unnecessary pull?

[forthright MC]

evening guys, just wanted to mention something from earlier this afternoon. was in the back of the car caught in town traffic behind a patrol car, a very young officer got out came up to the car and said i should adjust the top of my seatbelt as it had just slightly slipped off the top of my shoulder. i'm not entirely sure if this was entirely neccessary! i could understand the cause for concern if i wasn't wearing my belt at all, but just for it slipping off my shoulder is a bit excessive isn't it!?

Edited by forthright MC on Wednesday 4th October 19:33

[Hollywood Wheels]

Doubt if he was interested in that at all, probably thought he recognized you or the car so had a quick nosy/sniff to check all was okay. Then again, there are some seriously sad Plod out there who actually would do such a thing. Lets just hope it was the former....

Do you look at all dodgy by the way?!!

[turbobloke]

Sounds like some feckwit asshole numbskull petty jobsworth toadying inadequate cretin impersonating a police officer. Complain to BiB.

Edited to add - Hollywood Wheels has the inside info here, I'll go with it

Edited by turbobloke on Wednesday 4th October 19:47

[forthright MC]

i don't think i'm a dodgy person at all! i was very surprised though! he couldn't have been much older than 18 or 19, doubt if he's been on the beat long. i think he was trying to earn some stripes in front of his superior officer in the car. very odd way to do it though!

[Hollywood Wheels]

Depends on the attitude I suppose. Did he look like he was having a nosy round the car, did he look switched on, or did he literally just talk about the belt?

[forthright MC]

i didn't notice him looking at the car (i was sat in the back) he just came up, briefly said something about the belt and got back in the patrol car.it all just seemed very odd!

Edited by forthright MC on Wednesday 4th October 20:22

[Parrot of Doom]

Unnecesary? Yes

Helpful? Yes


Perhaps he was just offering some advice, and not having a go?

[GreenV8S]

Is it possible that he simply wanted to save you from injuring yourself due to an incorrectly worn seatbelt? No doubt any such caring attitude will soon be beaten out of him after he has encountered a few scroats and had a healthy dose of cynicism beaten into him.

[stuthemong]

I'm with the last two posters, very nice bit of advice really. If you ever have a head on, you'll appreciate it. If it comes off your shoulder you basically are just wearing a lap belt, which give massive abdominal injuries in big crashes = not good.

[vonhosen]

If he wanted to he could have given a ticket. I would have thought you'd have preferred a bit of advice & be allowed to remedy the situation quickly, rather than get a ticket.

[gridgway]

vonhosen said:

If he wanted to he could have given a ticket. I would have thought you'd have preferred a bit of advice & be allowed to remedy the situation quickly, rather than get a ticket.

for what offence?

[BliarsGoing]

vonhosen said:

If he wanted to he could have given a ticket. I would have thought you'd have preferred a bit of advice & be allowed to remedy the situation quickly, rather than get a ticket.

Not wishing to be contentious or anything but where in the legislation does it specify the number of degrees a seat belt needs to be worn at?

[turbobloke]

vonhosen said:

If he wanted to he could have given a ticket. I would have thought you'd have preferred a bit of advice & be allowed to remedy the situation quickly, rather than get a ticket.

nora feckin batty are you really telling us plod can ticket a driver for his belt's angle of dangle?

[mds automotive]

at least his companion wasn't round the back of your car smashing your tail lights with his crowd dispersion device

[vonhosen]

BliarsGoing said:

vonhosen said:

If he wanted to he could have given a ticket. I would have thought you'd have preferred a bit of advice & be allowed to remedy the situation quickly, rather than get a ticket.

Not wishing to be contentious or anything but where in the legislation does it specify the number of degrees a seat belt needs to be worn at?

It doesn't.
Where an officer considers that the belt is not correctly worn, it will be a matter for the court to decide.
The belt should be over the shoulder.

Edited by vonhosen on Wednesday 4th October 22:53

[justinp1]

I reckon he presumed that because he could not see your silhouette with a belt across it he assumed you were not wearing a belt.

This is why he pulled you and probably watched to see if you put it on whilst approaching the car.

When he arrived at the car he was probably flustered when he realised he got it wrong, which is why his answer was that you *should* have had your belt up higher. From his point of view of course!

At least he wasnt so stubborn to try and *find* a fault with you or your car and let you get on your way.

[Gently Bentley]

Contact your community bib. They are generally good guys and might be able to tell you if the boy was just daft or if he just said it to mask the real reason he was having a look at your wheels. I have stopped folk and given daft reasons. Once I am happy they are not the person I thought they were I usually tender my apologise have a quick laugh with them and they go away happy knowing that the plod are human.

[BliarsGoing]

vonhosen said:

BliarsGoing said:

vonhosen said:

If he wanted to he could have given a ticket. I would have thought you'd have preferred a bit of advice & be allowed to remedy the situation quickly, rather than get a ticket.

Not wishing to be contentious or anything but where in the legislation does it specify the number of degrees a seat belt needs to be worn at?

It doesn't.
Where an officer considers that the belt is not correctly worn, it wil be a matter for the court to decide.

I would contend that the seat belt is to the original manufacturers specification and is worn accordingly. As I am tall many seat belts will sit low on my shoulder.

So why did you stop Mr Kodogo?
His seat belt appeared low on his shoulder?
So you could see the seatbelt across his shoulder when you observed him?


Case dismissed.

[Plotloss]

vonhosen said:

BliarsGoing said:

vonhosen said:

If he wanted to he could have given a ticket. I would have thought you'd have preferred a bit of advice & be allowed to remedy the situation quickly, rather than get a ticket.

Not wishing to be contentious or anything but where in the legislation does it specify the number of degrees a seat belt needs to be worn at?

It doesn't.
Where an officer considers that the belt is not correctly worn, it will be a matter for the court to decide.
The belt should be over the shoulder.

Like it would stand a chance of getting to court.

[turbobloke]

We really really are hanging on in here to the hope that HW and GB are right and this BiB thought he recognised a scrote - using the belt as an excuse for approaching the vehicle and a good nosey.

Checking belt positioning as such is surreal. It'll be thumbs on the wheel next, and fpn for heel and toeing.