The M/way 'cop cars' which turn out to be not........
Discussion
Anyone know why I see so many of these Land Rover LR3, traffic support vehicles on the road, painted in flourescent colours. Keep thinking they are Police, but of course they are not.
So its great to see someone patrolling the roads and attending to stricken motorists, but why aren't the Police doing it.
Is it a highways agency thing?
G
So its great to see someone patrolling the roads and attending to stricken motorists, but why aren't the Police doing it.
Is it a highways agency thing?
G
They are the new highway agency officers being gradually introduced across the motorways.
They are there to patrol the highways and be first on scene to any accidents, control traffic flow, sort out debris on the carriageways etc.
Supposed to help keep the motorways flowing and free up police to do "policing duties" but of course they will be called out to help with accidents etc.
Highways agency officers cannot do you for speeding BUT they can radio to control and call the police (if they can really be bothered to!!!)
They are there to patrol the highways and be first on scene to any accidents, control traffic flow, sort out debris on the carriageways etc.
Supposed to help keep the motorways flowing and free up police to do "policing duties" but of course they will be called out to help with accidents etc.
Highways agency officers cannot do you for speeding BUT they can radio to control and call the police (if they can really be bothered to!!!)
Piloted in the midlands - they look like plod from a distance and lots of braindead idiots slap on brakes/do daft things when they see them on the road or parked up in "patrol vehicle" spots.
Give away is that plod is blue/yellow, with police and a blue light, this lot have black /yellow with (i think) highways agency and a yellow light.
picture of one of their vehicles on www.highways.gov.uk/331.aspx
Bit of blurb from their web site
"Traffic Officers work with the police but their role varies with the severity of the incident. The Highways Agency Traffic Officers are not able to fine you, but it is an offence not to comply with their directions. The police still enforce the law."
Give away is that plod is blue/yellow, with police and a blue light, this lot have black /yellow with (i think) highways agency and a yellow light.
picture of one of their vehicles on www.highways.gov.uk/331.aspx
Bit of blurb from their web site
"Traffic Officers work with the police but their role varies with the severity of the incident. The Highways Agency Traffic Officers are not able to fine you, but it is an offence not to comply with their directions. The police still enforce the law."
A new initiative, great.
Thanks chaps, just a cheaper form of Policing I guess. After all there aren't that many 'crimes' on the road. So its goodbye to the Police patrol unit. i never see any anyway, they are a dying breed.
Wonder what the life expectancy is of them guys in the LR3's, they spend most of their time parked on the hard shoulder, scary.
G
Thanks chaps, just a cheaper form of Policing I guess. After all there aren't that many 'crimes' on the road. So its goodbye to the Police patrol unit. i never see any anyway, they are a dying breed.
Wonder what the life expectancy is of them guys in the LR3's, they spend most of their time parked on the hard shoulder, scary.
G
Hollywood Wheels said:
Yep, by making every unobservant idiot slam their brakes on when they spot them in lane 1!! They do a good job and free up the few Police Officers there are out there...
10 out 10 there mate, UNOBSERVANT, lots of those around, and SLAM ON THEIR BRAKES, now if they werent speeding in the first place, no need to do that.............
Yes I know my comments come in for a lot of banter, but sadly its true.....
vipers said:Here's some more - what good is making them slam on their brakes? Speeding - likely no danger, Unobservant - some danger. Force this type of driver to slam on their brakes - a good thing? Nope. Will it educate them and eradicate the problem? Nope. Is it likely to cause a shunt of itself? Oh yes.
Yep, by making every unobservant idiot slam their brakes on when they spot them in lane 1!! They do a good job and free up the few Police Officers there are out there...
10 out 10 there mate, UNOBSERVANT, lots of those around, and SLAM ON THEIR BRAKES, now if they werent speeding in the first place, no need to do that.............
Yes I know my comments come in for a lot of banter, but sadly its true.....
But donlt worry, process matters more than outcome in the bizarre and incompetent world of road safety officialdom, so this will continue.
turbobloke said:
Yep, by making every unobservant idiot slam their brakes on when they spot them in lane 1!! They do a good job and free up the few Police Officers there are out there...
10 out 10 there mate, UNOBSERVANT, lots of those around, and SLAM ON THEIR BRAKES, now if they werent speeding in the first place, no need to do that.............
