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Roads about to get a lot more dangerous
#1613063
14/12/2017 19:57
14/12/2017 19:57
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Joined: Feb 2017
Posts: 1,621 Leicester UK
Ballypete
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The latest report from the Institute of Alcohol Studies reveals that cuts to roads policing numbers of 27% across England and wales due to austerity are starting to have consequences.
RPU function is obviously not just about dealing with boy racers, and includes some really vital stuff for road safety including the ongoing battle against the dangers of drink driving. The loss in officer numbers equates to decrease in breath tests of 260,681 over the period since 2011.
In many cases it is not the drink driver who ends up suffering significant injury or death due to their actions, and sadly I can only see our roads becoming a more dangerous place as the cuts start to bite.
Stay safe out there.
Doris the 1998 Portofino Blue 20V and Zoe the 1999 Alfa Romeo 916 Spider Bog standard needn't be boring...
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Re: Roads about to get a lot more dangerous
[Re: Ballypete]
#1613165
17/12/2017 09:00
17/12/2017 09:00
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Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 1,466 Kent
Submariner
My job on the forum
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Kent
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Indeed all in the (false) name of austerity. Given the almost non-existent police presence on our roads the chances of getting caught are minimal. Whilst I accept one can believe things are getting 'worse' it strikes me that that is indeed the case on the UK's roads, how many recent multiple fatal collisions have there been this 6 person one today in an apparent 40mph zone, 3 or 4 separate fatal collisions have happened in the area I live in the last week alone http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-42383464
Last edited by Submariner; 17/12/2017 09:31.
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Re: Roads about to get a lot more dangerous
[Re: Ballypete]
#1613169
17/12/2017 10:47
17/12/2017 10:47
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Joined: May 2011
Posts: 2,388 Caston, Norfolk
Blueboyracer
Competition Level
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Competition Level
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Do things like this help? #JoinThePact to Never Drink and Drive If not so much, what could help look like from all of us as "sober" drivers?
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Re: Roads about to get a lot more dangerous
[Re: Submariner]
#1613173
17/12/2017 12:48
17/12/2017 12:48
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Joined: Feb 2017
Posts: 1,621 Leicester UK
Ballypete
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Indeed all in the (false) name of austerity. Given the almost non-existent police presence on our roads the chances of getting caught are minimal. Whilst I accept one can believe things are getting 'worse' it strikes me that that is indeed the case on the UK's roads, how many recent multiple fatal collisions have there been this 6 person one today in an apparent 40mph zone, 3 or 4 separate fatal collisions have happened in the area I live in the last week alone http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-42383464 I certainly agree with your thoughts- things have been sliding for the past couple of years now. My yardstick for a worsening situation was the increasing number of times my officers or I were having to attend homes to tell the NOK that their loved ones would not be coming home.
Doris the 1998 Portofino Blue 20V and Zoe the 1999 Alfa Romeo 916 Spider Bog standard needn't be boring...
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Re: Roads about to get a lot more dangerous
[Re: Blueboyracer]
#1613174
17/12/2017 12:52
17/12/2017 12:52
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Joined: Feb 2017
Posts: 1,621 Leicester UK
Ballypete
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I think the vast majority do as much as they can, by observing the laws and helping to make thinks like DD socially unacceptable. Its the small but persistent minority that need to be 'policed' and austerity cuts are definitely affecting the ability to do that.
Doris the 1998 Portofino Blue 20V and Zoe the 1999 Alfa Romeo 916 Spider Bog standard needn't be boring...
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Re: Roads about to get a lot more dangerous
[Re: Ballypete]
#1613180
17/12/2017 15:19
17/12/2017 15:19
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Joined: Feb 2017
Posts: 1,621 Leicester UK
Ballypete
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it's been a bad weekend, sadly 2 MET officers are also in a critical condition in hospital having been run over by a drink driver in London earlier this morning
Doris the 1998 Portofino Blue 20V and Zoe the 1999 Alfa Romeo 916 Spider Bog standard needn't be boring...
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Re: Roads about to get a lot more dangerous
[Re: MeanRedSpider]
#1613182
17/12/2017 16:04
17/12/2017 16:04
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Joined: Feb 2017
Posts: 1,621 Leicester UK
Ballypete
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I’m sorry to hear that - no-one deserves that, especially whilst serving the public. I hope they make full recoveries.
We all have our individual perspectives. Being present while 3 young lives ended on the ward has coloured mine without a doubt. You are spot on re individual perspectives and I also agree it's a multi-faceted problem overall. As I have gotten older I have become more sceptical and disillusioned with those that govern us and the versions of the 'truth' they give on both sides.
Doris the 1998 Portofino Blue 20V and Zoe the 1999 Alfa Romeo 916 Spider Bog standard needn't be boring...
