Driving standards

[duncan]

They're all UK plates that go to auction there, I think it's used for insurance disposals. The auctions are weekly and it's a pretty big yard.

 

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@52.1374413,-0.3003848,600m/data=!3m1!1e3

 

 

& a car sales place next door, for the runners ?

[chriswright03]

this  . used to regularly travelin my waggon  jn20 -- jn11  m62 both ways during rush hour usually center lane through the road works every time traffic stopped either side would be able to see down into all the stopped cars either side 99% would be head down fiddling on there phone oblivious to the world around them 

By the same token the Police use an unmarked tractor unit to catch lorry drivers on the phone, laptop or reading a book.  It is not only car drivers.  You never see us motorcyclists doing it.

[kevinlms]

By the same token the Police use an unmarked tractor unit to catch lorry drivers on the phone, laptop or reading a book.  It is not only car drivers.  You never see us motorcyclists doing it.

Too busy using the ash tray?

[Baby Deltic]

Wagon drivers -- they want ALL the road !!!!!

 

 

Brit15

Obviously the bloke who has purchased that has already tried buying a Porsche, Ferrari, Lambourghini, etc as p*n*s extensions but has been unsuccessful.......

[w124bob]

I know some places where they have replaced traffic lights with a roundabout.  Complete reversal of policy and it seems to work with far less congestion.

Until a different road engineer decides it's a good idea to add traffic lights on the roundabout, which sort of defeats the object really.

[62613]

Until a different road engineer decides it's a good idea to add traffic lights on the roundabout, which sort of defeats the object really.

There is a roundabout at the pyramid junction onto the M60 at Stockport; I can remember several occasions in the early 2000s when travelling home from work in Cheadle Heath, and it taking me half an hour to get from the A56, across Brinksway Bridge and onto the motorway, because of traffic backing up. There were only two sets of lights then. Now its lights all the way round, that's been considerably reduced.

[TheQ]

By the same token the Police use an unmarked tractor unit to catch lorry drivers on the phone, laptop or reading a book.  It is not only car drivers.  You never see us motorcyclists doing it.

Sadly I have seen a motorcyclist doing it, or to be precise a moped rider, as I was just leaving a double mini roundabout on my 125. The moped womble had his left arm straight out in front of him, thumb working away texting!!!! I didn't see what he did at the mini roundabouts, but if he needed control he didn't have any...

[chriswright03]

Sadly there are always some who believe their abilities are sufficient to multi task.  Invariably they aren't.

[stewartingram]

Sadly there are always some who believe their abilities are sufficient to multi task.  Invariably they aren't.

 

Except women.

 

Stewart

[Enterprisingwestern]

Until a different road engineer decides it's a good idea to add traffic lights on the roundabout, which sort of defeats the object really.

 

There is the refinement to this, putting a light controlled pedestrian crossing immediately before a roundabout to cause further confusion, sometimes directly before lights on the roundabout itself.

 

Mike.

[jcm@gwr]

Except women.

 

Stewart

 

There is one 'multi-task' that women are incapable of.......

 

 

Try telling them to sit down and shut up!

[peanuts]

There is the refinement to this, putting a light controlled pedestrian crossing immediately before a roundabout to cause further confusion, sometimes directly before lights on the roundabout itself.

 

Mike.

or how  about putting said crossing just after the roundabout on the exit preferably on a very tight corner that is practically blind or as in rochdale put a bus stop 10 feet from the roundabout meaning any bus using the stop blocks the actual roundabout then make it a fare stage and a timing point meaning said bus can be stopped for upto 5 mins at that stop 

[duncan]

There is the refinement to this, putting a light controlled pedestrian crossing immediately before a roundabout to cause further confusion, sometimes directly before lights on the roundabout itself.

 

Mike.

 

& making sure the pedestrian lights are not synchronised to the traffic lights - traffic stopped at the crossing as the traffic lights turn to green, then the traffic lights turn to red as there is no traffic.

 

We have a set like that, which after a few abortive changes gridlocks the town centre.  It must be the encouragement to leave your car at home, if only. 

[chriswright03]

or how  about putting said crossing just after the roundabout on the exit preferably on a very tight corner that is practically blind or as in rochdale put a bus stop 10 feet from the roundabout meaning any bus using the stop blocks the actual roundabout then make it a fare stage and a timing point meaning said bus can be stopped for upto 5 mins at that stop 

Have you been to Cleethorpes?  They did have a pedestrian crossing just before a really busy mini roundabout next to the pier and one just after it and a bus stop!  Summer season they wonder why traffic is backed up into Grimsby!

[Enterprisingwestern]

Have you been to Cleethorpes?  They did have a pedestrian crossing just before a really busy mini roundabout next to the pier and one just after it and a bus stop!  Summer season they wonder why traffic is backed up into Grimsby!

 

Ah, the "famous" Isaacs Hill.

When we lived there, coming from Sheffield, the locals wondered why we called it Isaacs little slope!

To keep the thread on track, in Cleethorpes, Grimsby Road and Brereton Avenue run parallel to each other and the latter was used as an avoiding route for the former, but being residential, Brereton Avenue needed traffic calming, so the answer was to introduce parking restraints, previously parking was allowed anywhere, and the residents made a good job of parking sensibly and keeping the road clear, but this wasn't good enough for the local authority, so, as an "improvement", alternate blocks of staggered parking areas were introduced on either side of the road, meaning local residents were doubly inconvenienced by not being able to park outside their own homes, and the road being gridlocked in what passed for rush hour in those parts.

 

Mike.

Edited January 29, 2018 by Enterprisingwestern

[chriswright03]

Oh I know only too well about Brereton Avenue as one of the bus routes goes down there.  Threading a bus through at school time was 'interesting'!

