Scottish Police get tough with Furry dice............
Discussion
http://news.bbc.co.uk:80/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/tay...
Pedants claim over pendants purge
A police force has been criticised for targeting motorists and lorry drivers who display hanging pendants in their windscreens.
Central Scotland Police said officers will "come down hard" on anyone who hangs ornaments in a way which obscures the area swept by windscreen wipers.
The warning comes after the force put two lorries off the road for the offence.
Motorists who use tinted glass in their windscreens are also being targeted.
Inspector Graeme Allan, of the force's road policing unit, said pendants that "encroach into the area swept by windscreen wipers" were illegal and should be removed.
He said: "If anything is in this area it will obscure the driver's vision and we will target anyone committing this offence.
"Common sense tells you that if you have anything on your windscreen you will not be able to see clearly and that is extremely dangerous."
'Dangling dolly'
The clampdown has drawn criticism from some within the motoring community who accused the police of looking for "easy targets".
Bruce Young, spokesman for the Association of British Drivers, said motorists were being unfairly persecuted.
He said: "I am frankly dismayed that any police force sees 'dangling dollies' as a threat to road safety, let alone a serious issue that needs to be 'clamped down on'.
"This smacks of sound bite rather than real policy and can serve only to improve their 'performance' figures without much effort."
He added: "A far more positive contribution to road safety would be to significantly increase specialist traffic police patrols to tackle current levels of dangerous, drunk, unlicensed and uninsured driving - each a far greater threat to road safety than any dangling dolly."
Pedants claim over pendants purge
A police force has been criticised for targeting motorists and lorry drivers who display hanging pendants in their windscreens.
Central Scotland Police said officers will "come down hard" on anyone who hangs ornaments in a way which obscures the area swept by windscreen wipers.
The warning comes after the force put two lorries off the road for the offence.
Motorists who use tinted glass in their windscreens are also being targeted.
Inspector Graeme Allan, of the force's road policing unit, said pendants that "encroach into the area swept by windscreen wipers" were illegal and should be removed.
He said: "If anything is in this area it will obscure the driver's vision and we will target anyone committing this offence.
"Common sense tells you that if you have anything on your windscreen you will not be able to see clearly and that is extremely dangerous."
'Dangling dolly'
The clampdown has drawn criticism from some within the motoring community who accused the police of looking for "easy targets".
Bruce Young, spokesman for the Association of British Drivers, said motorists were being unfairly persecuted.
He said: "I am frankly dismayed that any police force sees 'dangling dollies' as a threat to road safety, let alone a serious issue that needs to be 'clamped down on'.
"This smacks of sound bite rather than real policy and can serve only to improve their 'performance' figures without much effort."
He added: "A far more positive contribution to road safety would be to significantly increase specialist traffic police patrols to tackle current levels of dangerous, drunk, unlicensed and uninsured driving - each a far greater threat to road safety than any dangling dolly."
catso said:
Central Scotland Police said officers will "come down hard" on anyone who hangs ornaments in a way which obscures the area swept by windscreen wipers.
The warning comes after the force put two lorries off the road for the offence.
Motorists who use tinted glass in their windscreens are also being targeted.
Inspector Graeme Allan, of the force's road policing unit, said pendants that "encroach into the area swept by windscreen wipers" were illegal and should be removed.
He said: "If anything is in this area it will obscure the driver's vision and we will target anyone committing this offence.
Pathetic, although no longer surprising.The warning comes after the force put two lorries off the road for the offence.
Motorists who use tinted glass in their windscreens are also being targeted.
Inspector Graeme Allan, of the force's road policing unit, said pendants that "encroach into the area swept by windscreen wipers" were illegal and should be removed.
He said: "If anything is in this area it will obscure the driver's vision and we will target anyone committing this offence.
This is reminiscent of the PHer who recently had a car fail an MOT because of the little "pine tree" air freshener hanging from his mirror.
Do these small-brained creatures really have nothing better to do with their lives?
HHmmmmm, not sure where i stand on this one. Drove up to Newcastle and back this weekend and the number of people who had the satnav right in the moddle of the windscreen was scary. Some even had had them right on their eyeline in front of them, how they saw anything i don't know.
As for dangly stuff, does sound a bit OTT.
As for dangly stuff, does sound a bit OTT.
Not sure if this is as clear cut as the article states.
I know that the Police (traffic) in the area where I work have been very pro-active stopping vehicles with minor defects.
Small defects such as a light bulb out or a piece of trim hanging off.
As a result it seems they have pulled a number of drivers who were over the alcohol limits and others who had serious vehicle defects.
Perhaps this force is looking for a similar result.
As for the tinting, some cars I see around have almost blacked out glass. Would we prefer these drivers were pulled over or those doing slightly higher than posted limit speeds on NSL's and Motorways?
I know that the Police (traffic) in the area where I work have been very pro-active stopping vehicles with minor defects.
Small defects such as a light bulb out or a piece of trim hanging off.
As a result it seems they have pulled a number of drivers who were over the alcohol limits and others who had serious vehicle defects.
Perhaps this force is looking for a similar result.
