Funny in an absurd kind'a way.....................
Discussion
Now let me start off by declaring that I know I'm technically in the wrong in this case for being a muppet, but my point is about the ludicrous waste of time when in fact I was endeavouring to avoid it.
Let me paint the picture…………(Sorry it's a bit of a yarn.)
While driving home from work last Tuesday, (30/01/07), night, I had a slight altercation with an artic' whose driver thought my car would look better without a drivers side mirror.
Whilst I thought it unnecessary, the lorry driver insisted on Police attendance. Once they arrived I was invited into his 'office' to have my particulars taken. Whilst I was in the car I notice he had one of those ANPR systems on board, (You know the ones that check with the DVLA for tax disk evasion and in particular in this case, valid insurance.). Now, while I suppose I really should, I'm not in the habit of carrying my insurance certificate with me, so the Policeman issued me with a HO/RT 1 'producer' form and told me to produce my insurance certificate within seven days at a Police station of my choice. When I asked him why he didn't just check his gadget, he spouted something about data protection which I took with a pinch of salt, but I was in no position to argue. Once my 'interview was complete, I went on my merry way resisting the urge to gesticulate offensively to the driver of the lorry.
Fast forward to this Tuesday, (06/02/07), morning and it dawned on me that my seven days were up!! (Oooops!!). So as I didn't have to be at work until lunchtime, I reckoned I could nip up to the local Cop Shop with my document(s). Sadly I couldn't find my insurance certificate so I ordered a copy from my insurance company then called the Central Scotland Traffic Police HQ to explain the situation and hopefully gain a couple of days extension. To cut a long story short, they said I had to report to my local nick which I duly did.
So I explained my case to the PO behind the desk to which she said that they'd have to officially charge me with 'failure to produce required documentation'.
Once I'd managed to pick my jaw up from the floor I'm ushered into a little interview room where I sat with two Sergeants for a frickin' hour while they took a statement from me and read me my rights!! A report is being sent to the Procurator Fiscal! (Scottish CPS.) I've never had my rights read before!!!!
It took all the willpower I had not to kill myself laughing at the sheer absurdity of it all, ask them if they were joking and/or look for the Candid Cameras!
To give them their due, the officers I spoke with agreed that it seemed a bit pointless.
What a waste of three peoples time and tax payers money!!
So I guess I'm now a bona fide criminal!!!
I'm just glad I didn't get chucked in the cells with a big bloke called Bubba who was looking for new fiancé.
Now, am I right in thinking I should've gotten an extension of a reasonable amount of time to turn my doc's in, which would've averted the extra paperwork or have I been speaking to the wrong people?
Let me paint the picture…………(Sorry it's a bit of a yarn.)
While driving home from work last Tuesday, (30/01/07), night, I had a slight altercation with an artic' whose driver thought my car would look better without a drivers side mirror.
Whilst I thought it unnecessary, the lorry driver insisted on Police attendance. Once they arrived I was invited into his 'office' to have my particulars taken. Whilst I was in the car I notice he had one of those ANPR systems on board, (You know the ones that check with the DVLA for tax disk evasion and in particular in this case, valid insurance.). Now, while I suppose I really should, I'm not in the habit of carrying my insurance certificate with me, so the Policeman issued me with a HO/RT 1 'producer' form and told me to produce my insurance certificate within seven days at a Police station of my choice. When I asked him why he didn't just check his gadget, he spouted something about data protection which I took with a pinch of salt, but I was in no position to argue. Once my 'interview was complete, I went on my merry way resisting the urge to gesticulate offensively to the driver of the lorry.
Fast forward to this Tuesday, (06/02/07), morning and it dawned on me that my seven days were up!! (Oooops!!). So as I didn't have to be at work until lunchtime, I reckoned I could nip up to the local Cop Shop with my document(s). Sadly I couldn't find my insurance certificate so I ordered a copy from my insurance company then called the Central Scotland Traffic Police HQ to explain the situation and hopefully gain a couple of days extension. To cut a long story short, they said I had to report to my local nick which I duly did.
So I explained my case to the PO behind the desk to which she said that they'd have to officially charge me with 'failure to produce required documentation'.
Once I'd managed to pick my jaw up from the floor I'm ushered into a little interview room where I sat with two Sergeants for a frickin' hour while they took a statement from me and read me my rights!! A report is being sent to the Procurator Fiscal! (Scottish CPS.) I've never had my rights read before!!!!
It took all the willpower I had not to kill myself laughing at the sheer absurdity of it all, ask them if they were joking and/or look for the Candid Cameras!
To give them their due, the officers I spoke with agreed that it seemed a bit pointless.
What a waste of three peoples time and tax payers money!!
So I guess I'm now a bona fide criminal!!!
I'm just glad I didn't get chucked in the cells with a big bloke called Bubba who was looking for new fiancé.
Now, am I right in thinking I should've gotten an extension of a reasonable amount of time to turn my doc's in, which would've averted the extra paperwork or have I been speaking to the wrong people?
A WARNING TO ALL PHERS
This person has posted exactly the same in SafeSpeed:
www.safespeed.org.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?p=123248&highlight=#123248
This person has tripped a ‘flag’ and has subsequently suspended from the SafeSpeed forums pending verification of personal details. AFAIK, the required details have not been forthcoming.
Until then I strongly recommend that all PHers give ‘Big Rod’ a very wide berth.
PH admin: you might wish to lock this thread and/or contact Paul for further details.
edit: To Big Rod,
My apologies for being seemingly harsh, but I know some basic details of the problem; given the current climate I think Paul's action is ultimately right. I will happily remove my post when you have complied with his request.
