Coppers... eh..?

[Dedworth]

Doesn't happen these days, they go for the easiest targets with instant results to keep the crime figures up, rather than solving what the public would consider 'real' crime.

That's why the number plate offenders would be an easy target for them but maybe it doesn't involve bunking off back to the station for a lot of form filling at overtime rates

[johncar54]

Some people here seem to damn the police if they do and damn them if they don't.

However, number plates.

Whilst some people seem to think it's a really important point, (Cambs Police Sergeant Simon Goldsmith and Dedworth) it would seem apparent that the majority of police seem to think its harmless. If they did not then no one would be using them.

Sorry but that's logic. Bit like, the police think driving a motorcycle without a helmet is important, how many people do you see driving a motor cycle without one ?

[RickyR]

I'm a strong believer in the police using the tactic of 'Police Helicopter' and strategically placed 'Stingers' rather then engaging in a yank style police chase. It's safer to stand off and have cars waiting then to keep on chasing at ridiculous speeds down side streets.
Whilst this old guy is in the wrong, they'd have had a stronger case had they just left him to drive off, followed him carefully and arrested him when he got home.

[johncar54]

I know I always say this but here I go again.

I know there are a lot of people who love to jump to conclusions, often based on their prejudices, especially when the police are involved. These same people will often stick to their preconceived ideas even after all the facts have been published, regardless of what the findings were. It's not logical but that's life. Some people even write books to 'prove' their theories, again often with a scattering of mistruths (lies) to support what they say. If there are enough gullible people the books sell well and the authors make a ton and are inspired to do it all again. Ludervick Kennedy was one such.

The inescapable fact is: One cannot come to any reasoned conclusion by what they read in the papers, see on TV or a video etc. That is why they investigate cases. Only when all the facts are known can one make a reasoned decision.

But, take no notice of this, continue making your guesses. By the time all the facts come out everyone will have forgotten what you said so you won't even need to say you were maybe wrong !!!

[KeithD]

That's why the number plate offenders would be an easy target for them but maybe it doesn't involve bunking off back to the station for a lot of form filling at overtime rates

It's only a fixed penalty notice though, not an arrest.

[johncar54]

As this number plate things seems to have assumed great importance, I attach this:-


Vehicle Number Plates in the UK
There are strict rules set out that govern the layout, fonts and character specifications used on UK number plates. There are also general rules laid out on how number plates must be displayed. If these rules are not followed then it can be seen as an offence. General rules will include:



Number plates must be lit during the evenings
Registration marks must be readable and not covered by dirt
Vehicles must have number plates fixed to them
Number plates must be laid out in the correct size, colouring, font and spacing
Owners cannot alter or rearrange numbers and lettering on their number plates
Plates should follow the British Standard for number plates including the trademark of the plate supplier
No other images should be used on number plates except approved images such as the Euro flag and other flags
A non reflective border is optional
Punishments for Number Plate Offences
Incorrect number plate offences can lead to fines of up to £1000 for each specific number plate offence. It may be the case that a Notice of Intended Prosecution (NIP) will be affixed to car, for instance in a public car park, with a fixed penalty violation. There is no requirement for an NIP to be provided for number plate offences. There are sometimes defences available for this type of offence but misleading or lying to the courts can lead to larger fines. Police cameras are regularly used to catch drivers with dirty numbers plates or plates with incorrect spacing.

PS If I were a still a serving officer in UK I personally would be on the look out for people who break the law in a way which affects other citizens in a real way, not wasting police time on a number plate which has been slightly modified, as long as it was still legible.

[bornatbirth]

john, you usually seem to have a bee in your bonnet about everything being correct but your not bothered if people have correct number plates or not

if we cant believe the media reporting the story because we dont have the full facts, who do we believe?

