Police cause traffic CHAOS

[Easy 10]

Anyone else have to negotiate the Hangleton interchange this morning to get on the A27 ?

It can be busy at the best of times. Even more so when the cops set up a vehicle checkpoint both sides of the road in those laybys when the burger / flower vans are. Traffic having to crawl through, tailbacks back past Sainsburys towards the Old Shoreham Road, and for what ? So the police can randomly pull over a few drivers who are trying to get to work, just so they can ask a few questions and poke around in the boot. And I counted at least SIXTEEN flourescent-jacketed officers (thats not including the ones who were no doubt loafing around in the meat-wagons) conducting this little operation.

Brilliant timing. Hugely worthwhile operation. Excellent deployment of resources. Well done everyone.

 

[The Wookiee]

Anyone else have to negotiate the Hangleton interchange this morning to get on the A27 ?

It can be busy at the best of times. Even more so when the cops set up a vehicle checkpoint both sides of the road in those laybys when the burger / flower vans are. Traffic having to crawl through, tailbacks back past Sainsburys towards the Old Shoreham Road, and for what ? So the police can randomly pull over a few drivers who are trying to get to work, just so they can ask a few questions and poke around in the boot. And I counted at least SIXTEEN flourescent-jacketed officers (thats not including the ones who were no doubt loafing around in the meat-wagons) conducting this little operation.

Brilliant timing. Hugely worthwhile operation. Excellent deployment of resources. Well done everyone.

No but coming into Crawley town centre along Ifield Avenue, i did notice a house surrounded by police and sealed off with police tape.

 

[The Wookiee]

No but coming into Crawley town centre along Ifield Avenue, i did notice a house surrounded by police and sealed off with police tape.

BBC NEWS | England | Sussex | Teenager critical after stabbing

 

[Munkfish]

Anyone else have to negotiate the Hangleton interchange this morning to get on the A27 ?

It can be busy at the best of times. Even more so when the cops set up a vehicle checkpoint both sides of the road in those laybys when the burger / flower vans are. Traffic having to crawl through, tailbacks back past Sainsburys towards the Old Shoreham Road, and for what ? So the police can randomly pull over a few drivers who are trying to get to work, just so they can ask a few questions and poke around in the boot. And I counted at least SIXTEEN flourescent-jacketed officers (thats not including the ones who were no doubt loafing around in the meat-wagons) conducting this little operation.

Brilliant timing. Hugely worthwhile operation. Excellent deployment of resources. Well done everyone.

did they find that dead body in your boot?

 

[Gully]

I am sure they were doing it with good reason, one can only hope that they caught some drivers who had cars without tax or insurance, thus removing them from the road and reducing the amount of traffic everyone has to contend with.

 

[Easy 10]

did they find that dead body in your boot?

I couldn't fit the body in my boot today because of all the drugs. I'll move the body on Thursday, its alright in the wheeliebin for now. Its not even smelling yet.

I am sure they were doing it with good reason, one can only hope that they caught some drivers who had cars without tax or insurance, thus removing them from the road and reducing the amount of traffic everyone has to contend with.

They could walk up and down streets checking tax discs if thats the "clampdown of the week" - and anyway, the DVLA already know from the database if your road tax hasn't been paid. As for insurance - dunno about you, but I don't carry my motor insurance documents around in the car with me, so they'd have nothing to check on that front.

What right do the police have to conduct this kind of thing anyway ? I thought they're only supposed to stop cars if there is a reasonable suspicion, or if they're driving dangerously, or if there is a risk of vehicle/bat collision. Not this rush-hour random pulling over bollocks.
Tch.

 

[Gully]

That is what I was alluding to Easy. I am assuming that the Police had good reason to mount such an operation, with resources as tight as we are led to believe, I am sure that there is no way that they would commit that number of officers to an operation without a reasonable cause to do so.

With reference to the tax/insurance issue, granted that there are databases that can immediately highlight a vehicle that is missing one or both, but it may be reasonable to assume that if someone is not prepared to do either for their vehicle then there may be another reason why not...a cursory search of the vehicle may reveal clues as to why.

NB: Gully is not employed by the Police in any capacity.

 

[Easy 10]

Last time I can remember them doing this was when the Labour Party Conference was on at the Brighton Centre. This week, there's a Sinatra tribute act and an exhibition of scale model cathedrals from around the world, made purely out of paperclips. Hardly a primary terrorist target I'd have thought.

 

[csider]

they were there last friday, 19kg of smack through no problems.

 

[Nemesis]

As for insurance - dunno about you, but I don't carry my motor insurance documents around in the car with me, so they'd have nothing to check on that front.

DVLA know whether you're insured or not so documents shouldn't ne necessary to carry around in the vehicle.

