Essex Traffic and their inability to stop road racing
Discussion
I have had to pass through Lakeside a couple of times recently at c1:00am or slightly later on my way home from visiting friends. The first time I was surprised to see at least 50 cars parked up all over the roundabout / slip road off of the A13. There were lots of people walking around the cars as well as walking in the road, with several quite the worse for drink and others holding bottles of beer etc. I drove through safely enough whilst wondering what was going on and then saw two complete idiots racing back on the other carriageway with less than a foot between their cars as they raced side by side. I drove down to the exit that takes the road under the train line and went home with no incident apart from receiving a few w@nker signs.... presumably for driving a Porsche.
My second trip along the same stretch of road was not quite as event free. I again noticed 50 or so cars at the top of the slip road but this time there were more people all over the road, again clearly drinking and with more disregard for my car than before. I thought I had managed to drive through slow enough and was just getting onto the main 3 lane carriageway towards the slip road I need to use when several cars decided to chase me and swarm all over me, mainly Sccobies, Evo's and chavved up Vauxhall rubbish. All the drivers were quite clearly wanting to goad a Porsche into a race of some sort and several times I had to brake very hard to avoid contact with one or more of these idiots. I did stop at the bottom of the slip road and waited for a couple of the chav cars to come down but they stopped when I stood in the road and decided to reverse back up to the main carriageway.
I have had several chats with some of the friendlier plod in the area (admitedly not a traffic officer) and they claim there is nothing they can do about it even though they know it is a regular occurence
Now if they are fully aware it happens why can they not arrive there during the event using a couple of cars to block the potential get way routes and provide each and every car owner with a provider, or better still use their computer records to check on the spot for license, MOT, insurance etc. If they were to use the unmarked 5 series cars they use to tax motorists for sneaking over the limit on the A130 they would be able to arrive in the area without any warning and witness first hand the way these idiots drive with complete disregard to other road users who just happen to want to use the road to get home.
If there is ever a serious incident during one of these gatherings it won't just be me contacting the local press to discuss the inability of the Essex police to deal with the issue as they have freely admitted to me and several others in the area they are fully aware it happens yet never take any action on the idiots using a public road as a race track.
Thoughts from any Traffic Officers well received.......
My second trip along the same stretch of road was not quite as event free. I again noticed 50 or so cars at the top of the slip road but this time there were more people all over the road, again clearly drinking and with more disregard for my car than before. I thought I had managed to drive through slow enough and was just getting onto the main 3 lane carriageway towards the slip road I need to use when several cars decided to chase me and swarm all over me, mainly Sccobies, Evo's and chavved up Vauxhall rubbish. All the drivers were quite clearly wanting to goad a Porsche into a race of some sort and several times I had to brake very hard to avoid contact with one or more of these idiots. I did stop at the bottom of the slip road and waited for a couple of the chav cars to come down but they stopped when I stood in the road and decided to reverse back up to the main carriageway.
I have had several chats with some of the friendlier plod in the area (admitedly not a traffic officer) and they claim there is nothing they can do about it even though they know it is a regular occurence
Now if they are fully aware it happens why can they not arrive there during the event using a couple of cars to block the potential get way routes and provide each and every car owner with a provider, or better still use their computer records to check on the spot for license, MOT, insurance etc. If they were to use the unmarked 5 series cars they use to tax motorists for sneaking over the limit on the A130 they would be able to arrive in the area without any warning and witness first hand the way these idiots drive with complete disregard to other road users who just happen to want to use the road to get home.If there is ever a serious incident during one of these gatherings it won't just be me contacting the local press to discuss the inability of the Essex police to deal with the issue as they have freely admitted to me and several others in the area they are fully aware it happens yet never take any action on the idiots using a public road as a race track.
Thoughts from any Traffic Officers well received.......
Funky Teapot said:
The police are probably too busy having to police Southend and the industial estates of Basildon to spare any officers to go down. Have you ever seen the amount of chavs who decend on Basildon Macdonals after southend has wound down?
Limited resources and lots to do. Phone in whenever you can and get others to do so also. With time and perseverance you may see results.
