RB170

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/4153429.stm

WTF next ?

"Residents given their own squad car and power to dish out speeding fines"

What a load os b0ll0cks

ajm

They already have the blue rinses out in Portishead! There is a group of about 5 pensioners and they all stand there, one with the "gun", one with a clip board and the rest for "moral support" presumably.

If they "catch" you then you get a written warning from the police.

The other day a bloke was actually fined for driving his car up the pavement at them, causing them to flee!

RB170

It's all wrong

If the local authority are worried about the behaviour of motorists then they get the Police to do something about it and that doesn't mean throw up another scamera

davegtt

surely this is dangerous, getting people to stand at the road side checking peoples spped, imagine some meat head having a bad day noticing hes been speeding and maybe caught by the busy bodies he pulls over, lamps them. takes the clip board and speed detector

Tiggs

is it that bad?

people are always moaning about not being able to take the law into your own hands.

in this case the ppl are pissed of with the cars speeding and are doing something about it.

the problem is what exactlly?

EvilKyote

The problem is these people WANT people to slow down and would seem to be prepared to go to almost any length to get that done.

I wonder how long it will be before they start exagerating the 'results' for their own gains?!

RB170

The problem is that we already have a group of people who are actually paid to take care of this sort of thing, they're called the Police

Brendan Hughes

Funny, I thought the police were usually chastised for doing it and they were supposed to be out catching real criminals, like burglars etc.

I don't get this board sometimes.

ajm

Damn right they should be out catching real criminals, and pensioners should be at bingo.

No one should be skulking at the side of the road with a radar gun because its not what the public want!

RB170

I agree the Police can't win either way due to a lack of resources but to let private citizens determine if someone is commiting an offence is wrong.

Recruit more police, if necessary employ them for traffic duties only but don't let Mrs Secombe from No42, who has a completely non subjective view, decide if I was speeding or not.

Tiggs

well the public who are standing there do!

its their village, let them do it if they want. doesnt effect anyone whos not speeding through their town....or are we going to get the "i will crash if i have to lolok out for pensioners with lazers crap that people use to explain why they cant watch their speedo because its dangerous - despite installing 9 boost gauges)

as for them "fixing" the results:

a) why would they? they dont like ppl speeding...why would they try and nab ppl not speeding?

b) how? by running at the car while using the gun to add 5mph on!

RB170

It's not their village, they just happen to live there.

I'm pretty confident that the ones who have complained about speeding a minority of village residents and how do they know if people are speeding through the village.

If they were given the speed detectors to verify the speeds of cars through the village so that they can make a descision if a police presence is required then fare enough but to give it to them to point fingers is rediculous.

Neanderthal

iTrader: (6)

I'd rather a % of the ludicrous amount of tax I pay go towards more police officers 'policing' than benefits to 1000's of tax dodgers who are claiming falsely.

Agree wholeheartedly

Tiggs

lol.....the gun says if you were on not...and the worst case is you get a warning letter.

if some old ladies wanted to stand at the ned of my road with gun they are welcome to...wouldnt care in the slightest........and if they want to jot down the reg of any cars that drive around they've not seen before thats cool to.

cant moan about tax yet want more police then moan about police on roads not on crooks then moan when they arent!

555wrx

Aslong as the coffin dodgers cant dish out speeding tickets, I dont see anything wrong with it. People complain that the police never do enough/are undermanned, so if it gives them a sense of ' helping out' who cares?
If one of them gets mown down by a car in process, it means there one less of them to worry about.

ajm

Presumably that's because you would just wriggle off the hook like you did with your speeding ticket, despite your outspoken support of speed tax!

SJ_Skyline

I wouldn't worry too much

Freak

they cant fine/endorse you
Its purely a warning.
Free toilet paper in the post then

astraboy

Even better, something to frame on the wall if you go fast enough.