Back to the thread title....Are the police responsible for the sign boards on the M25 and M23? If they are somebody should tell the dozy twats to turn the warnings off when an incident is over. So many times I've been in hold ups because the stupid bastards have left the "2 Lanes Ahead Closed" sign on when the incident was over a couple of hours ago. Everybody slows down and starts to move over only to find the road is wide open. I think the person in charge of them must be the former Withdean Clock Operator.

 

[Da Man Clay]

DVLA know whether you're insured or not so documents shouldn't ne necessary to carry around in the vehicle.

Back to the thread title....Are the police responsible for the sign boards on the M25 and M23? If they are somebody should tell the dozy twats to turn the warnings off when an incident is over. So many times I've been in hold ups because the stupid bastards have left the "2 Lanes Ahead Closed" sign on when the incident was over a couple of hours ago. Everybody slows down and starts to move over only to find the road is wide open. I think the person in charge of them must be the former Withdean Clock Operator.

I believe that is dealt with by the highways agency.

 

[Nemesis]

I believe that is dealt with by the highways agency.

Then those idiots need to try and remember that they've left warning signs on and are causing tail-backs.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

Ok ... you buy a car off a dodgy bloke in a pub. You jump in and drive it away.

Exactly HOW do the police, VOSA, the DVLA, the council (or, indeed, anyone) know WHO it is that is driving this uninsured, untaxed rust bucket around the streets?

 

[ManOnTheRun]

Sorry Easy ... I disagree. I went though the checkpoint this morning and was actually quite please to see it. There is too many Cnuts in this world who don't seem to think that the rules apply to them ... why bother with tax and insurance, eh!

The timing of it was, almost certainly about PR as much as it was about detection but lets just hope that there a a few less idiots on the road today as a result ... mind I'm sure they'll be back behind the wheel soon ...

 

[Yorkie]

Many a criminal (and I'm not talking about motoring offences) has been put in court by police checking vehicles.
The Yorkshire Ripper was caught because a couple of eagle eyed cops spotted his false number plates.

 

[BensGrandad]

The tax and insurance problem is easily overcome. Most MOTs and Insurance is on the DVLA computer. Get the traffic wardens to note the numbers of vehicles not displaying tax and then during the night go and tow them away, in most cases the reg no will give their home address a month opf thatin different areas of the town and word will soon spread. What a bummer when you get up late and go to jump in your car to drive to work and find that it has been towed away.

I read somewhere that the new traffic cameras sited on the tall blue poles can identify 60,000 vehicles a day that go past them and are linked to the DVLA computer so you could be caught and not even know it until the fine arrives.

I do not think that car insurance and MOTs etc are the main reason for the check points.

 

[Lady Whistledown]

No idea what was going on this morning...but...the automatic number plate recognition system isn't just for uninsured drivers.

Yes, they will your car flag up if a vehicle is shown as uninsured, but a vehicle could have a marker on it for all sorts of reasons:

-for example the vehicle has been used in a specific crime- the killers of Sharon Beshenivsky were caught when their getaway car went through ANPR cameras for the London congestion charging zone;

-because it's been reported as stolen

-because the car is believed to be used for drug dealing, burglaries, or similar

-because it's been involved in a hit & run

-because it's known to be used by someone who's disqualified from driving

That's just a few examples. If you're thinking of driving off from BP without paying for your petrol, or committing a ram raid on Threshers, and you don't know where the fixed ANPR cameras are around the city, perhaps you should learn quickly

 

[Dave the OAP]

all this ..." if you havent got tax we will crush your car" bollocks.

Our neighbour openly flouted the car tax rule for about two years. His merc was not taxed and probably not insured and he drove it around without being caught.

He onlt got rid of the car when he was given a compnay one...then he just left it outside our house until one of the neighbours got so pissed off they phoned the police and the council eventually towed it away after it had sat there for 5 months!.

 

[Easy 10]

I usually use the old pay & pump for my petrol at Tesco.
But I ALWAYS feel a little bit scared getting in the car and driving off without having actually gone inside to pay.

 

[Spiros]

DTG - agreed. Someone 2 doors from me used to park their untaxed and beaten up (and obvioulsy un-MOT-able) Mondeo outside our house, usually as close to the drive as possible. Annoyed at this I shopped her to the DVLA, who did nothing. 2 months later I shopped her again - still nothing.

About 3 months later (car tax now 8/9 months out of date) she left the car parked across our drive at about 10pm. I took the chance to phone the law and complain that someone's car was blocking my drive and I needed to go out. Due to 'data protection law' they couldn't tell me who's car it was and said they'd come and see them 'when resources permit'. I thought that meant they'd do nothing, but to my unending joy I was woken up at about 2:30am the following morning by the sound of her arguing with the policeman who had just asked her to move her car. He then noted that the lack of tax and handed her a fixed penalty notice. She started ranting at him at which point he loudly said 'and if you want to carry on arguing we can do that at the station'

Result = car never seen again