Hard Shoulder Ticket
06 January 2006, 12:16 AM
#1
Hard Shoulder Ticket
Can't say I have seen anything on this on here but there again as I am an infrequent vistor this post could well be a SIAL. 
Heard on the news 2 days ago that a woman driver, confused and lost on one of our Motorways, saw a Police patrol car on the hard shoulder and pulled over to ask for help. What she got instead was a £30 fixed penalty for parking on the hard shoulder.
Now given that she could reasonably argue that as she was lost and confused she was becoming an increasing danger on the motorway and did the sensible thing by pulling over to ask for help before she caused major accident through driver inattention, I am at a loss as to why she got ticketed. Any views on this?
Can we please not turn this into a slag fest against the police? I am genuinely curious as to what kind of thinking would get a patrol officer to act in this seemingly illogical way.
I admit I wasn't there, did not know how dangerous the road conditions were, etc, but I wonder how this could have happened if the driver was simply trying to essentially avoid a stressed situation that may have caused a major accident down the line.
WB
Heard on the news 2 days ago that a woman driver, confused and lost on one of our Motorways, saw a Police patrol car on the hard shoulder and pulled over to ask for help. What she got instead was a £30 fixed penalty for parking on the hard shoulder.
Now given that she could reasonably argue that as she was lost and confused she was becoming an increasing danger on the motorway and did the sensible thing by pulling over to ask for help before she caused major accident through driver inattention, I am at a loss as to why she got ticketed. Any views on this?
Can we please not turn this into a slag fest against the police? I am genuinely curious as to what kind of thinking would get a patrol officer to act in this seemingly illogical way.
I admit I wasn't there, did not know how dangerous the road conditions were, etc, but I wonder how this could have happened if the driver was simply trying to essentially avoid a stressed situation that may have caused a major accident down the line.
WB
06 January 2006, 12:21 AM
#2
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The ONLY choice the woman had in reality was to continue to the next junction anyway, whether she asked for help or not!
Therefore IMO she should have calmed down, engaged brain, continued to the next junction and THEN asked for assistance once off of the motorway,That's not the place to ask advise, Copper or Arkangel Gabriel !
You can hardly get totally lost these days though can you
I used to turn up roads I didn't know just for fun when I first learnt to drive.
Andy
Therefore IMO she should have calmed down, engaged brain, continued to the next junction and THEN asked for assistance once off of the motorway,That's not the place to ask advise, Copper or Arkangel Gabriel !
You can hardly get totally lost these days though can you
I used to turn up roads I didn't know just for fun when I first learnt to drive.
Andy
Last edited by Fuzz; 06 January 2006 at 12:29 AM.
06 January 2006, 12:27 AM
#3
Ticket was overzealous IMO.
Just point her in the right direction and warn her it is highly dangerous and an offence to park on the hard shoulder (unless in an emergency) and she "could" be fined. Then send her on her way.
Probably just another "by the book" copper, rather than one with a decent level of initiative and common sense. (and before anyone commnets...there are plenty of good coppers out there that are capeable of using discretion in terms of upholding the law )
Just point her in the right direction and warn her it is highly dangerous and an offence to park on the hard shoulder (unless in an emergency) and she "could" be fined. Then send her on her way.
Probably just another "by the book" copper, rather than one with a decent level of initiative and common sense. (and before anyone commnets...there are plenty of good coppers out there that are capeable of using discretion in terms of upholding the law )
Last edited by ALi-B; 06 January 2006 at 12:30 AM.
06 January 2006, 12:38 AM
#4
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Copper should have used common sense and warned her that it was against the law to stop on the hard shoulder,and then told her where she needed to go.Unfortunately some of them don't have the common sense they were born with,then they wonder why they feel alienated against the general public!
If it was my missus I think I would have been writing an official letter of complaint about this arsehole.One of their remits is to help the Public and if my missus had been lost and stopped to ask a Police Officer directions and got a ticket,I don't think I would have been too happy!
If it was my missus I think I would have been writing an official letter of complaint about this arsehole.One of their remits is to help the Public and if my missus had been lost and stopped to ask a Police Officer directions and got a ticket,I don't think I would have been too happy!
