This going perhaps a tad off thread but not to worry.
All I ask is as so many threads seen to degenerate very quickly..PLEASE PLAY NICE.
The views expressed are mine alone.I don't expect to please everyone and although I'll generalise for ease of writing I can only refer to where I work.No references are meant to upset,offend or otherwise.
In any job you will get good,good having a bad day and bad. I don't do sermons or patronising lectures.
General speed enforcement actually takes up very little of my normal working day it's just what traffic cops are best known for.
Traffic is the smallest of any 24/7 uniformed unit provided by police.My shift will at best have 6 but more usually 3-4 to cover an area of some 200 square miles. So realistically to be caught by a 'hiding' copper is bloody unlucky.
As with many jobs all my daily time needs to be accounted for.The days of just going where its easy (and catching speeders is easy) are long gone.
rtc stats and data collecting cables now tend to dictate where we go for greatest effect in relation to offences committed and is specific enough to control time,day and direction of enforcement.
In a simplistic fashion the limits are set.ACPO will decide on a level of allowable speeding above this before any sort of prosecution is considered. I have to query why??? On the scale of things shoplifting is probably on a crime scale about the same as speeding.If there was a theft allowance how many people do you think would reguarly steal up to that limit????
The real clamp down is on 30 limits.The speed isn't the real issue.EG in a 30 limit police here currently place a large bright yellow sign warning of a check prior to the area being checked.even telling people we are there we still catch more than we can write and most don't see a clearly visible sign!!!! the speed is a side issue regarding general 'brain in neutral driving' speed is the easiest to prosecute.miss the pedestrian at 30 = 1in 3 chance of survival.miss him at 40= almost certain fatality.
as earlier said its the inappropriateness. speeding fines in the uk are substantially lower than other euro countries. speeds are higher but penalties for driving like a prat are massively higher.
Europe hasn't just shafted the GA industry either. Human rights legislation forces police as a public service body to take positive action on any issue that adversly afects that day to day standard of living. the upshot. wide open road, constant noise of speeding upsets locals , police legally have to take action.Talk about piggy in the middle.
with regard to schools most rtc's at schools occur at start and end of school day when traffic volume of parents is so highj that most roads are too clogged for silly speeds anyway.
in my opinion just the general standard of driving is too low.too much is taken for granted.
with regard to caring considerate casualty reduction based traffic cops.
I'm selfish. with odd exceptions for black spots most fatalities follow little or no pattern with regard to time,day,location what they tend to show are patterns for causation factors.to actively reduce crashes the whole time their is little general public support will be very difficult.i hate delivering death messages i do it because i want it done properly first time round .
Have done 4 so far this year all to parents with teenage children whos actual ability is far lower than the way they chose to drive/ride.Lose track of how many rtc's i go to , can still recall all the fatalities because when you meet and help to counsel the friends/family/partners etc. the corpse takes on a whole personality.when do you ever see the press report on how traffic cops have counselled and helped arrange all the issues surrounding a sudden unexpected road death????
I've probably started to ramble and this isn't a traffic cops forum.In essence if you do it, you know you're doing it.the chances of getting caught are fairly slim but if you are caught i see little to moan about. how many burglars or shoplifters ask to be let off????
gatso's too are fairly ineffective.they tend to catch locals who know they are there and actually make things worse by causing a ripple effect (speed to camera,brake like mad to pass, then accelrate away again).
there is no easy solution and i do not expect much support for a fairly unpopular job.the whole time motorists will speed openly past MARKED cars and bikes such is the contempt some have for the legislation. The more 'innocents' will get caught in the clamp down.
probably reads like a rant but its not meant to be.just speeding is far wider in reality than just hiding at the roadside to catch poor motorists (who are after all breaking thw laws we all voted for in the first place)
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It went Earth,Sky,
AMBULANCE