"Dear Sir,
Our pensioner speed enforcement squad clocked you at 144mph in a 30 limit last thursday. This was apparantly your 12th pass of our lasar gun, each time enquiring to the citizens manning the gun "How much that time?"
Unfortunately, there is **** all we can do about it. Please dont do it again.
Thank you very much,

Apoplectic copper.


astraboy.

MJW

Sod the radar guns why not just give them anti-tank mines ? They'd have a ball !

Abdabz

Public with speed guns - no harm in it at all - no point in it either though.

Speeding motorists should be getting penalty points and fines not poxy warning letters telling them they've been seen speeding - what kind of deterrant is that? The serial speeder only slows down as they near a static camera or just after they've past a mobile one .

The al bids who are holding said speed guns are putting their own lives at risk, I wouldnt want my grandparents with dicky tickers fending off daz and baz the pikey block pavers!! If prior to cardiac arrest it makes them feel good about themselves then so be it stubborn bu88ers...

Then I think well if one speeder slows down he/she might have been the one about to mow down the kid crossing the road a bit further up - so cool - get the cameras out for the lads!!!

unclebuck

Making it acceptable members of the public to inform on one another is another step toward an Eastern Bloc style communist super state that the government is taking us toward. The curtain twitchers will love it.

It amazes me that people of that generation fall for such tactics. Given what they lived through you might think they would be a bit wiser then they are.

Felix.

It will meen your car will be targeted and given a road side MOT when ever checked on PNC......good luck

Tiggs

just giving some ower back to the ppl...if it were made ecceptable to defend yourslef in the home against intruder without fear of prosecution that would be ok...so why not this?

as for worrying about the oldies getting attacked....i think if they have the ***** to do it (and they have lived through some ****ty times) then who are we to tell them not to?

T

Senior_AP

I don't see the problem. You merely get a warning and you shouldn't be bombing through a village anyway.

What's the problem???

RJMS

iTrader: (2)

Well said - speeding in some areas is a problem - I would love to catch some of the p**ts round here doing 40+ in a 30 limit with hundreds of school kids around (2 of which are mine!). The thing that really pisses me off is that it's me (who is doing 30 or mostly less) that gets the dirty looks just because it sounds like I'm going faster rather than Mr BMW 3 series who is probably travelling 15mph faster + the kids can hear me coming.

Leslie

I think Tiggs speaks a lot of sense and is being reasonable under the circumstances.

I don't much like the idea of the public catching people for speeding and informing on them as UB says. However there are always two sides and I bet in this case they are understandably fed up of speeding cars in their village past their houses in a restricted zone. The speed limit is there for a purpose and if selfish people exceed it in a built up area then they can't complain at a warning notice anyway. Whatever you say, speeding in a built up area such as a village cannot be justified! It is dangerous, especially to children and elderly people.

I have noticed that those radar operated signs which flash your speed at you as you approach them are surpringly effective in making people slow down in general. Yes I know that there are some prats who like to see how high they can get them, but most drivers don't like everyone to know that they are speeding and they nearly always slow down.

I find it disappointing to see all the ageist comments in this thread and others. It really is bad manners to refer to the elderly as "coffin dodgers" and the like. Only one person on this thread was prepared to show a bit of respect.

We should all remember that age catches up with us eventually, it is natural for the mental processes to slow down a bit and that is no excuse for making fun of it. I have often found that people who are fond of running others down suffer from lack of self confidance in themseves.

Nothing wrong with a good natured bit of fun, but its wrong to overdo it especially when it is going to happen to you in time.

Les

Lum

The solution is simple, fit a tachograph or similar that logs speed to you car, speed through this village and when you get the letter, which will likely show a higher speed than what your tracker shows, then you can bring a libel action against them. If this country's legal system is going to continue down the American route then we may as well make the best of it.

We'd need to get a few truckers onboard to make this work best.

The person who drove up the pavement at them is a tw@t BTW. Attempted Murder is rarely justifiable.

Agree with the points assuming the 30mph limit is justified. If it's outside the village limits then it isn't.