POLITE Notice, Think Bike

[SturdyHSV]

Conscript said:

Now, for 99% of drivers, the sight of a hi-vis vest is enough to achieve this. However, there's still a considerable number of dheads on the road, who would see a high vis-vest and not take any notice of it.

1% of drivers I heard

I know you correctly used % and then said still a considerable number, so my pedantry was misguided. Anyway, my actual point is, as with everywhere else in life, I'd estimate that the proportion of dheads is significantly higher than 1%. Probably 50% at least. When driving, I think that number rises to about 95% to be honest.

[Conscript]

SturdyHSV said:

Conscript said:

Now, for 99% of drivers, the sight of a hi-vis vest is enough to achieve this. However, there's still a considerable number of dheads on the road, who would see a high vis-vest and not take any notice of it.

1% of drivers I heard

I know you correctly used % and then said still a considerable number, so my pedantry was misguided. Anyway, my actual point is, as with everywhere else in life, I'd estimate that the proportion of dheads is significantly higher than 1%. Probably 50% at least. When driving, I think that number rises to about 95% to be honest.

I was just pointing out that there's lots of dheads on the road, but that could still mean they are a small proportion of everyone. Apologies if the point was not clear

[jamieduff1981]

Ask yourself this:

"If everyone wore one of these, would it fk everything up when a real police biker came along?"

I utterly reject the notion that if it gets a reaction then it has done its job. These vests are for absolute bell-ends, and anyone who doesn't see the problem clearly hasn't considered the degradation on peoples' reactions to genuine police as they get more and more used to these dheads out and about.

I am reminded of Homer Simpson and the little flag tied to the car aerial helping it be seen from a distance in a car park: "Everyone should have one of those!"

[stuttgartmetal]

Utter horsest.

[IanH755]

Conscript said:

Pretending to be a police officer would involve writing the word "POLICE" on your vest.

So could you write POLICE with a 1cm character between each letter so that "technically" it doesn't say POLICE, it says P*O'L`I,C.E (or even PoOlLiIcCeE if you want letters) which you can read from 10cm away doesn't say POLICE but it looks like it does from 10m away as you can't see the smaller characters?

Also you could press-up in a full police uniform and, as long as it says POLITE, that's perfectly OK?

Impersonating a Police officer is more than simply having the word Police somewhere on you.

Anyway, Section 90 of the Police Act 1996 says they sail VERY close to wind as the item may "look" like an official item but isn't -

---

Impersonation, etc.—

(1) Any person who with intent to deceive impersonates a member of a police force or special constable, or makes any statement or does any act calculated falsely to suggest that he is such a member or constable, shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale, or to both.

(2) Any person who, not being a constable, wears any article of police uniform in circumstances where it gives him an appearance so nearly resembling that of a member of a police force as to be calculated to deceive shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale.

(3) Any person who, not being a member of a police force or special constable, has in his possession any article of police uniform shall, unless he proves that he obtained possession of that article lawfully and has possession of it for a lawful purpose, be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 1 on the standard scale.

---

[Conscript]

jamieduff1981 said:

Ask yourself this:

"If everyone wore one of these, would it fk everything up when a real police biker came along?"

I utterly reject the notion that if it gets a reaction then it has done its job. These vests are for absolute bell-ends, and anyone who doesn't see the problem clearly hasn't considered the degradation on peoples' reactions to genuine police as they get more and more used to these dheads out and about.

I am reminded of Homer Simpson and the little flag tied to the car aerial helping it be seen from a distance in a car park: "Everyone should have one of those!"

Are you suggesting that someone might possibly be unable to recognise a genuine police officer because of the existence of these vests? Or that people might start completely ignoring them as a result?

It's not like these vests can really be mistaken for genuine police attire for any more than a few seconds as you approach, and I doubt people re going to start deliberately paying less attention to real police officers just on the off chance that it might be someone wearing a "POLITE" vest.

However, given the amount of people who have admitted that they would deliberately drive worse around people using these, then I guess you are right, they are pointless.

[Conscript]

IanH755 said:

So could you write POLICE with a 1cm character between each letter so that "technically" it doesn't say POLICE, it says P*O'L`I,C.E (or even PoOlLiIcCeE if you want letters) which you can read from 10cm away doesn't say POLICE but it looks like it does from 10m away as you can't see the smaller characters?

Also you could press-up in a full police uniform and, as long as it says POLITE, that's perfectly OK?

Impersonating a Police officer is more than simply having the word Police somewhere on you.

My point was, if someone genuinely wanted to impersonate a police officer to the extent that people would be unable to tell the difference, they'd have to go to more effort that simply writing a similar looking word on a high-vis. I'm just saying, that the intention in wearing one strikes me as being more about self preservation than a persistent and calculated attempt to deceive.