[johncar54]

john, you usually seem to have a bee in your bonnet about everything being correct but your not bothered if people have correct number plates or not :



Quote . if we cant believe the media reporting the story because we dont have the full facts, who do we believe?

john, you usually seem to have a bee in your bonnet about everything being correct but your not bothered if people have correct number plates or not :

I did not say that, I differentiated between plates which could not be read and those which had been slightly altered. Does anyone really think police should waste police time /public taxes, worrying about, say a plate which should read
'M 1 JAS' but reads 'MIJAS'

Quote . if we cant believe the media reporting the story because we dont have the full facts, who do we believe?[/QUOTE]

When officers are working on high profile cases, murders etc. they keep a 'press cuttings book' of articles about the case. The reason: Quite often (mentally unstable) people confess to crimes they have not committed. Of course in such cases they have to rely on what they have read in newspapers.

In practically all high profile cases important facts are withheld by the police and thus, if a person confesses and knows the withheld facts, they are either the person responsible for tghe crime or have a close knowledge of the case. Anyone just reading the papers would not know theses pertinent facts.

When one reads all the articles about a case sometimes it is difficult to be sure they are writing about the case under investigation, they vary so much and can be so far from what actually happened.

Anyone reading any of these such articles would of course get only the info that paper printed, and thus cannot get the complete story, and which is often way off mark. How would anyone expect with such poor quality, biased, mis-reported etc. info, could anyone come to a reasoned conclusion.

[Dedworth]

The bee is in my bonnet about these number plates and I think there should be Zero Tolerance with offending cars being taken away and crushed. However thinking about it from the Police's point of view there might be some logic in allowing the law breakers to get away with it. The sensible drug dealer drives a bog standard grey saloon number plate LD59 XCN whereas the one who wants to say "look at me I'm the big I am" has a big black Range Rover, Big Wheels, Blacked out windows and a number plate altered from PEN15 to PE NIS. Who are the police more likely to stop ? the grey man or the knobhead who wants to stand out ?

[johncar54]

The bee is in my bonnet about these number plates and I think there should be Zero Tolerance with offending cars being taken away and crushed.

With vehicles I would hope that driving without insurance would he high prority. No insiurance = no compensation to the innocent party. Some dick, with insurance, driving with a PENI5 reg plate, who cares?

[Dedworth]

With vehicles I would hope that driving without insurance would he high prority. No insiurance = no compensation to the innocent party.

Agreed - there should be a complete change of the system along the lines that you get a new state manufactured and issued number plate every year instead of a tax disc which incorporated it's expiry date and a bar code. No personal plates would be allowed thus removing the knobheads, the plate would only be issued to vehicles that had valid MOT's and insurance. Without exception any vehicles with out of date or no number plates would be seized and crushed along with those flagged on the DVLA data base as having expired insurance.

[johncar54]

I don't think that is the best think of the actual cost of the whole program.

Add the equivalent on the petrol. It would be perhaps a penny or two on a litre with no cost at all for collection and admin as the taxes are already collected on petrol and thus no additional costs. And no police, court, administration costs for abuse.


Also, it would mean a gas guzzler would pay a lot more that a small saloon and the guy who drivers every day would pay more that the family man taking the wife and kids to the countryside a few weekends in the summer.

It would also mean that drivers would be encouraged maybe to drive a little more economically, so good for the environment too.

What's wrong with that ?

[aromulus]

Crazy situation we have, eh...?

Number plates.....

I personally would hold the makers and sellers of number plates responsible.

Give companies like Motorworld or Halfords and a few others the contracts for supplying plates to the public with very strict guidelines, to make them to an approved standard, without variations of any kind, ie spacings, different colour screwheads and whatnot.
Tell the police to issue week long notices to change the plates to drivers with unacceptable or confusing combinations of letters and numbers, or have the car impounded and only released on payment of fines and storage fees.
I don't see why one should do away with a personal plate if it is properly displayed and affixed.
People against personal plates are normally people that either can't afford them, or can't find the right ones coz someone else got there first.....

I got mine... How did yah guess...???

[Dedworth]

I don't think that is the best think of the actual cost of the whole program.

Add the equivalent on the petrol. It would be perhaps a penny or two on a litre with no cost at all for collection and admin as the taxes are already collected on petrol and thus no additional costs. And no police, court, administration costs for abuse.


Also, it would mean a gas guzzler would pay a lot more that a small saloon and the guy who drivers every day would pay more that the family man taking the wife and kids to the countryside a few weekends in the summer.

