Was this a simple mistake or bad driving?.
Discussion
I was north bound on the M6 approaching J31 Preston turn off, 500 yards from the slip road, road wet, driving an artic, 80 yards in front were 2 cars doing the same speed as me (56mph) not indicating but they looked like they were going to leave at J31.
I thought if they go any slower I might have to move out to lane 2 (of 4), I checked my mirror and saw a car in lane 2 travelling quick, no problems, when he passes I might want to pull out. Then I realise it's a police car, I can see the roof sign through my mirror,(it was not lit) as he passes me he puts his brakes on and slots in front of me just as the 2 cars start to brake, we are 150yards from the slip road and I have to either go heavy on the brakes or pull out into lane 2.
Luckily lane 2 was clear so I indicated and swung out, the police car was right up the back end of the second car and as soon as the slip road became 2 lanes he pulled out and passed both of them. There is a police post on J31 and thats were they were going it was 20.58 hours.
If anybody else had done that and been seen by plod I would imagine they would be in for a stern ticking off, if they were lucky, I'm not a IAM (which I assume he is) but even I know that was bad driving, he was busy talking to his oppo, I bet he wasn't giving him a running commentary of his driving.
IMO he decided to pass me then move to lane 1 to leave at J31, If thats what he did it was bad judgement as he couldn't see the 2 cars that had been there for the past 2 miles, If one of those cars had braked harder and I hadn't been able to either pull out or stop in time the police car could have been totalled, only an idiot would pull infront of a truck whilst braking.
If you are a traffic policeman would you be having a word with me or him?.
I thought if they go any slower I might have to move out to lane 2 (of 4), I checked my mirror and saw a car in lane 2 travelling quick, no problems, when he passes I might want to pull out. Then I realise it's a police car, I can see the roof sign through my mirror,(it was not lit) as he passes me he puts his brakes on and slots in front of me just as the 2 cars start to brake, we are 150yards from the slip road and I have to either go heavy on the brakes or pull out into lane 2.
Luckily lane 2 was clear so I indicated and swung out, the police car was right up the back end of the second car and as soon as the slip road became 2 lanes he pulled out and passed both of them. There is a police post on J31 and thats were they were going it was 20.58 hours.
If anybody else had done that and been seen by plod I would imagine they would be in for a stern ticking off, if they were lucky, I'm not a IAM (which I assume he is) but even I know that was bad driving, he was busy talking to his oppo, I bet he wasn't giving him a running commentary of his driving.
IMO he decided to pass me then move to lane 1 to leave at J31, If thats what he did it was bad judgement as he couldn't see the 2 cars that had been there for the past 2 miles, If one of those cars had braked harder and I hadn't been able to either pull out or stop in time the police car could have been totalled, only an idiot would pull infront of a truck whilst braking.
If you are a traffic policeman would you be having a word with me or him?.
Edited by Yung Man on Tuesday 16th October 17:23
That was poor driving and a poor example.
As you say he probably assumed that you were clear in front until he realised too late that cars were there but then he couldn,t miss the junction without probably at least a ten mile detour so he drove badly instead.
He should have just slotted in BEHIND you...
Did you get his reg
Report him for a S59 offence which doesn't need camera evidence.
One more offence and they would crush his police car . . lol or maybe not I suspect somehow.
As you say he probably assumed that you were clear in front until he realised too late that cars were there but then he couldn,t miss the junction without probably at least a ten mile detour so he drove badly instead.
He should have just slotted in BEHIND you...
Did you get his reg
Report him for a S59 offence which doesn't need camera evidence.
One more offence and they would crush his police car . . lol or maybe not I suspect somehow.
Isn't this the whole point of Joe Publics annoyance with cameras.
Everybody makes mistakes even plod and in this case the results would have been far worse than simply triggering the flash of a camera.
yet he's away scott free while we take the rap.
If it was allowed that motorists make small mistakes like in the old days the police would be so much more popular.
Everybody makes mistakes even plod and in this case the results would have been far worse than simply triggering the flash of a camera.
yet he's away scott free while we take the rap.
If it was allowed that motorists make small mistakes like in the old days the police would be so much more popular.
Yung Man said:
vonhosen said:
Isn't bad driving making simple mistakes ?
Professional drivers aren't suppose to make simple mistakes, If I do it and plod sees me I get 3 points, when plod does it and I see it nothing happens.That doesn't mean he a better driver does it?.
mark69sheer said:
Isn't this the whole point of Joe Publics annoyance with cameras.
Everybody makes mistakes even plod and in this case the results would have been far worse than simply triggering the flash of a camera.
yet he's away scott free while we take the rap.
If it was allowed that motorists make small mistakes like in the old days the police would be so much more popular.