FishFace said:
Seems like evidence it's not quite the 'war on motorists' everyone bangs on about then.
No point going to war against motorists who are going to resist and make life difficult for you when there are millions of others who will juust pay up. These chavs are at the difficult end of the scale, average middle class, middle England Mrs Jones is the easy end of the scale.
Busa_Rush said:
FishFace said:
Seems like evidence it's not quite the 'war on motorists' everyone bangs on about then.
No point going to war against motorists who are going to resist and make life difficult for you when there are millions of others who will juust pay up. These chavs are at the difficult end of the scale, average middle class, middle England Mrs Jones is the easy end of the scale.
wasted years said:
Busa_Rush said:
FishFace said:
Seems like evidence it's not quite the 'war on motorists' everyone bangs on about then.
No point going to war against motorists who are going to resist and make life difficult for you when there are millions of others who will juust pay up. These chavs are at the difficult end of the scale, average middle class, middle England Mrs Jones is the easy end of the scale.
FishFace said:
Seems like evidence it's not quite the 'war on motorists' everyone bangs on about then.
The war is against the ones who are easy to trace, easy to fine, and who don't want to make a fuss. The racers described fit none of these categories and are consequently too much trouble.Busa_Rush said:
FishFace said:
Seems like evidence it's not quite the 'war on motorists' everyone bangs on about then.
No point going to war against motorists who are going to resist and make life difficult for you when there are millions of others who will juust pay up. These chavs are at the difficult end of the scale, average middle class, middle England Mrs Jones is the easy end of the scale.
"infamy infamy... they've all got it infamy"
andmole said:
FishFace said:
Seems like evidence it's not quite the 'war on motorists' everyone bangs on about then.
The war is against the ones who are easy to trace, easy to fine, and who keep making targets of themselves by breaking the law (how hard can it be to drive within the limits these days? I've been driving for 21 years and haven't been done for anything yet.... guess i'm just lucky and it's not my personal responsiblity that's enabled that, just pure luck to not be targetted unfairly by the police 
) don't want to make a fuss. The racers described fit none of these categories and are consequently too much trouble.Heebeegeetee said:
Why not, to a degree, let 'em get on with it? They've got to go somewhere to let off steam.
Agree, again to a point. Essex is the heart of chavland, so maybe there is something to the police ( and the residents ) knowing there is an area where many of them stay and play, just harming themselves when it goes wrong.If they get pushed away, that means more chavs in town centres at these times....more innocent motorists being 'challenged' or run off roads, more accidents, more violence.
I would presume this is unofficial police policy, as Essex has few qualms about putting 'safety' cameras everywhere, so the lack of same on the chav run route is rather perplexing.
Busa_Rush said:
FishFace said:
Seems like evidence it's not quite the 'war on motorists' everyone bangs on about then.
No point going to war against motorists who are going to resist and make life difficult for you when there are millions of others who will juust pay up. These chavs are at the difficult end of the scale, average middle class, middle England Mrs Jones is the easy end of the scale.
But the evil S.59 easily gets the statistics up bla bla.
Heebeegeetee said:
Why not, to a degree, let 'em get on with it? They've got to go somewhere to let off steam.
spot the guardian reader !draft a few unmarked officers in from surrounding forces and nab the lot of them !
how many have no insurance , tax or mot ?? hit them where it hurts by impounding their precious nova/corsa/civic etc etc and give them a hefty fine to boot
Funky Teapot said:
andmole said:
FishFace said:
Seems like evidence it's not quite the 'war on motorists' everyone bangs on about then.
The war is against the ones who are easy to trace, easy to fine, and who keep making targets of themselves by breaking the law (how hard can it be to drive within the limits these days? I've been driving for 21 years and haven't been done for anything yet.... guess i'm just lucky and it's not my personal responsiblity that's enabled that, just pure luck to not be targetted unfairly by the police ) don't want to make a fuss. The racers described fit none of these categories and are consequently too much trouble.No swear words were used in the making of this post, the speed of your vehicle may go up as well as down, please note the use of the word minority when referring to the police
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