There is an estimated figure of one million uninsured drivers on the road with a large number of them not having passed their tests or registered their cars in their name. Do you not think the police's time might be better spent catching all the drivers on the road who are illegal than chasing the odd caravan outfit that may not be a good match.
Quote: Originally posted by brianconwy on 04/4/2009
There is an estimated figure of one million uninsured drivers on the road with a large number of them not having passed their tests or registered their cars in their name. Do you not think the police's time might be better spent catching all the drivers on the road who are illegal than chasing the odd caravan outfit that may not be a good match.
Perspective is sometimes required.
Brian
What so we should turn a blind eye even if it obviously illegal , would you still say that if one of these illegal outfits jacknifed in front of you on the motorway and its not just the odd one there seems to be an ever increasing amount with caravanning becoming more popular
Sorry but we all have a duty of care towards other road users
Where did anybody say to turn a blind eye? The question being asked was whether there should be more roadside checks. Surely if you can spot an obviously imbalanced outfit then so can police in patrol cars. There are far more people killed on the roads by cars than caravan outfits.
VOSA are responsible for for this sort of thing ie: outfits not up to the job while the police would stop an outfit that seems to blatentley be unfit for the job. VOSA do the day to day checking of cars, vans and wagons. And dont forget they have the power to stop you the same as the police, so if you see the amber lights or a matrix in the window stop when safe to do so.
But as a wagon driver who does get stopped offten for road side checks and after seeing some of the wagons they pull over but the police let drive on by I am glad VOSA are there to pull these trucks, so as far as caravan outfits go I do think they should be checking more but while using a bit of common sence.
When I said there should be more roadside checks (because it'll raise standards) I wasn't just talking caravans.
The only thing that'll make us all better behaved is the likelihood of getting caught and severely dealt with.
That applies to driving without insurance, using a mobile phone whilst at the wheel, unstable or overloaded vehicles and outfits (including caravans) plus hundreds of other things.
I am all for stop and search. When police pull cars over they can sometimes find all manner of things in the boot. A lot of crimes are solved this way.
Fact is there are less roadside checks nowadays than ever there was. & you rarely see a police car. You can get away with more now than you could yrs ago.
As we are currently policed by camera as long as you have valid tax, insurance and are within the limit you will not get questioned (unless there is no address to send the summons to when you have free reign to do as you wish).
I agree there should be more police and VOSA people on the road, but to justify it, they will have form filling and paperwork to deal with ie targets.
This could lead to, as stated above, to the easily tracable family driver being targeted above other people with hand writen number plates (if any at all).
If the checks were fair and above board I wholeheartedly agree with them.
I leave for work just before 5 am and in the winter months in particular, I am often stopped by the police and reminded about the dangers of drinking the night before. Not that I drink the night before when I am getting up at 4 am. Most of the time they are plesant enough, but have had the odd clown that wants to spend half an hour climbing in on and under the car looking for something to give me a ticket for. Though he only managed it once for a blown bulb.
Quote: Originally posted by brianconwy on 04/4/2009
There is an estimated figure of one million uninsured drivers on the road with a large number of them not having passed their tests or registered their cars in their name. Do you not think the police's time might be better spent catching all the drivers on the road who are illegal than chasing the odd caravan outfit that may not be a good match.
Perspective is sometimes required.
Brian
Totally agree. There aren't enough Police out there as it is, patrolling the roads and following up dangerous driving and other offences.
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Topic: Should there be more Roadside Checks
