Police Vans

[Tom8]

Are police vans driven by cops and do they have jurisdiction to pull people over?

Travelling on M25 on Friday, on the newly widened bit in Kent, 4 lanes of traffic, cop van in lane one, MPV (as usual) in lane three not overtaking not even up to 70 and so traffic bottlenecking to go round him. Classic middle lane moron. Cop just watched and did nothing.

On another note, the extension of the M25 is such a gargantuan waste of money as you now have 4 lanes of tits blocking lanes an not pulling over. When will we realise, training properly and prosecuting is needed not road widening.

[SteveScooby]

Yes and no.

It depends on what kind of van; public order type, scenes of crime or internal mail. All will be liveried.

It also depends on who was driving it at the time, PC, special, PCSO, mechanic....

[Dave Hedgehog]

SteveScooby said:

Yes and no.

It depends on what kind of van; public order type, scenes of crime or internal mail. All will be liveried.

It also depends on who was driving it at the time, PC, special, PCSO, mechanic....

i believe that they also need to be in uniform to stop you and or issue a FPN

[FuryExocet]

If on a motorway, they would also need to be fast roads trained and they probably weren't of they were driving a van.
No need to be in police uniform to pull or issue a ticket

[Dave Hedgehog]

FuryExocet said:

If on a motorway, they would also need to be fast roads trained and they probably weren't of they were driving a van.
No need to be in police uniform to pull or issue a ticket

section 163 of road traffic act

A person driving a mechanically propelled vehicle on a road must stop the vehicle on being required to do so by a constable in uniform or a traffic officer.


or has this been changed?

[Tom8]

Vans a bit like traffic wombles then really, just ignore and carry on at normal speed. I do want to submit a FOI request about the number of middle laners that have been nicked for so doing. Anyone heard of any being pulled over?

[FuryExocet]

Dave Hedgehog said:

section 163 of road traffic act

A person driving a mechanically propelled vehicle on a road must stop the vehicle on being required to do so by a constable in uniform or a traffic officer.


or has this been changed?

Officers can still stop vehicles in plain clothes, there's just no offence for failing to stop for them

[FuryExocet]

Tom8 said:

Vans a bit like traffic wombles then really, just ignore and carry on at normal speed. I do want to submit a FOI request about the number of middle laners that have been nicked for so doing. Anyone heard of any being pulled over?

Until the day you meet a traffic officer/ex traffic officer driving one

[Elroy Blue]

Tom8 said:

Vans a bit like traffic wombles then really, just ignore and carry on at normal speed. I do want to submit a FOI request about the number of middle laners that have been nicked for so doing. Anyone heard of any being pulled over?

I've heard of loads. In fact I heard of a few just this week.

[TPS]

Tom8 said:

Vans a bit like traffic wombles then really, just ignore and carry on at normal speed. I do want to submit a FOI request about the number of middle laners that have been nicked for so doing. Anyone heard of any being pulled over?

No,not really.

Both have powers that you have to comply with.

[Tom8]

Elroy Blue said:

I've heard of loads. In fact I heard of a few just this week.

That's good to hear, long overdue and very welcome legislation.

[Mk3Spitfire]

FuryExocet said:

If on a motorway, they would also need to be fast roads trained and they probably weren't of they were driving a van.
No need to be in police uniform to pull or issue a ticket

What is "fast roads trained"?

[omegac]

Mk3Spitfire said:

What is "fast roads trained"?

Learning how to deal with roads that are 40mph or over...Here's the first link I found on Google:

https://www.essex.police.uk/pdf/H%200403%20Procedu...

[340600]

Mk3Spitfire said:

FuryExocet said:

If on a motorway, they would also need to be fast roads trained and they probably weren't of they were driving a van.
No need to be in police uniform to pull or issue a ticket

What is "fast roads trained"?

Some forces requires its Officers to do fast roads training before they can attend incidents and stop vehicles on roads with higher speed limits (generally 40mph+) including DC's and motorways.

[FuryExocet]

Mk3Spitfire said:

What is "fast roads trained"?

Pretty much what the others have said, plus my force have specific Motorway training as we have a fairly large stretch of it. It all came about from a fatal on the A31 many years ago, where a motorcycle struck the rear of a police van which was at the scene of an RTC. I believe the biker didn't realise the van was stationary until it was too late

[Mk3Spitfire]

Ah I see. We don't have that around here. Kind of makes sense I suppose though. We have lots of dual carriageways and some motorways..in general Traffic deal with the majority of jobs on the bigger roads.

[Dave Hedgehog]

FuryExocet said:

Dave Hedgehog said:

section 163 of road traffic act

A person driving a mechanically propelled vehicle on a road must stop the vehicle on being required to do so by a constable in uniform or a traffic officer.


or has this been changed?

Officers can still stop vehicles in plain clothes, there's just no offence for failing to stop for them

I can ask vehicles to stop in plain clothes and there's no offence for ignoring me either

[KungFuPanda]

Dave Hedgehog said:

FuryExocet said:

Dave Hedgehog said:

section 163 of road traffic act

A person driving a mechanically propelled vehicle on a road must stop the vehicle on being required to do so by a constable in uniform or a traffic officer.


or has this been changed?

Officers can still stop vehicles in plain clothes, there's just no offence for failing to stop for them

I can ask vehicles to stop in plain clothes and there's no offence for ignoring me either

How about an unmarked Police car, showing blue lights for a motorist to stop being driven by a uniformed officer?

[Dave Hedgehog]

KungFuPanda said:

Dave Hedgehog said:

FuryExocet said:

Dave Hedgehog said:

section 163 of road traffic act

A person driving a mechanically propelled vehicle on a road must stop the vehicle on being required to do so by a constable in uniform or a traffic officer.


or has this been changed?

Officers can still stop vehicles in plain clothes, there's just no offence for failing to stop for them

I can ask vehicles to stop in plain clothes and there's no offence for ignoring me either

How about an unmarked Police car, showing blue lights for a motorist to stop being driven by a uniformed officer?

this is the question, i have been stopped a few times by officers like this, and being a law abiding citizen i do stop however my understanding of the law as a lay person if you do not stop you are not committing an offense so you can go on your merry way

i suspect thou you will find half a dozen marked cars around the corner waiting to TPAC you thou lol

[omegac]

KungFuPanda said:

How about an unmarked Police car, showing blue lights for a motorist to stop being driven by a uniformed officer?

Need to stop...If the car is unmarked, but carries covert warning equipment, then you're obliged to stop.