[PatB]

By the same token the Police use an unmarked tractor unit to catch lorry drivers on the phone, laptop or reading a book.  It is not only car drivers.  You never see us motorcyclists doing it.

 

Maybe not, but I've seen quite a few kids on 50cc scooters texting on the move .

 

Here in WA we have police on unmarked motorcycles and equipped with helmet cams to nail phone users. It works quite well (not that they'll ever get more than 0.0001% of offenders without a massive increase in their numbers) and also seems to make drivers more aware of bikes in general.

[chriswright03]

There are virtually no Traffic Police now in the UK.  Get used to it.  As a result of that there is little chance of being caught doing anything wrong at all and hence why we have all noticed the decline in driving standards.

[kevinlms]

There are virtually no Traffic Police now in the UK.  Get used to it.  As a result of that there is little chance of being caught doing anything wrong at all and hence why we have all noticed the decline in driving standards.

What is the actual financial penalty for doing so, assuming caught of course?

 

 

https://www.vicroads.vic.gov.au/safety-and-road-rules/driver-safety/mobile-phones-and-driving

 

In Victoria, we have very high fines - $476, yet large numbers of people still do it. The police here, are actually ramping up the resources to catch offenders.

 

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/how-police-are-spotting-drivers-using-mobile-phones-in-their-laps/news-story/f71b710a07c47436b4f8c3644f07e119

[Kris]

What is the actual financial penalty for doing so, assuming caught of course?

 

 

https://www.vicroads.vic.gov.au/safety-and-road-rules/driver-safety/mobile-phones-and-driving

 

In Victoria, we have very high fines - $476, yet large numbers of people still do it. The police here, are actually ramping up the resources to catch offenders.

 

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/how-police-are-spotting-drivers-using-mobile-phones-in-their-laps/news-story/f71b710a07c47436b4f8c3644f07e119

 

6 points + £200 fine (The 6 points is enough to get you banned if you passed your test less than 2 years ago). If taken to court the fine is up to £1000 for a car driver £2500 for a HGV driver. https://www.gov.uk/using-mobile-phones-when-driving-the-law

[cheesysmith]

The no police comment, know it well. The cuts in police funding is very noticeable. Before when I phoned the police to report a broken window on a bus, the waiting time to be answered on the non emergency number was 2 to 3 mins, now it can be over 20 mins. I've even had to wait over 4 mins to be answered on a 999 call. And the crimes have not gone up in the time span I'm talking about (incident numbers have remained constant at about 1100 for a late night call).

 

Of course, the cuts in the people even answering the calls could be a plan to make the crime figures look good. How many people would just give up whilst waiting so then the crime doesn't get recorded? It would make the figures look good and save wages at the same time.

 

 

Cynical? Moi?

Edited January 29, 2018 by cheesysmith

[peanuts]

6 points + £200 fine (The 6 points is enough to get you banned if you passed your test less than 2 years ago). If taken to court the fine is up to £1000 for a car driver £2500 for a HGV driver. https://www.gov.uk/using-mobile-phones-when-driving-the-law

in the case of a hgv/psv licence holder  the police or court would on conviction report them to the local transport commissioner who would after a hearing more than likely suspend vocational licences for 2-6 months therefore preventing them from working even if the offence does not take place in a hgv/psv and believe me they are very very keen to do this . tea & biscuits with the local tc is not a fun experience  

[PatB]

I gather that likelihood of getting caught is a much greater deterrent from committing an offence than a draconian but unlikely penalty.

 

That and attaching a social stigma to the offence. Drink driving, for example, is no longer socially acceptable in most circles and so would (probably) remain at a fairly low level even if enforcement was eased. Phone use, however, is still regarded as pretty normal and reasonable by a large proportion of the driving population and their peers, so folk who wouldn't even think of driving bladdered are quite happy to drive blind and distracted for miles at a time.

[peanuts]

I gather that likelihood of getting caught is a much greater deterrent from committing an offence than a draconian but unlikely penalty.

 

That and attaching a social stigma to the offence. Drink driving, for example, is no longer socially acceptable in most circles and so would (probably) remain at a fairly low level even if enforcement was eased. Phone use, however, is still regarded as pretty normal and reasonable by a large proportion of the driving population and their peers, so folk who wouldn't even think of driving bladdered are quite happy to drive blind and distracted for miles at a time.

have always said use of mobile phone whilst druving should trigger a penalty similar to no tax or insurance instant seizure untill punitive fine is paid for release be it bus truck taxi car or whatever that would focus some minds quickly

[chriswright03]

I see three have agreed with you Pat and in principle I do but truth is drink driving is virtually unchecked now as well.

 

Without turning this political the Police Force in the UK has been decimated in recent years.  Budget cuts have meant loss of officers and certainly the loss of most of the Traffic Division as it was before it was renamed as Roads Policing.  Those in the UK may well tell you of doing quite long journeys across the Country and never seeing a Police car let alone a Traffic Patrol car.

 

People who are of an inclination to break the law be it criminal or Road Traffic know only too well how stretched the Police are and they see what we see.  If you see a Police car out and about it is highly unlikely to be on routine patrol and more likely to be the way to or from a job.  Hence a lot of people now take the risk of driving in drink/drugs or without a legal vehicle or documents because the chance of being seen by the Police let alone stopped are remote.

 

As many many moons ago I was a Traffic Officer I am on a Facebook group for retired Traffic Officers and I can tell you that there is a lot of unrest about the lack Police presence out on the streets.  None are happy about the revenue collection by speed camera and all will tell you there is no substitute for a copper talking to a motorist, finding out who they are and checking the vehicle and documents are in order.  Good old fashioned bobbying!