Essex Police - Reinstate bike patrols

[seedy100]

As per the title Essex police have reinstated the bike patrols that they discontinued in order to save money.

They are spending £72000 on 6 new bikes.

The Chief constable says that forces that reinstate bike patrols see biker casualties drop (Essex 29 deaths in 2004, 16 so far in 2005)

If they use the bikes to catch cagers on their phones Iam all for it.


What is the general opinion on here?
(I live in Suffolk but work in Essex so this is a live issue for me)

[Iansv]

:cry: doh

[Ping]

Why's it more of a problem? I mean, it's not like you're going to risk running from a police car anyway... are you? .... :lol:

It means there'll be more bike savvy cops on the road. Can't be a bad thing can it? :)

Just a bummer if you want to ride like a loony but have to play nice... ;)

[SVeeedy Gonzales]

That's £12,000 per bike. Must be BMW's then. :D

[Ceri JC]

That's £12,000 per bike. Must be BMW's then. :D

Nah, it'll probably be Ducatis or MVs :wink:

[Gnan]

You can't win with some people - they install speed cameras - people whinge and ask for traffic Police. They add more traffic Police and people complain about that. What do you want, a free for all where you can do whatever you want?!

[Foey]

As per the title Essex police have reinstated the bike patrols that they discontinued in order to save money.

They are spending £72000 on 6 new bikes.

The Chief constable says that forces that reinstate bike patrols see biker casualties drop (Essex 29 deaths in 2004, 16 so far in 2005)

If they use the bikes to catch cagers on their phones Iam all for it.


What is the general opinion on here?
(I live in Suffolk but work in Essex so this is a live issue for me)



I guessed something like this was going to happen, i've seen a group of police going through colchester under instruction on a number of occasions, just sorry it's taken so long for some dam idiot to realise what was needed, maybe this is the start of things to come, more ploice on the roads should equal fewer dumb ar5es on mobiles, cutting up, lane hopping/hogging etc etc.

I live in Essex but work in Suffolk by the way, although i'm Suffolk born & bread.

[Iansv]

You really think they'll be stopping people on mobiles ? doubt it

still, i don't ride like a nutcase so i'll be ok

[Drunk Mike]

You can't win with some people - they install speed cameras - people whinge and ask for traffic Police. They add more traffic Police and people complain about that. What do you want, a free for all where you can do whatever you want?!
Take the cameras down and replace them with cops and I'll be happier. That's assuming the cops maintain the same attitude to my riding as they have up to now.

[SVeeedy Gonzales]

You can't win with some people - they install speed cameras - people whinge and ask for traffic Police. They add more traffic Police and people complain about that. What do you want, a free for all where you can do whatever you want?!

I'm not complaining... just envious... would love to have £72,000 to spend on 6 bikes 8)

[Ceri JC]

Take the cameras down and replace them with cops and I'll be happier. That's assuming the cops maintain the same attitude to my riding as they have up to now.

That is a key factor. I would definately far rather traffic police to cameras, on the proviso that:
a) Promotion etc. is not based on this ridiculous points system that was discussed recently that makes booking 2/3 people speeding as desirable as catching a rapist or murderer.
b) If 'a' is not possible, (ie that system does come in) they should need evidence to do you for speeding, rather than, "He was on a bike and it had a loud can, so he was doing a ton." Any sane human can see that a copper's word isn't worth a lot if he stands to (directly) personally gain from your conviction.
c) They actually do pull people over and 'educate' them about dangerous driving/riding, like sitting in the outside lane on the motorway when it's empty, using mobile phones when driving, changing lanes/overtaking without the neccessary indication/observations, tailgating, poor lane discipline at roundabouts, etc. If they don't do this and are just human mobile speed camera replacements, I'd rather stick to the stationary ones that I can learn the locations of, thanks.

I've a lot of respect for the (traffic) police. By and large, they're good drivers/riders and they have, up until now, left me alone, presumably because they can see I'm not taking the michael in the way I'm riding, even if I am going 'a bit quick'. This respect will be eroded if there are personal gains to be made for them as individuals, for booking you for very minor offences.

I certainly don't want more mobile speed detection vans, or those ludicrously inaccurate handheld guns. They're like fixed cameras, only even more dangerous, as everyone (bar the 6% who claim they don't speed and those who aren't observant enough to spot them) emergency brakes down to well below the limit when they spot the van. At the weekend, I was coming up to the second severn bridge tolls (Welsh side) and spotted a mobile "safety camera" van. I began slowing from 80 to the posted 50. Now, 30 over the limit = potential to lose your licence and a lot of people would say it's excessive speed. However, this is a 3 lane motorway and whilst of course I slow down to 50 (and well below, often becoming stationary) when it's neccessary/safe to, nearer the booth, I won't do any less than on any other motorway (that a few months ago was NSL), a mile down the road from the hazard.

A lot of other road users were also doing 70-80, a few in the 90s. So, rather than people slowing down for the booth as normal, you instead have staggered emergency stopping as the various vehicles gradually spot the van. Cars that are tailgating, swerve to avoid the vehicle in front that has thrown the anchors on, veering into other lanes without looking, giving the people already in that lane (me) more than 2/3 seconds to move out of their way.

Of course, the stock response from the police will be, well if you didn't speed you wouldn't need to brake harshly. Aside from being unrealistic (the vast majority of people, quite rightly do speed when it's safe to), it's also rather unsympathetic to those who are driving at the speed limit. They still have to contend with other vehicles skidding and swerving as I described. Would they have to, had the van not been present? Of course not.

[Dicky Ticker]

Notice that one of the first comments is about the use of mobile phones
nick-nick what about smoking while driving unwrapping a sweet,sorting out your CD, resetting your sat-nav and using a twoway radio plus the people that think doing 10mph over the speed limit doesn't increase your risk of having an accident They are a few of the many contributary factors that lead to the increase in accidents as is the increase in the volume of traffic.THIS PHONE THING IS BECOMING A PATHETIC FIXATION get off your high horse and look at the bigger picture If by doing[per example] any of the above leads to an accident Yes IT IS A SERIOUS OFFENCE,but considering the amount of people who do the above and don't have accidents then face to face with a copper is a100% better in my book
The one piont I will say is that I do think it is a good idea because you will be dealing with a human being who can use his judgement to ascertain the seriousness of the offence rather than,- camera,photo,your guilty
Getting a good telling-off and the error of your ways explained to you,even if you are nicked surely must have more meaning than a NIP
dropping through the letterbox

[Balky001]

Time to get your Black Rat stickers stuck on!

[GregK2]

Saw this on the local news last night, although one of the police interviewed said that if a motorcycle is going 90mph on the A12, he will not try to outrun a police motorcycle - implying that they would try to outrun a police car! A bit negative I thought, and anyway most repmobiles do at leat 90 on the A12......

I talked about this at work, apparently the reason the Essex police mcycles were taken off the road was that all the motorbike policemen were retiring at the same time, and it would have been too expensive to train all the replacements at the same time.

I'm all for it myself, let's hope they catch some of the idiot cage drivers on the roads around here.