'Pretend' Police everywhere
Discussion
Has anyone noticed that while there are less actual traffic cops, there are more vehicles that look like Police vehicles?
Also, when you used to see a day-glo vest, it was a cop..now every git is wearing them and displaying them on parcel shelves.
I am constantly having to scrutinise security vehicles and incident support vehicles and ambulances Motorway maintenance vehicles etc cos they all seem to be pretending to be police!
Is this some kind of conspiracy to make us believe we still have loads of cops , I thought impersonating the police was frowned upon?
Also, when you used to see a day-glo vest, it was a cop..now every git is wearing them and displaying them on parcel shelves.
I am constantly having to scrutinise security vehicles and incident support vehicles and ambulances Motorway maintenance vehicles etc cos they all seem to be pretending to be police!
Is this some kind of conspiracy to make us believe we still have loads of cops , I thought impersonating the police was frowned upon?
I have noticed that window cleaners and builders now paint their ladders blue at each end, so when the ladder is on the roof of their vehicle, it could look like blue lights on the roof. Does anyone know why they do this ?
I can spot the fakes a mile off, so everyone is surprised when I go blasting past them on the motorways.
The trouble is, when the numpties see the Highways agency Range Rover etc (why oh why do they need a £40,000 Range Rover??) it doesn't instill lane discipline, just speed discipline. So they'll trundle along at 68mph, but still in all three lanes. I flash them to move over and they wave at you and make vigorous hand gestures whilst staying in front.....presumably they feel they are protecting me from getting a ticket by not letting me speed past the 'Police car' which I haven't spotted!
J.
J.
I understand their patrol speed is supposed to be 55. And despite protestations that they are easily distinguishable from Plod, they simply are not. I came across one the other day, and as a passenger had plenty of time to look and check. the only obvious difference from behind was the lack of the word Police on the back and on the (tiny) blue-light bar. Which isn't blue.
jezzaaa said:
The trouble is, when the numpties see the Highways agency Range Rover etc (why oh why do they need a £40,000 Range Rover??) it doesn't instill lane discipline, just speed discipline. So they'll trundle along at 68mph, but still in all three lanes. I flash them to move over and they wave at you and make vigorous hand gestures whilst staying in front.....presumably they feel they are protecting me from getting a ticket by not letting me speed past the 'Police car' which I haven't spotted!
J.
They need a Range Rover as they have to pull people out of ditches all day long. They need a large vehicle so it gets seen by numpties. A Nissan/Mitsu pickup might do the same job, but doesnt have room for 4 decent seats etc.
targarama said:
The trouble is, when the numpties see the Highways agency Range Rover etc (why oh why do they need a £40,000 Range Rover??) it doesn't instill lane discipline, just speed discipline. So they'll trundle along at 68mph, but still in all three lanes. I flash them to move over and they wave at you and make vigorous hand gestures whilst staying in front.....presumably they feel they are protecting me from getting a ticket by not letting me speed past the 'Police car' which I haven't spotted!
J.
They need a Range Rover as they have to pull people out of ditches all day long. They need a large vehicle so it gets seen by numpties. A Nissan/Mitsu pickup might do the same job, but doesnt have room for 4 decent seats etc.
Pull people out of ditches? I've only ever seen them on motorways and surely that's what recovery companies are for?
7db said:
I understand their patrol speed is supposed to be 55. And despite protestations that they are easily distinguishable from Plod, they simply are not. I came across one the other day, and as a passenger had plenty of time to look and check. the only obvious difference from behind was the lack of the word Police on the back and on the (tiny) blue-light bar. Which isn't blue.
I agree that they're not obviously different until you get alongside and can see that the blue squares are actually black. I consider that the similarity is designed for speed enforcement by stealth. Indeed, you often see these RRs parked on bridges looking just like police RRs until you get very close (black vs. blue against a light sky at a distance is impossible).
I definitely drive more slowly on motorways now than I used to. I can't say it's safer because I never had any accidents that were my fault before (in 26 years man and boy), but at least it means I get less stress from police-spotting. I guess if they were being picky the would still pull me for 80-85mph, but generally it seems acceptable. Yes, they've won the outward compliance, but I've not been taken to room 101 yet. They can't get at my mind.
The Highways Agency Traffic Officer program is being brought in throughout ENGLAND, and should be complete by the end of 2006. It will cover all motorways, and some major trunk roads.(see here for information. www.highways.gov.uk
They are there to take on the mundain jobs that used to be done by Police Officers, ie. removal of debris from the road, including live lanes, attending accidents to arrange carriageway clearance, vehicle recovery and whatever other assistance could be needed, leaving Police officers to do Police work. They assist the Police at incidents, also, the Police now don't usually attend accidents unless it's either major or there's injury, they leave them to the HA patrols.
They'll "babysit" behind vunerable people that have broken down, until recovery arrives, in fact they'll arrange the recovery, phone the relatives etc. they are there to assist the motorist and keep the motorways moving as safely as possible.