This person has posted exactly the same in SafeSpeed:
www.safespeed.org.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?p=123248&highlight=#123248
This person has tripped a ‘flag’ and has subsequently suspended from the SafeSpeed forums pending verification of personal details. AFAIK, the required details have not been forthcoming.
Until then I strongly recommend that all PHers give ‘Big Rod’ a very wide berth.
PH admin: you might wish to lock this thread and/or contact Paul for further details.
edit: To Big Rod,
My apologies for being seemingly harsh, but I know some basic details of the problem; given the current climate I think Paul's action is ultimately right. I will happily remove my post when you have complied with his request.
Edited by smeggy on Saturday 10th February 14:30
Smeggy,
Yes it is a bit harsh IMO.
I have approached Paul repeatedly and he has chosen to ignore my requests for clarification so it seems, unlike yourself, I'm still none the wiser as to what my crime is. I am not in the habit of dishing out my home address and number to someone demanding those details on a forum, so given that Paul had some issues with my motives, and in attempt 'meet halfway' so to speak, I sent him my employment details with a verifyable phone number. This doesn't seem to have broken any ice.
For info, I posted the same on the forums of howmotorwayswork.co.uk, Staples2Naples.com, Autobahnstormers.com and OmegaOwners.com before I put my post on SafeSpeed. Noone else has reacted in anywhere near the same way. Go on, check the times of the posts on the relevant forums.
BTW, tell MPaton2004 that I'm not JR135.
Yes it is a bit harsh IMO.
I have approached Paul repeatedly and he has chosen to ignore my requests for clarification so it seems, unlike yourself, I'm still none the wiser as to what my crime is. I am not in the habit of dishing out my home address and number to someone demanding those details on a forum, so given that Paul had some issues with my motives, and in attempt 'meet halfway' so to speak, I sent him my employment details with a verifyable phone number. This doesn't seem to have broken any ice.
For info, I posted the same on the forums of howmotorwayswork.co.uk, Staples2Naples.com, Autobahnstormers.com and OmegaOwners.com before I put my post on SafeSpeed. Noone else has reacted in anywhere near the same way. Go on, check the times of the posts on the relevant forums.
BTW, tell MPaton2004 that I'm not JR135.
Edited by Big Rod on Saturday 10th February 14:58
smeggy said:
BR,This may just be a storm in a tea-cup (I hope it is),
It is Smeggy believe me.
smeggy said:
but Paul has to be sure that it is (his site is ‘unique’ and has to be carefully monitored, much more than other fora)
I am fully aware of that Smeggy, but I have tried to put out the 'olive branch', but it appears to be falling on deaf ears. As I am the father of a very young family, I'm sure you'll appreciate that I'm at least a little bit hesitant to hand out my home contact details to 'someone' off an internet forum when as far as I'm concerned I have done nothing wrong.
smeggy said:
I’m afraid I can’t be of more help.
Believe it or not, you have been a bit helpful, but either way, this post shouldn't have caused so much of a furore here should it really?
Whatever you think, I have no interest in rejoining SafeSpeed anyway, but for the record I do hold their(your) ethics very close to my heart.
It does sound a bit harsh, but tbh as another poster said it's not an assignment, you can't get an extension because you forgot.
Hope you don't take this the wrong way, but how did you forget?! If it were me I'd be in the document wallet as soon as I got home and be off down the Cop Shop as to me having to go to produce my documents would be quite a big deal (I'm an
)
Hope you don't take this the wrong way, but how did you forget?! If it were me I'd be in the document wallet as soon as I got home and be off down the Cop Shop as to me having to go to produce my documents would be quite a big deal (I'm an
)hutchingsp said:
It does sound a bit harsh, but tbh as another poster said it's not an assignment, you can't get an extension because you forgot.
I didn't forget. I am exceptionally careful with my vehicular documentation, and so far as I was concerned I knew where my insurance certificate was, however when I looked for it, (I found ins' certificate going back three years for all the cars myself and SWMBO have had in that timespan.), it wasn't there. (For all I know, my 2.5 year old son could've been doing some 'housework'!!)
The reason I didn't go straight to the Police station with the documents is that although my elected one is the closest to me, it's still very much out of my way considering my day-to-day business, as is the base for the attending officer, and as I 'knew' where it was and I was in fact the 'damaged' party, I didn't see the need to present it immediately. The morning of the day seven days later was the first convenient time for me to present the document.
Upon discovering that the document was misplaced, I first ordered a copy document from my insurers, (And there's a story to go with that too!!), then called the attending officers' HQ, who referred me to my elected station to request an extension.
Upon presenting myself to the elected station and requesting a two day extension, (Remember, I could've just not bothered, I did have much more productive things to do with my time!!), I was then charged.
I have been reliably informed by qualified parties, that I was in fact entitled to an extension upon reasonable grounds.
hutchingsp said:
Hope you don't take this the wrong way, but how did you forget?!
I don't, (I am open to criticism.), and I didn't, but I hope you know that by now.
hutchingsp said:
If it were me I'd be in the document wallet as soon as I got home and be off down the Cop Shop as to me having to go to produce my documents would be quite a big deal (I'm an )
)Thing is, this rigmarole need'nt have happened. I have, (again!), been reliably informed that the attending officer was quite within his 'jurasdiction' to have used his DB access to verify my car's legitemacy, and so is the elected station, so there's really no need for all this.
I am starting to worry that I might just be being used as a soft target to ramp up the 'solved crime' statistics. Which in my eyes means I'll end up going to court and have a criminal record for the most trivial of 'misdemeanours'. But hey, it'll make the authorities look good won't it?!?!?!?
Edited by Big Rod on Saturday 10th February 21:11
Gassing Station | Speed, Plod & the Law | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff