a prison sentence if he breached the injunction again.
Car cruising – the act of drivers meeting on the public highway on either an organised or impromptu basis to race or show off in their cars – is noisy, dangerous and illegal.
Wolverhampton, Dudley, Sandwell and Walsall councils, working in partnership with us, secured the ground-breaking car cruising injunction from the High Court last December. It came into force in February 2015.
It bans people from taking part in a car cruise anywhere within the four boroughs of Wolverhampton, Dudley, Sandwell and Walsall – or from promoting, organising or publicising any car cruising event in those areas.
Since the ban came into effect, authorities have noticed a sharp drop in groups of car cruisers congregating at hotspots around the Black Country.
Call us on 101 if you witness a car cruising on roads or public places in the Black Country."
Seem to recall on here the comments that it would be difficult to enforce ?
covboy said:
Seem to recall on here the comments that it would be difficult to enforce ?
I would say it is a broad attempt at stopping things, get a law ready in case it is needed, and spend a lot of time giving out warning instead which would normally do the trick.This guy was caught racing so it's unlikely they'd have needed this new bylaw anyway, but they might as well use it once they made it.
Enforcing the people just meeting up would be the tricky one.
This has probably been done to death, but how does the ruling affect car clubs and the like who dont do mcdonalds burnouts and race around like tools. "Gathering to show off" well that could be any car club really, it's all subjective. "we're just meeting to chat about our cars" but to an observer the Ferrari owners club would just be showing off (Although I doubt they have a west midlands meet)...
What about the morris minor owners club meet in the pub car park. Bunch of show offs?
What about the morris minor owners club meet in the pub car park. Bunch of show offs?
Same approach has been tried a few times near me in Essex where loads of cars race around Lakeside shopping centre at night. Lots of publicity on each occasion with the Police making statements to the press about dangerous driving, racing on public highway etc. and the last series of announcements headed by new local MP. Overall result has always been Jack s
t impact and kids still keep racing around.
Typical policing on this subject I'm afraid; lots of column inches and back slapping and jack all results for locals who use the roads.
t impact and kids still keep racing around. Typical policing on this subject I'm afraid; lots of column inches and back slapping and jack all results for locals who use the roads.
The quote above said:
Call us on 101 if you witness a car cruising on roads or public places in the Black Country.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/cruise5. to travel at a moderately fast, easily controllable speed:
6. to travel about slowly, looking for customers or for something demanding attention:
So, call 101 if you see a car either driving slowly, or at a moderately fast, easily controllable speed...
101 is going to be busy!
covboy said:
Seem to recall on here the comments that it would be difficult to enforce ?
No it wouldn't. Have a read of these. In particular the terms of the injunction (first link below). If you misbehave, you are definitely putting yourself in harms way and can expect consequences to follow. http://www.wolverhampton.gov.uk/CHttpHandler.ashx?...
http://www.wolverhampton.gov.uk/CHttpHandler.ashx?...
http://www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk/index.php?o...
TheEnd said:
Enforcing the people just meeting up would be the tricky one.
The nub of the matter is whether the police believe that your meet 'is capable of causing' any of the prohibited activities listed in the schedule. Those who act responsibly, don't drive like tools afterwards, or otherwise attract attention to themselves, will probably not be given any hassle.Otherwise, under the terms of the injunction, a group of friends with performance cars who get together at a pub for a meal and subsequently depart together driving sensibly could face arrest. This would be a wholly disproportionate response by the police. The fact that a power exists doesn't mean it has to be used in every case.
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