IanH755 said:

Anyway, Section 90 of the Police Act 1996 says they sail VERY close to wind as the item may "look" like an official item but isn't -

---

Impersonation, etc.—

(1) Any person who with intent to deceive impersonates a member of a police force or special constable, or makes any statement or does any act calculated falsely to suggest that he is such a member or constable, shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale, or to both.

(2) Any person who, not being a constable, wears any article of police uniform in circumstances where it gives him an appearance so nearly resembling that of a member of a police force as to be calculated to deceive shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale.

(3) Any person who, not being a member of a police force or special constable, has in his possession any article of police uniform shall, unless he proves that he obtained possession of that article lawfully and has possession of it for a lawful purpose, be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 1 on the standard scale.

---

Useful info. Perhaps it's best to ask what an actual police officer thinks then? That information does seem to suggest that they should be illegal....yet, I'm guessing they aren't as they are available to buy, and I've not heard of anyone getting arrested or reprimanded for using them. So perhaps the police don't see them as sufficient to "resemble a member of the police force?"

Would be interested to hear a police officer's take on this, if there are any here.

[WCZ]

GetCarter said:

I considered doing this as I was so sick of people not letting me past on single track roads... I didn't, as I guessed the 'polite' wouldn't appreciate it

hahahahaha

[anonymous-user]

I saw a white BMW bike with panniers and proper police spec without the back light sticking up on, but it had white lights on front.

I thought it looked like he was going a bit too fast for a police bike. I then noticed as he got closer to me, the fat gut of the biker and a hiz viz top with 'polite' on the front.

[caelite]

I think a Hi-vis vest is a great idea if you are a biker. The polite notice things honestly I have no opinion on, it really doesnt affect me. Although I must admit I came across a funny scenario filtering behind a GS rider wearing one going through Glasgow. As he went past gridlocked rush hour traffic on the M90 all I could see was people literally throwing there phones from there ears across the cabin of there cars thinking it was a plod bike. Did make me giggle a bit.

Got a similar effect sitting in my pals white (ex cop coincidentally) omega V6 with a roof rack. Both of us where wearing white T shirts. We could bomb it down lane 2 of the M8 to Edinburgh at 90-100 and everyone would clear the lane for us, it was class

Edited by caelite on Thursday 25th August 15:16

[walm]

jamieduff1981 said:

"If everyone wore one of these, would it fk everything up when a real police biker came along?"

Assuming he still has his blues & twos - I think the world would still manage to keep turning.

[Hol]

Anyone else care to guess who either has, or knows a friend who has one of these fancy dress Costumes??

[anonymous-user]

GetCarter said:

I considered doing this as I was so sick of people not letting me past on single track roads... I didn't, as I guessed the 'polite' wouldn't appreciate it

I'm pretty sure that would get you pulled. But it's a fair point.

[jamieduff1981]

Conscript said:

jamieduff1981 said:

Ask yourself this:

"If everyone wore one of these, would it fk everything up when a real police biker came along?"

I utterly reject the notion that if it gets a reaction then it has done its job. These vests are for absolute bell-ends, and anyone who doesn't see the problem clearly hasn't considered the degradation on peoples' reactions to genuine police as they get more and more used to these dheads out and about.

I am reminded of Homer Simpson and the little flag tied to the car aerial helping it be seen from a distance in a car park: "Everyone should have one of those!"

Are you suggesting that someone might possibly be unable to recognise a genuine police officer because of the existence of these vests? Or that people might start completely ignoring them as a result?

It's not like these vests can really be mistaken for genuine police attire for any more than a few seconds as you approach, and I doubt people re going to start deliberately paying less attention to real police officers just on the off chance that it might be someone wearing a "POLITE" vest.

However, given the amount of people who have admitted that they would deliberately drive worse around people using these, then I guess you are right, they are pointless.

I'm suggesting that the choice of layout, high contrasting chequers and choice of font is intended to give a first impression of being a police constable, thus influencing the immediate response from other road users. This appears to be a deliberate initial deception:

IanH755 said:

So could you write POLICE with a 1cm character between each letter so that "technically" it doesn't say POLICE, it says P*O'L`I,C.E (or even PoOlLiIcCeE if you want letters) which you can read from 10cm away doesn't say POLICE but it looks like it does from 10m away as you can't see the smaller characters?

Also you could press-up in a full police uniform and, as long as it says POLITE, that's perfectly OK?

Impersonating a Police officer is more than simply having the word Police somewhere on you.