As for the tinting, some cars I see around have almost blacked out glass. Would we prefer these drivers were pulled over or those doing slightly higher than posted limit speeds on NSL's and Motorways?
I agree with it, how can having shit dangling from your rear view mirror and swinging left to right when you corner not be a distraction? Especially those who have a CD dangling from it (WTF?) and the huge Hindu (I think) pendants that hang almost touching the dash as a lot round here seem to have.
Although it can't be as bad as the numpty nobheads that drive along at night with their satnav stuck right in the middle of the windscreen still on day mode so illuminating the whole cabin. Their visablity must be horrendous!
Imvho the whole windscreen area should be kept completely clear except for your rear view mirror (obviously) and a sat anv placed either at the very bottom or in the corner of the screen.
Although it can't be as bad as the numpty nobheads that drive along at night with their satnav stuck right in the middle of the windscreen still on day mode so illuminating the whole cabin. Their visablity must be horrendous!
Imvho the whole windscreen area should be kept completely clear except for your rear view mirror (obviously) and a sat anv placed either at the very bottom or in the corner of the screen.
KB_S1 said:
Not sure if this is as clear cut as the article states.
I know that the Police (traffic) in the area where I work have been very pro-active stopping vehicles with minor defects.
Small defects such as a light bulb out or a piece of trim hanging off.
As a result it seems they have pulled a number of drivers who were over the alcohol limits and others who had serious vehicle defects.
Perhaps this force is looking for a similar result.
As for the tinting, some cars I see around have almost blacked out glass. Would we prefer these drivers were pulled over or those doing slightly higher than posted limit speeds on NSL's and Motorways?
If the police believe that there is a correlation between vehicles with minor defects and drink driving or serious defects, then let them pull on the minor defect, look for a more serious offence and, if there is none, send the driver off with a caution. I know that the Police (traffic) in the area where I work have been very pro-active stopping vehicles with minor defects.
Small defects such as a light bulb out or a piece of trim hanging off.
As a result it seems they have pulled a number of drivers who were over the alcohol limits and others who had serious vehicle defects.
Perhaps this force is looking for a similar result.
As for the tinting, some cars I see around have almost blacked out glass. Would we prefer these drivers were pulled over or those doing slightly higher than posted limit speeds on NSL's and Motorways?
The police spokesman asserted that they would be targeting "anyone" who was committing the offence of having "anything" that was within the swept area. That is what is silly.
We'd all agree that they should be pulling the idiot with a blacked-out windscreen, or someone with an array of CDs or decorative banners dangling from the sun visor.
As usual, however, it is the all-encompassing, indiscriminate, mindless enforcement - going so far as to banning a pine tree air freshener - that makes a mockery of a policy that may be well-founded for limited applications.
what a FFFFFFFFFing joke, people are driving around with
NO Tax/Insurance/MOT/license whilst banned, on crack in a unroad worthy or cloaned car, polish lorry drivers driving for 20hours plus without a break whilst carrying a trailer full of ilegal immigrants and the police are having a crack down on furry dice and magic trees?
WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH THE WORLD!!!
edit
just to say that SatNavs on the other hand are dangerous and i fail to see how they are not classed as a distraction in the same way a phone is or how some people have yet to be done for driving without due care and attention when they have been too busy staring at satnav and not the road.
NO Tax/Insurance/MOT/license whilst banned, on crack in a unroad worthy or cloaned car, polish lorry drivers driving for 20hours plus without a break whilst carrying a trailer full of ilegal immigrants and the police are having a crack down on furry dice and magic trees?
WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH THE WORLD!!!
edit
just to say that SatNavs on the other hand are dangerous and i fail to see how they are not classed as a distraction in the same way a phone is or how some people have yet to be done for driving without due care and attention when they have been too busy staring at satnav and not the road.
Edited by aka_kerrly on Wednesday 7th November 13:20
I actually agree with this one and support the police.
I had a car behind me the other day and I was thinking what the hell can he see with those swinging about.
Ok the point about tax , insurance etc etc are all valid points but don't have an immediate effect on your personal safety.
someone driving with a blind spot in his front screen is a danger at junctions and a danger to pedestrians.
I am anal about how clean my windscreen is let alone dangling distractions.
I had a car behind me the other day and I was thinking what the hell can he see with those swinging about.
Ok the point about tax , insurance etc etc are all valid points but don't have an immediate effect on your personal safety.
someone driving with a blind spot in his front screen is a danger at junctions and a danger to pedestrians.
I am anal about how clean my windscreen is let alone dangling distractions.
It does sound like a lot of fuss at first glance, but if the dangling objects are large enough to interfere with the view then something should be done about it.
I've always felt that anything dangling from the mirror would be an irritating distraction to me, even if it's not large enough to interfere with vision.
Best wishes all,
Dave.
I've always felt that anything dangling from the mirror would be an irritating distraction to me, even if it's not large enough to interfere with vision.
Best wishes all,
Dave.
They should be targeting people that are actually driving dangerously, without licences, insurance etc. However, it's far easier to improve the performance figures by go after people with stupid dangly things in their windscreen. Shame the KSI's won't be improved, but if they did that they wouldn't have any more justification for the next round of stupidity.
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