06 January 2006, 07:01 AM
#5
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Why was he stopped on the hard shoulder ???police business ??? if there was no reason he should also be given a ticket , seem's these w@nker's can do ( with in reason ) what they want while on " duty ",,,,,, toss pot's !!!!
06 January 2006, 07:20 AM
#6
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Why didn't she make a list of directions before she went anywhere ie junctions, roads, right, left etc - its not as if the Toll road appeared overnight is it?!? If you aren't sure, go to the next junction and turn back then, regardless of what kind of raod you are on.
Granted it was a bit harsh for a ticket however how many times have you seen someone act stupidly and wish there was a traffic cop around to catch them?
PS - I was renowned for my crap sense of direction on the road too!!
Granted it was a bit harsh for a ticket however how many times have you seen someone act stupidly and wish there was a traffic cop around to catch them?
PS - I was renowned for my crap sense of direction on the road too!!
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06 January 2006, 09:39 AM
#8
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Originally Posted by DJ73
Why was he stopped on the hard shoulder ???police business ??? if there was no reason he should also be given a ticket , seem's these w@nker's can do ( with in reason ) what they want while on " duty ",,,,,, toss pot's !!!!
The police could have any number of reasons for being on the hard shoulder (e.g. they just pulled someone over etc.).
Anyway, we DON'T know the full story. Could be an over zealous copper, however I think far more likely is that she pulled over, they told her what to do/where to go and warned her about stopping on the hard shoulder. She then failed the attitude test or had a go at the copper or denied she did anything wrong etc.
06 January 2006, 10:00 AM
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Originally Posted by wacky.banana
Now given that she could reasonably argue that as she was lost and confused she was becoming an increasing danger on the motorway and did the sensible thing by pulling over to ask for help before she caused major accident through driver inattention, I am at a loss as to why she got ticketed. Any views on this?
WB
WB
She was a numptie and we should learn from her actions, not try to justify what she did.
06 January 2006, 11:27 AM
#11
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I agree it was maybe a little over the top, but, as has been mentioned, we don't know the full circumstances.
I also agree that being lost is no excuse for dangerous behaviour. A lot of people think that because they have a licence they can do whatever they what.
I also agree that being lost is no excuse for dangerous behaviour. A lot of people think that because they have a licence they can do whatever they what.
06 January 2006, 12:05 PM
#12
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I think it is a bit unfair to assume that the woman was unpleasant to the copper when we just don't know that at all.
If all she did was to ask for directions then if I was the copper I would feel ashamed at taking advantage of the opportunity to give her a penalty for doing so.
Les
If all she did was to ask for directions then if I was the copper I would feel ashamed at taking advantage of the opportunity to give her a penalty for doing so.
Les
06 January 2006, 12:09 PM
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i think we all realise that:
a) the lady shouldn't have stopped on the hard shoulder just because she was lost but people do odd things when they get panicky. like go up that flight of stairs in the old house straight into the arms of the maniac waiting.
b) the rozzer should have realised this, warned her, helped her and sent her on her way without being so officious.
both parties apparently in error on these facts but you never know, said bird might have got arsey when advised that the hard shoulder is not a car park so the rozzer reacted accordingly to a tiresomely rude member of GPublic.
one wonders if the same thing would have happened if she had pulled over in distress because she was being dangerously tailgated by some raging loon (inevitably in a 318i or a filthy white van, respectively driven by a hair-gelled UPVC window rep or an educationally sub-normal mong with a crewcut, beer belly and an england football top).
a) the lady shouldn't have stopped on the hard shoulder just because she was lost but people do odd things when they get panicky. like go up that flight of stairs in the old house straight into the arms of the maniac waiting.
b) the rozzer should have realised this, warned her, helped her and sent her on her way without being so officious.
both parties apparently in error on these facts but you never know, said bird might have got arsey when advised that the hard shoulder is not a car park so the rozzer reacted accordingly to a tiresomely rude member of GPublic.
one wonders if the same thing would have happened if she had pulled over in distress because she was being dangerously tailgated by some raging loon (inevitably in a 318i or a filthy white van, respectively driven by a hair-gelled UPVC window rep or an educationally sub-normal mong with a crewcut, beer belly and an england football top).