The vehicles are liveried up as they are for a few reasons, non of which are to slow drivers down, but to make sure that they are seen, imagine trying to put a rolling block on in an unmarked, unliveried vehicle that didn't have the presence the 4x4's have. Yes, they are 4x4's and big ones at that, as they are expected to be able to tow fairly large vehicles onto the hard shoulder (I'll not mention just what has been towed!) out of a live lane if required, no they won't tow them out of ditches, that IS the recovery's job.
They have certain powers, but these are all to do with slowing, stopping, diverting traffic, or removal of broken down/abandoned vehicles, nothing else.
They themselves have restrictions on them, the lightbar is amber not blue, (I personally think it should be blue, as everyone and his dog have amber light beacons!) they cannot speed, 70mph is max, but they can use the H/S at much reduced speed.
Once you get used to them, you'll be glad that they're there.
They are there to take on the mundain jobs that used to be done by Police Officers, ie. removal of debris from the road, including live lanes, attending accidents to arrange carriageway clearance, vehicle recovery and whatever other assistance could be needed, leaving Police officers to do Police work. They assist the Police at incidents, also, the Police now don't usually attend accidents unless it's either major or there's injury, they leave them to the HA patrols.
They'll "babysit" behind vunerable people that have broken down, until recovery arrives, in fact they'll arrange the recovery, phone the relatives etc. they are there to assist the motorist and keep the motorways moving as safely as possible.
The vehicles are liveried up as they are for a few reasons, non of which are to slow drivers down, but to make sure that they are seen, imagine trying to put a rolling block on in an unmarked, unliveried vehicle that didn't have the presence the 4x4's have. Yes, they are 4x4's and big ones at that, as they are expected to be able to tow fairly large vehicles onto the hard shoulder (I'll not mention just what has been towed!) out of a live lane if required, no they won't tow them out of ditches, that IS the recovery's job.
They have certain powers, but these are all to do with slowing, stopping, diverting traffic, or removal of broken down/abandoned vehicles, nothing else.
They themselves have restrictions on them, the lightbar is amber not blue, (I personally think it should be blue, as everyone and his dog have amber light beacons!) they cannot speed, 70mph is max, but they can use the H/S at much reduced speed.
Once you get used to them, you'll be glad that they're there.
I don't welcome their presence. I've seen them being rolled out along the M62/M60 and all I see them do is trundle along in lane 1 at 50 mph (there's one that spends every idle moment going back & to over Thelwall viaduct all day long) or alternatively they park on bridges pretending to be speed cameras. I have yet to see one at an incident, yet I see incidents almost every day.
On the M62 there was an existing fleet of "Incident Response" transits, (liveried up near-identical to talivans) and by the way they also feel the need to park as conspicuously as possible. In fact tonight one was parked on a bridge with the side door open & wannabe scamera operator standing alongside, to maximise the panic braking potential. It had the desired effect, but I wouldn't say it was improving safety...
On the M62 there was an existing fleet of "Incident Response" transits, (liveried up near-identical to talivans) and by the way they also feel the need to park as conspicuously as possible. In fact tonight one was parked on a bridge with the side door open & wannabe scamera operator standing alongside, to maximise the panic braking potential. It had the desired effect, but I wouldn't say it was improving safety...
Rob-C said:
I don't welcome their presence. I've seen them being rolled out along the M62/M60 and all I see them do is trundle along in lane 1 at 50 mph (there's one that spends every idle moment going back & to over Thelwall viaduct all day long) or alternatively they park on bridges pretending to be speed cameras. I have yet to see one at an incident, yet I see incidents almost every day.
On the M62 there was an existing fleet of "Incident Response" transits, (liveried up near-identical to talivans) and by the way they also feel the need to park as conspicuously as possible. In fact tonight one was parked on a bridge with the side door open & wannabe scamera operator standing alongside, to maximise the panic braking potential. It had the desired effect, but I wouldn't say it was improving safety...
they are instructed to patrol at 50-55mph, each vehicle has a patrol area, the Thelwall is on 2 patrol areas. There are none going onto the M60 yet, unless they are specifically going to GMP HQ, but the GMP area, M60, M62, M61 and the other Manchester motorways come "on line" at the end of January, that's why there are extra vehicles on the Cheshire Police area, they are being trained up ready to take on GMP, Lancashire, Merseyside & Cumbria.
The Yellow vans are ISU's (Incident Support Units) they are contractors to the Highways Agency, and their job is to patrol and remove large pieces of debris from the network (often dragged off the carriageway by the HATO patrols and put behind a marker post for the ISU to collect) They also have set routes to make sure that EVERY piece of road is checked at least twice a day, and that includes EVERY on/off slip. They also attend incidents where there could be/is any damage to any part of the carriageway, road furniture, fences, barriers, lamp posts etc. any type of spillage to effect emergency repair/removal or they will call out specialist for events if required.
No-one is playing at speed cops, when you've been sat in a transit for a few hours, you need to stretch your legs (believe me! I've been out with them!) you can't go away from the m/way, as you have to respond to incidents quickly if required, so they sit on the bridges whilst they have a brew.
>> Edited by gafferjim on Tuesday 13th December 17:42
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