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Level crossing stupidity...


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It would work MUCH better on that white convertible on a nice sunny day, with the lid down.

 

I wonder how long it would take for the first owner, to put in a damage claim?

I wonder how long it would be before the judge threw it out, saying it was self-inflicted.

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But we live in an era of I got hurt when it was my fault but they did not stop me doing it !  So I am going to sue them for every penny I can get and go public for sympathy .Also a red light means stop but to many people don't agree with this idea .Daily I see people drive up bus lanes change lane with no indication or tailgate but what can you do there are no police about ,perhaps more cameras is the answer.

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But we live in an era of I got hurt when it was my fault but they did not stop me doing it !  So I am going to sue them for every penny I can get and go public for sympathy .Also a red light means stop but to many people don't agree with this idea .Daily I see people drive up bus lanes change lane with no indication or tailgate but what can you do there are no police about ,perhaps more cameras is the answer.

 

A red light is only an indication that someone would like you to stop!

 

Mark Saunders

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But we live in an era of I got hurt when it was my fault but they did not stop me doing it !  So I am going to sue them for every penny I can get and go public for sympathy .Also a red light means stop but to many people don't agree with this idea .Daily I see people drive up bus lanes change lane with no indication or tailgate but what can you do there are no police about ,perhaps more cameras is the answer.

Urgh, not more cameras please! I see why you're saying that but I already find the number around unpleasant, the ever-present "we're watching you!" feeling is something I hate, and not because I want to be a naughty boy.

 

The only way you'll get responsible behaviour is to bring people up with it from early childhood. Even then some will still grow up to be a danger to themselves and others; with more people around and more media we see and hear more of those. It's tempting to say that the chances of someone being irresponsible now are higher than they were; I certainly wouldn't dismiss it but I'm not quite completely convinced. After all despite all of that a lot fewer people die on the roads, but then again cars are far more crashworthy than they once were.

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....... maybe ever so SLIGHTLY more crashworthy when the crash is with a train. 

 

A direct hit on the passenger compartment will still kill the occupants, but a train sideswiping the bonnet or boot is now a potentially survivable event, as the subsequent roll and tumble of the rest of the vehicle will no longer turn anyone inside to pulp. Not usually, anyway.

Edited by PatB
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Cars maybe crashworthy but a person or cyclist hit by one is not unfortunately  training drivers to be better not use phones etc should be a priority.

it's not just 'phones ........ I get worried when I see a motorist with one hand full of food or drink ( not necessarily alcoholic ) while trying to steer an' change gear at the same time with the other !

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Cars maybe crashworthy but a person or cyclist hit by one is not unfortunately  training drivers to be better not use phones etc should be a priority.

The trouble with drivers using mobile phones is the law is not severe enough on them. In my opinion people caught using mobile phones should get a 12-month driving ban on first offence and should go to jail for further offences. If that means they lose their jobs, tough! They know the rules about not using mobile phones and driving, and they ignored them. Why should everyone else suffer from some people's stupidity?

Edited by Budgie
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But we live in an era of I got hurt when it was my fault but they did not stop me doing it !  So I am going to sue them for every penny I can get and go public for sympathy .Also a red light means stop but to many people don't agree with this idea .Daily I see people drive up bus lanes change lane with no indication or tailgate but what can you do there are no police about ,perhaps more cameras is the answer.

Not necessarily cameras:

post-158-0-70216600-1538769620_thumb.jpg

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The trouble with drivers using mobile phones is the law is not severe enough on them. In my opinion people caught using mobile phones should get a 12-month driving ban on first offence and should go to jail for further offences. If that means they lose their jobs, tough! They know the rules about not using mobile phones and driving, and they ignored them. Why should everyone else suffer from some people's stupidity?

have said it before and will say it again seize their vehicle on the spot for 14 days and make them pay a storage fee that would focus minds rapidly ."err boss that new BMW company car well i was texting steve like and there was an unmarked copper ...............boss ................ boss click derrrrrrrrr 

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have said it before and will say it again seize their vehicle on the spot for 14 days and make them pay a storage fee that would focus minds rapidly ."err boss that new BMW company car well i was texting steve like and there was an unmarked copper ...............boss ................ boss click derrrrrrrrr 

Are there that many coppers around now? There's your problem!

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Are there that many coppers around now? There's your problem!

 

Offences such as crossing gambling shouldn't need police - just a camera or two.

 

It certainly works at traffic lights.

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The trouble with drivers using mobile phones is the law is not severe enough on them. In my opinion people caught using mobile phones should get a 12-month driving ban on first offence and should go to jail for further offences. If that means they lose their jobs, tough! They know the rules about not using mobile phones and driving, and they ignored them. Why should everyone else suffer from some people's stupidity?

It matters not how severe the punishment may be if the law is effectively unenforceable due to a lack of personnel with the authority to enforce it.

