Overtaken by speeding traffic safety officer!
Discussion
As all the best exam papers say, discuss....
So just keen to hear thoughts on this. I was just driving back from work along my usual back-route home through leafy Surrey, when I noticed a 'Traffic Safety Officer' vehicle come up behind me.
Friday night and it's a very lightly trafficked route through some small villages (30mph) plus a lot of very open roads that are signed at 40. Now thereby hangs a tail as I was caught speeding on the 40mph road at the spot shown in the photo below - 53 in a 40, pulled over and it's a fair cop and all that but very annoying as even PC plod couldn't really justify why it's a 40, other than 'we've had accidents on the bend at the end there' 'Yep but I'm not on the bend am I?' 'Er no'
Anyway beyond that, one of the villages in particular has a group of 'safety partnership' collectives who hang out of a morning / evening with a small speed gun and note numbers, so I'm careful there anyway.
So with that in mind I think let's see what Mr Traffic Safety does. So I stuck religiously to the 30/40 limits until Mr Safety clearly gets tired and blasts past me (just before the bend that PC Plod reckons causes the issues).
I let him open up a bit of distance, and then thought it'd be fun to catch up a bit. I was in the M3 so shouldn't be too hard.... except he's pretty much gone. Sped up a little bit more (not wanting to suddenly catch him) and see he's about half a mile+ in the distance now.
At a guess I'd say he's sped up to somewhere north of 60+ to pull out such a distance, on exactly the road I was caught on.
Makes you wonder doesn't it!!??
So just keen to hear thoughts on this. I was just driving back from work along my usual back-route home through leafy Surrey, when I noticed a 'Traffic Safety Officer' vehicle come up behind me.
Friday night and it's a very lightly trafficked route through some small villages (30mph) plus a lot of very open roads that are signed at 40. Now thereby hangs a tail as I was caught speeding on the 40mph road at the spot shown in the photo below - 53 in a 40, pulled over and it's a fair cop and all that but very annoying as even PC plod couldn't really justify why it's a 40, other than 'we've had accidents on the bend at the end there' 'Yep but I'm not on the bend am I?' 'Er no'
Anyway beyond that, one of the villages in particular has a group of 'safety partnership' collectives who hang out of a morning / evening with a small speed gun and note numbers, so I'm careful there anyway.
So with that in mind I think let's see what Mr Traffic Safety does. So I stuck religiously to the 30/40 limits until Mr Safety clearly gets tired and blasts past me (just before the bend that PC Plod reckons causes the issues).
I let him open up a bit of distance, and then thought it'd be fun to catch up a bit. I was in the M3 so shouldn't be too hard.... except he's pretty much gone. Sped up a little bit more (not wanting to suddenly catch him) and see he's about half a mile+ in the distance now.
At a guess I'd say he's sped up to somewhere north of 60+ to pull out such a distance, on exactly the road I was caught on.
Makes you wonder doesn't it!!??
If the car said, "Traffic Safety Officer," on it, the guy was probably from a private company contracted to perform traffic management services.
http://www.citytm.co.uk/tscos/
http://www.bdsstrafficsafety.co.uk/service/service...
http://www.citytm.co.uk/tscos/
http://www.bdsstrafficsafety.co.uk/service/service...
Thanks. Yep - second link I think. He wasn't police, had no blue lights, but I wasn't taking any risks ;-)
Does 'Officer' imply any legal capacity at all though? The problem is now with a lot of the car / van 'Safety Partnerships' being staffed by ex-police it's hard to know when a camera is recording.
Tempting to message Surrey Police with his reg though.
Does 'Officer' imply any legal capacity at all though? The problem is now with a lot of the car / van 'Safety Partnerships' being staffed by ex-police it's hard to know when a camera is recording.
Tempting to message Surrey Police with his reg though.
Drumroll said:
Most motorway repair jobs will have a traffic safety officer. He has no more powers than you or me.
I'd be careful making statements like that as some are Designated Persons for the purposes of giving traffic direction ( as are/ were 'real' traffic wardens, and as are some PCSOs and all the Traffic Wombles )Traffic safety officers are normally responsible for designing and installing traffic management lay outs for large roadworks schemes. Their crews maintain the cones and signs, ensuring any that are struck by traffic get replaced. Also responsible for the safety of traffic through their roadworks. 
Drumroll said:
Traffic Safety Officers are not employed by the police. They are employed either directly or through companies doing repairs on motorways etc.
however if you observe their driving ( or anyone else's) falling below the standard of the reasonable driver you are at liberty to make a report to the police ... mph1977 said:
however if you observe their driving ( or anyone else's) falling below the standard of the reasonable driver you are at liberty to make a report to the police ...
I wonder what it's like to be reported for bad behaviour and dangerous practise that puts others at risk. Any idea?mph1977 said:
Drumroll said:
Traffic Safety Officers are not employed by the police. They are employed either directly or through companies doing repairs on motorways etc.
however if you observe their driving ( or anyone else's) falling below the standard of the reasonable driver you are at liberty to make a report to the police ... 
ks sake!" and not bother doing anything whatsoever.4rephill said:
mph1977 said:
Drumroll said:
Traffic Safety Officers are not employed by the police. They are employed either directly or through companies doing repairs on motorways etc.
however if you observe their driving ( or anyone else's) falling below the standard of the reasonable driver you are at liberty to make a report to the police ... ks sake!" and not bother doing anything whatsoever.Having said that, if they're in the position of choosing to put speed limits on sections of roads for the safety of people they're working with, they shouldn't be flouting speed limits other people have deemed necessary while driving they're liveried vehicles. The latest guilt trip campaigns for roadworks are the, "My dad works here," signs
They also shouldn't drive something that is deliberately designed to look like a police car and then get arsey when someone abides by a speed limit in front of them.
They also shouldn't drive something that is deliberately designed to look like a police car and then get arsey when someone abides by a speed limit in front of them.
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