Anyway, Section 90 of the Police Act 1996 says they sail VERY close to wind as the item may "look" like an official item but isn't -

---

Impersonation, etc.—

(1) Any person who with intent to deceive impersonates a member of a police force or special constable, or makes any statement or does any act calculated falsely to suggest that he is such a member or constable, shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale, or to both.

(2) Any person who, not being a constable, wears any article of police uniform in circumstances where it gives him an appearance so nearly resembling that of a member of a police force as to be calculated to deceive shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale.

(3) Any person who, not being a member of a police force or special constable, has in his possession any article of police uniform shall, unless he proves that he obtained possession of that article lawfully and has possession of it for a lawful purpose, be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 1 on the standard scale.

---

Ultimately, I am suggesting that if all bikers wore these, the general reaction to genuine police riders would be somewhat dulled as it's detail rather than first impression that drivers need to notice.

Luckily most bikers and horse riders aren't complete tits and don't wear these - but in general, if in the event that everyone did something, it would fk the whole system up, the people doing this thing are taking the piss and deserve all the contempt they get.

Bikers get upset about cars with lights on, because it makes them less visible. Their pratting around with vests which give a first impression of being Police tabbards are in turn degrading the conspicuousness of the actual Police - designed to stand out from anything civilian around and be immediately obvious to all as being Police.

[V8mate]

It has to be a low IQ issue.

IME, I (in my car) pose the greatest danger to motorbikes when, in heavy traffic, I'm changing lanes and they are filtering. Especially when it's dark or in bad weather. If the bike's in front of me though, the rider's safe (from me, anyway) because I can see him. So any pronouncements across his back won't serve any useful safety purpose at all.

[Conscript]

jamieduff1981 said:

Ultimately, I am suggesting that if all bikers wore these, the general reaction to genuine police riders would be somewhat dulled as it's detail rather than first impression that drivers need to notice.

Luckily most bikers and horse riders aren't complete tits and don't wear these - but in general, if in the event that everyone did something, it would fk the whole system up, the people doing this thing are taking the piss and deserve all the contempt they get.

Bikers get upset about cars with lights on, because it makes them less visible. Their pratting around with vests which give a first impression of being Police tabbards are in turn degrading the conspicuousness of the actual Police - designed to stand out from anything civilian around and be immediately obvious to all as being Police.

I can see what you're saying, especially in the context of say, a biker in a congested city environment. I guess I'm thinking about them more in the context that I most often see them - usually on the backs of young horse riders on rural country lanes, where I can kind of see what they are trying to achieve, and they seem pretty much harmless in these conditions, to me. I take your point though.

Hol said:

Anyone else care to guess who either has, or knows a friend who has one of these fancy dress Costumes??

If that's aimed at me, no, I don't wear one. I know several horse riders (my girlfriend is a horsist), and I don't think any of them wear them.

[caelite]

V8mate said:

It has to be a low IQ issue.

IME, I (in my car) pose the greatest danger to motorbikes when, in heavy traffic, I'm changing lanes and they are filtering. Especially when it's dark or in bad weather. If the bike's in front of me though, the rider's safe (from me, anyway) because I can see him. So any pronouncements across his back won't serve any useful safety purpose at all.

Its not an safety issue, as you say the yellow is enough to increase your chances of being seen the polite notice adds nothing to that. It is a bit of an in-joke among bikers who love scaring the st out of drivers doing not-so-legal things behind the wheel.

Anyone who genuinely wears one because he thinks its safer is, as you say, rather IQ deficient.

[FrankAbagnale]

GetCarter said:

I considered doing this as I was so sick of people not letting me past on single track roads... I didn't, as I guessed the 'polite' wouldn't appreciate it

Or going one further, why not POL1CE. By the same logic, you're not saying POLICE so cannot be impersonating a police officer/vehicle.

[EazyDuz]

snoopy25 said:

Absolute wkers who wear these! Especially those that i clocked a couple of weeks ago weaving in and out of traffic like the s they are!

Think bike? Think fk off you pricks!

Aren't you lovely

[Mr2Mike]

Conscript said:

That's not really pretending to be a police officer is it?

Yes, it is. There is no reason to do it otherwise.

Conscript said:

Pretending to be a police officer would involve writing the word "POLICE" on your vest.

But that's 100% illegal, and almost guaranteed to end up very badly for the person trying it. "Polite" with some blue/yellow checks gives walts with possibility of pretending to be a copper with no backlash from the real ones (unfortunately). It has nothing whatsoever to do with safety since a normal hi-vis vest is just as visible. The only reason walts wear these vests is because it gives them a thrill to think they can exercise some power over the rest of the public. POLITE vest = mentally ill.