06 January 2006, 12:18 PM
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I wonder if she pulled up BEHIND the patrol car, thereby giving herself nowhere to go and partly obscuring the police car. Then he'd have to move in order for her to safely proceed, so if that was the case I'm not that surprised that she was given a ticket to concentrate her mind in future... IMHO a stern warning would probably have done it, but we don't know the facts.
06 January 2006, 02:15 PM
#16
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Agree with ricardo here possibly the issuing of the ticket was the best a way of reinforcing the lesson to the person, you dont stop on the motorway !
Lets be honest who has not been pulled up and got off with a lecture and thought phew ! and then after a period of time done the same again - speeding for example.
I dont think the lady in question will be stopping on motorways any more !
Richard
Lets be honest who has not been pulled up and got off with a lecture and thought phew ! and then after a period of time done the same again - speeding for example.
I dont think the lady in question will be stopping on motorways any more !
Richard
Last edited by richs2891; 06 January 2006 at 02:19 PM.
06 January 2006, 11:45 PM
#17
OK guys, just got back to this. As I said earlier we don't know the full facts so probably a bit hard to comment.
However given that one of our number posted up a couple of weeks ago as to how his female partner feared for her life because she was relentlessley chased by some fool and suffered serious road rage just because she did not overtake a car as fast as he wanted her to (someone may find the thread on this), I'm not sure that its right to, in effect send a signal to women drivers that if they, say, have real fears for their safety, can't get to the next slip road quick enough, see a patrol car on the hard shoulder and they stop for help (lets assume that they parked safely on the hard shoulder and are not an immediate danger to anyone) that the response could be a fixed penalty.
As someone said earlier rational thinking does go out the window when one is stressed. Just because we think we might be able to act rationally in a stressed situation doesn't mean that everyone else can.
Again I stress that full facts in this case are not known. However it is quite valid to have a sensible debate around a hypothetical but very real scenario (contradiction in terms but you know what I mean).
However given that one of our number posted up a couple of weeks ago as to how his female partner feared for her life because she was relentlessley chased by some fool and suffered serious road rage just because she did not overtake a car as fast as he wanted her to (someone may find the thread on this), I'm not sure that its right to, in effect send a signal to women drivers that if they, say, have real fears for their safety, can't get to the next slip road quick enough, see a patrol car on the hard shoulder and they stop for help (lets assume that they parked safely on the hard shoulder and are not an immediate danger to anyone) that the response could be a fixed penalty.
As someone said earlier rational thinking does go out the window when one is stressed. Just because we think we might be able to act rationally in a stressed situation doesn't mean that everyone else can.
Again I stress that full facts in this case are not known. However it is quite valid to have a sensible debate around a hypothetical but very real scenario (contradiction in terms but you know what I mean).
07 January 2006, 06:39 AM
#18
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Oh, grow up!
The police could have any number of reasons for being on the hard shoulder (e.g. they just pulled someone over etc.).
Anyway, we DON'T know the full story. Could be an over zealous copper, however I think far more likely is that she pulled over, they told her what to do/where to go and warned her about stopping on the hard shoulder. She then failed the attitude test or had a go at the copper or denied she did anything wrong etc.
The police could have any number of reasons for being on the hard shoulder (e.g. they just pulled someone over etc.).
Anyway, we DON'T know the full story. Could be an over zealous copper, however I think far more likely is that she pulled over, they told her what to do/where to go and warned her about stopping on the hard shoulder. She then failed the attitude test or had a go at the copper or denied she did anything wrong etc.
??? 
they might have but it does'nt say what ? could have been sat eating donut's
How do you know she failed a attitude test
as you said we DON'T know the full story all i know is i see load's of copper's driving and abusing it !!!! look at how many police driver's have got away with speeding ticket's and they seem to park on double yellow's while getting the dinner's in without getting parking ticket's
Last edited by DJ73; 07 January 2006 at 06:42 AM.
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