All motorists get away with making minor mistakes without being punished, it is the result in the vast majority of incidents where they commit them . Today I witnessed loads of minor driving incidents that provided sufficient evidence for a variety of offences. I was too busy with other things to do anything about them though, so they got away with it.Everybody makes mistakes even plod and in this case the results would have been far worse than simply triggering the flash of a camera.
yet he's away scott free while we take the rap.
If it was allowed that motorists make small mistakes like in the old days the police would be so much more popular.
R_U_LOCAL said:
Yung Man said:
vonhosen said:
Isn't bad driving making simple mistakes ?
Professional drivers aren't suppose to make simple mistakes, If I do it and plod sees me I get 3 points, when plod does it and I see it nothing happens.That doesn't mean he a better driver does it?.
Indeed.Yung Man
I saw lots of professional drivers (those who make their living through driving) making mistakes for which they could have been reported, but weren't.
Edited by vonhosen on Tuesday 16th October 17:45
vonhosen said:
R_U_LOCAL said:
Yung Man said:
vonhosen said:
Isn't bad driving making simple mistakes ?
Professional drivers aren't suppose to make simple mistakes, If I do it and plod sees me I get 3 points, when plod does it and I see it nothing happens.That doesn't mean he a better driver does it?.
Indeed.It wasn't a "simple mistake" it was "bad driving" IMO, what is your opinion?.
R_U_LOCAL said:
I've never driven a car, no matter how far, without making small mistakes. Anyone who says they drive without making errors is a liar.
At last!We agree about something, a truer word was never spoken... written... typed etc etc
The difference between a good driver and a bad one is the good one sees the errors and vows to try to not do that again, the big errors you correct early on, and as time passes [experience] you attempt to correct ever smaller faults/failings.
Yung Man said:
vonhosen said:
R_U_LOCAL said:
Yung Man said:
vonhosen said:
Isn't bad driving making simple mistakes ?
Professional drivers aren't suppose to make simple mistakes, If I do it and plod sees me I get 3 points, when plod does it and I see it nothing happens.That doesn't mean he a better driver does it?.
Indeed.It wasn't a "simple mistake" it was "bad driving" IMO, what is your opinion?.
All drivers make mistakes, some of the worst driving I see on a daily basis is by people who earn their living driving.
As for this Police officer, I didn't see it you did.
You don't make it sound good though.
Ok if we are having a group admission then I make mistakes too.
I try not to and despite all my years on the road I can still be caught out from time to time.
Most recently joining city traffic and changing lanes at an oblique angle I started to drive forward and only noticed the cyclist coming up in the other lane at the last second because the angle of my car meant my rear view had a huge blindspot despite looking over my shoulders and using my mirrors.
I was only crawling so when I braked I stopped instantly but it did make me think , thank god I didn't just drive out.
Now of course I will be extra careful at that junction in futures even though in 30 yrs of using that junction it is the first time I have been caught out there.
The cyclist didn't berate or anything and noone else watching would have thought anything had happened but I knew myself it was marginal so I told myself off.
My bad.
I try not to and despite all my years on the road I can still be caught out from time to time.
Most recently joining city traffic and changing lanes at an oblique angle I started to drive forward and only noticed the cyclist coming up in the other lane at the last second because the angle of my car meant my rear view had a huge blindspot despite looking over my shoulders and using my mirrors.
I was only crawling so when I braked I stopped instantly but it did make me think , thank god I didn't just drive out.
Now of course I will be extra careful at that junction in futures even though in 30 yrs of using that junction it is the first time I have been caught out there.
The cyclist didn't berate or anything and noone else watching would have thought anything had happened but I knew myself it was marginal so I told myself off.
My bad.
R_U_LOCAL said:
Having re-read the original post, if the two slower-moving vehicles hadn't braked, would there have been a problem?
You and I might not have braked but this police car passed me and moved from lane 2 to lane 1 at about 250 yards to go, surely if he had wanted to leave at J31 he should have got in behind me. He has been trained to the highest possible standard and then drives like a novice.The move he made weighed up against the possible danger he put people in is totally unacceptable, so yes there would still have been a problem, the problem was with his driving regardless of what the 2 cars did.
Yung Man said:
vonhosen said:
All drivers make mistakes,
vonhosen said:
some of the worst driving I see on a daily basis is by people who earn their living driving.
Where you on the M6 at J31 last night?. (not in the Vectra of course)I don't include Police officers as professional drivers either. They don't drive for a living, they are Police officers first & foremost & that's what they are paid to do. They just may use a car at times in their job equally they can spend a lot of their time not driving.
vonhosen said:
Yung Man said:
vonhosen said:
All drivers make mistakes,
vonhosen said:
some of the worst driving I see on a daily basis is by people who earn their living driving.
Where you on the M6 at J31 last night?. (not in the Vectra of course)I don't include Police officers as professional drivers either. They don't drive for a living, they are Police officers first & foremost & that's what they are paid to do. They just may use a car at times in their job equally they can spend a lot of their time not driving.
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