This morning on the A595 leaving Carlisle heading for Workington I noticed a police car about two cars behind me, better safe than sorry, knocked the limiter down to 40 and sat with my foot to the floor. about 20mins later and having a massive queue behind I noticed the bobby had just switched his blues on, next layby I pulled over to let him by but he followed me in and pulled up behind me. I got out the cab to see what was up and he asked me to sit in the back seat,
Apparently I was causing a hazard by not pulling off the road for 25miles and letting cars through. I pointed out that there was nowhere to pull over as that stretch has next to no laybys, I was informed that I should have turned off on to a side road then.
Again pointing out that I was heading for Workington, so why would I turn off the road I needed to be on plus most of the side roads off the A595 are 7.5t limits. (Me being in an 18t) plus I was doing the legal limit for my vehicle.
By this time he was opening his door to get out and let me out so I said,
If I’ve done anything illegal pal arrest me, but if you just didn’t want to sit behind a lorry doing the limit that’s your problem.
This was probably a bad idea, as later today I was again stopped in Workington on Clayflatts Industrial Estate and asked if I’d had seen the 30mph limit on the road I’d just turned off and then again on the Distington bypass by VOSA.
What a bunch of planks… I was raging most of the day about this. Where the hell was the need.
dew:
Knob Jockey copper, That area has more than it’s fair share of them (I go through Workington, Whitehaven, Wigton and Carlisle for work).
Wasn’t a youngish bald lad was it, fairly tall?
tall and looked in his 20’s but couldn’t tell if he was bald/shaven head
It was mainly the fact he said i should have turned off to a side road, if any of you know the 595 you’ll know most the roads off it are single track and nowhere to turn around.
dew:
Knob Jockey copper, That area has more than it’s fair share of them (I go through Workington, Whitehaven, Wigton and Carlisle for work).
Wasn’t a youngish bald lad was it, fairly tall?
tall and looked in his 20’s but couldn’t tell if he was bald/shaven head
It was mainly the fact he said i should have turned off to a side road, if any of you know the 595 you’ll know most the roads off it are single track and nowhere to turn around.
Know it? Only 6 times a week Ok at night but it don’t change much!
I would have asked him for his name and warrant card number and stated you were making a formal complaint for harassment two can play that bloody game.
one of my drivers was pulled over by the police into Fleet Services on the M3, had a look around the truck and trailer, the total weight for that particular job was just over 37 tonnes, the ■■■■■■ copper told my driver that he was overweight as the legal limit in the UK is 36 tonnes
also, he told me over the phone that the tacho was out of calibration, as the date on the calibration sticker is when it expires, not when it was done
there were a couple iof other things thast i can’t remember what he said, but, it was all total ■■■■■■■■, even the 2 younger coppers that were with him tried telling him he was wrong, but, he, being the senior officer was having none of it
is there any wonder why we have so little faith in the police force anymore?
Make a formal compliant to the head cop in the area. A truck doing the posted speed limit is not regarded as a slow moving vehicle and is therefore under no obligation to pull over and let other vehicles past. The guy obviously needs more training so be reporting it you could actually be helping his career.
Coffeeholic:
Make a formal compliant to the head cop in the area. A truck doing the posted speed limit is not regarded as a slow moving vehicle and is therefore under no obligation to pull over and let other vehicles past. The guy obviously needs more training so be reporting it you could actually be helping his career.
Thats good to know, will remember that. Agency shifts only, stringing it out, loving it causing mayhem. Perth to Inverness and Carlise to Newcastle best for long queues at 40mph.
I was doing Oxford to Swindon today along the A420, most of which is 40mph in a truck…you can see them itching to get round you can’t you. Next time I’ll go right down to the M4 and probably get told off for wasting fuel…
The copper is in the wrong here, you should report him. My little brother is a plod and I’d do the same to him. They get to rollock us for not doing our jobs properly, so it works the other way as well.
Coffeeholic:
Make a formal compliant to the head cop in the area. A truck doing the posted speed limit is not regarded as a slow moving vehicle and is therefore under no obligation to pull over and let other vehicles past. The guy obviously needs more training so be reporting it you could actually be helping his career.
When you do this, give a description of the copper, time/date, location and anything else you think may help them.
They will know which one it was, whether they will do anything is a different matter.
From a 4 year old thread on this subject this post by Davey Driver might be useful.
Davey Driver:
If you ask the authorities they will tell you their answer
Official reply from West Yorkshire Police
West Yorkshire Police:
We would not class an HGV travelling at the legal speed limit for that vehicle (eg 40mph) as being a “slow moving vehicle” and would not consider that the driver could be classed as driving without due consideration for other road users by travelling at the legal speed limit and failing to stop and let other traffic pass. We therefore do not think that it is likely that a prosecution for the offence of driving without reasonable consideration for other road users would be undertaken or succeed.
Having said that it would be considerate of the driver to do so if there was a substantial build up of traffic and there was somewhere safe and convenient to pull in.
The actual offence of driving without reasonable consideration is quite wide-ranging and non-specific It is a subjective test that has to be decided by the court on the evidence before it. The other persons can include other drivers, passengers in the vehicle, or pedestrians and cyclists. It can include leaving a turn indicator on too long to give a misleading signal, or a bus driver taking a corner too fast so that passengers are thrown out of their seats and injured. On a procedural note it is good evidence to ask the driver if he knows what action the Highway Code recommends in the situation.
There is no legal definition of a “slow moving vehicle” but most people would think of slow moving farm tractors or vehicles travelling at a speed well below that of the legal speed limit or well below the speed of other vehicles on the same road.
It is not possible to give an absolutely definite answer in relation to such a wide-ranging offence and it would be for a court to decide based on the particular circumstances of a case. Such a decision could then be used as a guide in other similar cases.
Please note:
PNLD does not have the resources to research every email in depth. This reply is intended as a guide only and you are advised to seek professional advice before any further action is taken, see Terms and Conditions for further information. Regards PNLD
I don’t care if this helps or not, still report the arse.
Coffeeholic:
Make a formal compliant to the head cop in the area. A truck doing the posted speed limit is not regarded as a slow moving vehicle and is therefore under no obligation to pull over and let other vehicles past. The guy obviously needs more training so be reporting it you could actually be helping his career.
When you do this, give a description of the copper, time/date, location and anything else you think may help them.
They will know which one it was, whether they will do anything is a different matter.
If you do wish to make a complaint, i believe its the police complaints commission that takes up the case and as far as i know, they are completely independant of the plod themselves.
Ok at night but it don’t change much!