What's wrong with that ?

It could be partially paid for by a levy on insurance companies, they would be doing more business with less dodgers around.

Not living in the UK you aren't up to speed on the current situation, as well as hundreds of thousands of local uninsured drivers there are untold Eastern Europeans rolling about in uninsured un MO'Td British registered wrecks. My 18 year old nephew had his parked up first car written off outside my sisters house by a drunken unlicensed, uninsured beered up Pole. As one would expect he got fined a couple of hundred quid on easy terms and 12 points on the Brit licence he didn't have. The only plus side was that my older nephew and his mates got to the drunken Pole before the Police did

[Dedworth]

I got mine... How did yah guess...???

I saw it the other day tinkered with version of KN 08 EDD

[aromulus]

I saw it the other day tinkered with version of KN 08 EDD

You wouldn't notice my personal plate if my car run you over....

[johncar54]

So who would pay, the drivers with insurance, and again it would cost money to administer.

As for the insurance problem In Spain every policy holder pays a small percentage to a Gov Fund. Victims of uninsured drivers and of natural disasters get paid out by the fund.

[Dedworth]

You wouldn't notice my personal plate if my car run you over....

I guess the plate would be the last thing I saw as the huge black Range Rover careered towards me

[Dedworth]

So who would pay, the drivers with insurance, and again it would cost money to administer.

As for the insurance problem In Spain every policy holder pays a small percentage to a Gov Fund. Victims of uninsured drivers and of natural disasters get paid out by the fund.

We (the insured legal mug drivers) pay it anyway in the form of higher premiums just as shoppers pay higher prices to cover the stores losses due to let off shoplifters who aren't brought before the courts.

[KeithD]

I guess the plate would be the last thing I saw as the huge black Range Rover careered towards me

With a copper jumping up & down on the bonnet

[johncar54]

We (the insured legal mug drivers) pay it anyway in the form of higher premiums just as shoppers pay higher prices to cover the stores losses due to let off shoplifters who aren't brought before the courts.

But you only pay if the you have full comp. If you hit by an uninsured driver and you have only third party, unless they have changed the system, you just lose.

[Dedworth]

With a copper jumping up & down on the bonnet

and if the vehicle didn't sort me out he would with his baton

[Dedworth]

But you only pay if the you have full comp. If you hit by an uninsured driver and you have only third party, unless they have changed the system, you just lose.

Uninsured drivers also cost the insurance industry millions of pounds every year – with the Motor Insurers Bureau (MIB) dealing with more than 30,000 claims caused by uninsured drivers annually.

Half of the 1.5 million uninsured drivers are younger than 29, which suggests that high insurance premiums and low penalty fines, from as little as £50, are encouraging some young people to drive uninsured.

In addition to committing a criminal offence, this can start a vicious cycle because insurance premiums rise dramatically after a driver is caught without a policy – making it even less likely that the individual can afford insurance in future.

Telegraph Jan 2010 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/p...bn-a-year.html

[johncar54]

That's in the UK of course, don't get rid of them in Spain. They aren't as competent, friendly, honest etc as in UK but they sure are a lot better than being without them.

[joebloggs]

I saw it the other day tinkered with version of KN 08 EDD

my old boss had the number plates LI000NY and M7NGE but he had the number 7 made to look like the letter I on his Ferrari spider..

the guy in the white shirt is my old boss

[aromulus]

Wonder what ugly tree Ruby wax fell out of.....

[joebloggs]

Wonder what ugly tree Ruby wax fell out of.....

same one as my ex boss

[bornatbirth]

anybody who commits any motoring offence should have there car crushed

[RickyR]

The altered number plates a problem for the 'number plate recognition' computers linked into cameras on the motorways, fixed into cars and now in places such as car parks and even the eurostar.
Traffic police vehicles have cameras fitted which continuously scan the number plates of cars around them and cross check them against databases of tax + insurance.

On a useful side if you prebook parking at many major airports or prebook on the eurostar it reads your numberplate as your approach the barrier and has your information already displayed.

[Sim11UK]

I saw a black Range Rover yesterday Dedworth & thought of you. (But not in a pervy way )