 

The chances of actually being caught using a mobile phone whilst driving are perceived to be negligible by those perpetrating such deeds, essentially because it boils down to a case of when did you last see a policeman. Having driven 200 miles up the M40/42/6 today, not once did I see a marked police vehicle, and no sign of any unmarked vehicles doing any enforcement either.

 

Getting back to level crossings, there are plenty of regular road users (the proverbial white van man) who know just how much predictable delay there is in these crossings, and because no one is watching either, are prepared to take what is, to them, a low risk chance. Cameras and picture-evidenced prosecutions would help, but my experience whilst faced with the same issue as the Engineer for Croydon Tramlink was that a precondition for getting any traffic signal camera installed was at least three severe or fatal incidents within a fixed, but relatively short period. Since this type of collision is frequently survivable, getting the requisite number of significant incidents can take a long time

 

Jim

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have said it before and will say it again seize their vehicle on the spot for 14 days and make them pay a storage fee that would focus minds rapidly ."err boss that new BMW company car well i was texting steve like and there was an unmarked copper ...............boss ................ boss click derrrrrrrrr 

Not as much as doing the same to the phone would.

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Not as much as doing the same to the phone would.

they would just go and buy another they are cheap enough .£15k car on lease is another matter entirley or £150k hgv plus what ever load.tho dod see some cunning enforcement yesterday one of those smart cars with the extending cameras parked very obviousley at the junction of Broadway and middleton road chadderton a regular spot this .the clever one was to have another camera car at the next set of lights parked just out of view camera poking over the bushes .must of caught hundreds going back on there phones now thet were clear of the other camera Edited by peanuts
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It matters not how severe the punishment may be if the law is effectively unenforceable due to a lack of personnel with the authority to enforce it.

 

The chances of actually being caught using a mobile phone whilst driving are perceived to be negligible by those perpetrating such deeds, essentially because it boils down to a case of when did you last see a policeman. Having driven 200 miles up the M40/42/6 today, not once did I see a marked police vehicle, and no sign of any unmarked vehicles doing any enforcement either.

Indeed, it makes me see the red mist every time politicians, or government agencies start claiming new laws are needed to address something which is already illegal, yet few journalists seem to really push them to answer a simple question - if something is already illegal but the authorities can't be bothered to enforce it or the government doesn't consider enforcement worth funding then why is a new law the answer? I've recently been doing a lot of work on a matter where a government agency (happily not ours for a change) is effectively pushing a regulatory change that would make it illegal to break the law as they are desperate to avoid enforcing an existing law as they don't want to spend money but need to be seen to be doing something.

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politicians' sound bites, easier to make a new law & blame someone else for not enforcing it, rather that accepting any blame for existing laws not being enforceable due to lack of staff numbers eg police or inland revenue

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they would just go and buy another they are cheap enough .£15k car on lease is another matter entirley or £150k hgv plus what ever load.tho dod see some cunning enforcement yesterday one of those smart cars with the extending cameras parked very obviousley at the junction of Broadway and middleton road chadderton a regular spot this .the clever one was to have another camera car at the next set of lights parked just out of view camera poking over the bushes .must of caught hundreds going back on there phones now thet were clear of the other camera

when I joined the Police in 73 I was instructed to go out an get some in the book every day without fail. It was actually very good training in talking to people under stress. However the perfect gift for me was a brick built bus shelter on a main road just along from a stop sign for a busy junction. All I had to do was stand there out of sight but still able to see the stop line and any that didn't stop and turned left got waved into the bus lay bye. However, joking apart the lack of enforcement of existing laws is a real problem and the way police numbers have gone down, whilst demands on officers time has gone up is worrying. The sad thing is that most of the demands on their time are created by the same politicians that cut the number of people. I well remember one home secretary who forced a new prosecution paperwork system on the whole country. In my force that meant that simple offence files went from 2 pieces of paper to 12 or more.

 

Jamie.

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when I joined the Police in 73 I was instructed to go out an get some in the book every day without fail. It was actually very good training in talking to people under stress. However the perfect gift for me was a brick built bus shelter on a main road just along from a stop sign for a busy junction. All I had to do was stand there out of sight but still able to see the stop line and any that didn't stop and turned left got waved into the bus lay bye. However, joking apart the lack of enforcement of existing laws is a real problem and the way police numbers have gone down, whilst demands on officers time has gone up is worrying. The sad thing is that most of the demands on their time are created by the same politicians that cut the number of people. I well remember one home secretary who forced a new prosecution paperwork system on the whole country. In my force that meant that simple offence files went from 2 pieces of paper to 12 or more.

 

Jamie.

you have my sympathy and seen it first hand partners brother is a dc in the met last family meet up he spent most of the afternoon working on an attempted murder on his laptop told us that if it was a murder not attempted there would be 21 of his colleagues assisting him but as it wasnt he was on his own . and he has at least five more of these on his plate atm

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