Watching Traffic Cops on BBC1 this evening, they opened with the statement "There are 1000 less traffic cops on the roads than there were ten years ago". I wonder if there is any link between this fact and the rise in recent years in drink driving problems ?
Whilst it is easy to think that traffic police just stop people speeding, they do a valuable job in being seen, dealing with idiots on the road and stopping and dealing with drunk and dangerous drivers.
Labour promised to be tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime. It appears that when it comes to cars, unless it can be spotted on a speed camera, you are more than likely to get away with your crimes.
4 comments:
It is a great tragedy that the police apparently did not take seriously complaints made about Jason Brain, the driver of the overtaking vehicle in the head-on crash on the A429 last Friday.
The result of typing 'jason brain' into Google could lead one to think the guy was a disaster waiting to happen every time he went out on the road.
I cannot agree. Traffic cops can only cover a small area. People continue to speed, use the mobile, drunk behind the wheel, no seat belts and so on. Even drive without a licence!!
These people know where the cops are or where they tend to patrol.
Its usually a tip off that gets them. With this lawless society (mainly aimed at the youth population) The idea of getting your window smashed in for doing the right thing seems less attractive.
Last year when the Mobile phone ban came in. Radio 1 had a text vote on it. A massive number like 90% said they would continue to use the phones as it was their right!!
Enough said....
Might of course also be due to the larger number of fixed speed cameras, cutting down on the large numbers of mobile vans that used to be about. Does seem stupid, given that as you say GATSOs and the like only stop one offence not the whole gamut of drunken driving, daft overtaking, reckless driving, driving without due care and attention, driving while disqualified and driving an unroadworthy vehicle (to name only the commonest) but if I were a cynic I'd say the fact that such cameras are dirt cheap have something to do with it...
I watched this last night. I am not sure if the BBC puts on a regional Traffic Cops or whether the same programme is put out nationally. In any event, it was about Humberside and Lincolnshire police forces. I saw them stop a red light jumper. These get my goat up. At approximately 7pm I took Rocky for his evening walk. At the Beverley Road traffic lights at the junction with Queen's Road and Scullcoates Lane, I watched a lorry go over on the amber. A good three car lengths behind I watched a car speed up and jump the red light. If the police are not going to sit there and monitor what I see happening on a regular basis, then the very least the council can do is install cameras on top of these lights to deter or capture this kind of unacceptable behaviour.
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