Yes I know my comments come in for a lot of banter, but sadly its true.....
But donlt worry, process matters more than outcome in the bizarre and incompetent world of road safety officialdom, so this will continue.
Add to that the really unobervant, (who may be on 9 points) who brake regardless of whether they are over the limit. Often not just for Police, Highway patrols, Cameras etc, but also for every white van on a bridge or by the side of the road, bit of paint on a road, traffic cameras and yellow estate agent signs.
Not everyone, but some drivers will adopt a 'better safe than sorry' attitude with regard to getting more points and the roads are more dangerous for it.
7db said:
Well lets hope they are caught by one of the many cameras and taken off the road...
A camera won't catch someone driving eratically or dangerously unless they are exceeding the limit (or putting on makeup
). There are drivers on the road who fall into this category and they are a hazard. They can be frequently observed on all types of road braking hard while travelling at or below the limit.
fish said:
They've recently changed the vehicles to now say in large letters TRAFFIC OFFICERS...if this isn't impersonating a police officer I don't know what is...
Wait till you pass a couple of LR at an incident --(from wat i've seen) more like impersonating hens trying to fly as they divert traccic away from the stranded car.Wonder if they have any problems getting life insurance -they should have the way they behave.
saw one of these the other day. White unmarked discovery , orange lights on top with a scrolling text sign between the lights saying ' traffic safety officer' (or something similar I cant recall the exact words). And his contribution to safety ? Parking in the coned off area of the A34 road works during rush hour reading his paper and causing a *huge* tailback. From the M40 to where he was parked nose to tail stop start barely moving. As soon as we passed him everyone sped back up to the 40MPH road works limit. Safety enhancing not very likely. Amazing there werent a series of rear end shunts ....
Surely they KNOW that parking somewhere like that causes traffic mayhem, why cant they park off the motorway near a slip road and just join the motorway and be visible when they are needed.
We can do without them.
Surely they KNOW that parking somewhere like that causes traffic mayhem, why cant they park off the motorway near a slip road and just join the motorway and be visible when they are needed.
We can do without them.
bigdods said:
We can do without them.
But, as another PHer eloquently hinted not long ago, it sticks more employees onto the nipple of nanny state, which as we know is covered in superglue. Electorate dependency on nu labia is the aim, doley expansion and made-up jobs with our taxes is the game. You can put those folk alongside five-a-day coordiators in local authorities, plausible but basically a drain on our taxes. If the jobs were advertised in the Guardian...
pwig said:
There a great Idea, I was going to be one, got through to the interview stage but decided the pay was crap!
What are they paying?
Regular HATO (Highways Agency Traffic Officer) starts on £16,171 (plus up to 20% shift allowance). 24/7 service operating 365 days per year, so work on one of two rotating shift patterns both of which include weekends. The current shift patterns are either a double day shift, which excludes nights and attracts a 12.5% shift allowance or the 24/7 shift, which includes nights and attracts a shift allowance of 20%. HATO Superviser starts on £22,237 with the same shift allowances.
And, yes, it is dangerous work - 2 officers were seriously injured and are in hospital following an incident a couple of weeks ago. Sadly a female car driver was killed when (I believe) a HGV hit the Agency vehicle parked behind her on the hard shoulder.
From www.highways.gov.uk/knowledge/1969.aspx
"Traffic Officers started to appear on the motorways in the West Midlands in Spring 2004. The whole of the England's motorway network will have Traffic Officers introduced by the end of 2006. Eventually there will be around 1,200 Traffic Officers and 300 Regional Control Centre staff working to keep traffic moving and improving safety."
Can't see supervisors numbers.
But 1200 @£20k = £24m per annum. (a LOT of dosh)+ 300 @????
And where's it coming from ??
"Traffic Officers started to appear on the motorways in the West Midlands in Spring 2004. The whole of the England's motorway network will have Traffic Officers introduced by the end of 2006. Eventually there will be around 1,200 Traffic Officers and 300 Regional Control Centre staff working to keep traffic moving and improving safety."
Can't see supervisors numbers.
But 1200 @£20k = £24m per annum. (a LOT of dosh)+ 300 @????
And where's it coming from ??
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