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Re: Roads about to get a lot more dangerous
[Re: Ballypete]
#1613183
17/12/2017 16:28
17/12/2017 16:28
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Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 1,466 Kent
Submariner
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My job on the forum
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Kent
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I think whilst upsetting and traumatic illness unless caused by third party negligence (or underfunding the NHS) etc is not akin to nor like road traffic casualties; where the negligent and/or criminal actions of others kill and maim innocent road users.
Technology for road traffic enforcement is a help but it is not a panacea for visible police deterrence and education.
Prevention cannot be measured by mandarins nor does it get our supposed representative's elected again so it is cut to the bone as it has been on our roads and neighbourhoods.
Gradually engineering safer roads....I think we struggle to even have a surface that one can safely drive on do we not. Or do we wait until the Coroner reports so many fatal's to the local council that they eventually do something and install a crossing or speed enforcement?
Our communities and services are in meltdown and I am unsure how that can possibly be justified given we look to Govt to provide such.
I also disagree that there is 'not enough money to go around' of course there is enough money, taxation and who those taxes are levied upon is the issue. Given the UK is basically a tax haven for the super rich and those with indigenous wealth have experienced an unprecedented decline in their tax burden.
Last edited by Submariner; 17/12/2017 16:55.
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Re: Roads about to get a lot more dangerous
[Re: Ballypete]
#1613238
18/12/2017 11:23
18/12/2017 11:23
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Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 4,645
JKD
Forum is my job
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Forum is my job
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Posts: 4,645
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One day I was waiting to join the main road where the traffic was moving really slowly. Someone kindly gave me way. I moved forward a bit.
And then something happened that I have not personally seen before or since. Out of nowhere a car came DRIVING REALLY FAST ON THE FCKING PAVEMENT, went past the queue of slow moving traffic and disappeared.
What do you think the expression was on the driver's face? Confusion? Worry? Nervousness? No. They had an open mouth smile. As if they were saying, ''Ha ha! I don't care!''
I was totally dumbfounded, because apart from in the movies, I had never actually ever seen anyone DRIVING REALLY FAST ON THE FCKING PAVEMENT.
Some people spend their whole lives doing everything properly, always doing the right thing, being good people, thinking about others, sometimes putting others so much before themselves that they end up not getting the things in life that they've worked hard for and deserve. And for what? Just so that they can get hurt by selfish people who amongst other selfish things are one day DRIVING REALLY FAST ON THE FCKING PAVEMENT.
It makes you think though doesn't it? What level of selfishness a person has to unlock in life that they can so casually do things like DRIVING REALLY FAST ON THE FCKING PAVEMENT?
I'm quite certain that some people think they are literally in a video game called Grand Theft Auto: Life and that other people are just NPCs who don't matter if they get hurt, if they as the player were to decide one day that they felt like DRIVING REALLY FAST ON THE FCKING PAVEMENT.
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Re: Roads about to get a lot more dangerous
[Re: JKD]
#1613273
18/12/2017 15:38
18/12/2017 15:38
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Joined: Feb 2017
Posts: 1,621 Leicester UK
Ballypete
OP
Club Member 1578
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Club Member 1578
My life on the forum
Joined: Feb 2017
Posts: 1,621
Leicester UK
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One day I was waiting to join the main road where the traffic was moving really slowly. Someone kindly gave me way. I moved forward a bit.
And then something happened that I have not personally seen before or since. Out of nowhere a car came DRIVING REALLY FAST ON THE FCKING PAVEMENT, went past the queue of slow moving traffic and disappeared.
What do you think the expression was on the driver's face? Confusion? Worry? Nervousness? No. They had an open mouth smile. As if they were saying, ''Ha ha! I don't care!''
I was totally dumbfounded, because apart from in the movies, I had never actually ever seen anyone DRIVING REALLY FAST ON THE FCKING PAVEMENT.
Some people spend their whole lives doing everything properly, always doing the right thing, being good people, thinking about others, sometimes putting others so much before themselves that they end up not getting the things in life that they've worked hard for and deserve. And for what? Just so that they can get hurt by selfish people who amongst other selfish things are one day DRIVING REALLY FAST ON THE FCKING PAVEMENT.
It makes you think though doesn't it? What level of selfishness a person has to unlock in life that they can so casually do things like DRIVING REALLY FAST ON THE FCKING PAVEMENT?
I'm quite certain that some people think they are literally in a video game called Grand Theft Auto: Life and that other people are just NPCs who don't matter if they get hurt, if they as the player were to decide one day that they felt like DRIVING REALLY FAST ON THE FCKING PAVEMENT. I think some people do chance their arm and don't think about the potential outcomes until it's too late. Some people liken a motor vehicle in careless hands to be a weapon which can have devastating consequences. As a young PC many years ago I would have cut my investigative teeth on a report like that, looked for CCTV, spoken to witnesses and hunted the offender down. My reason would have been to show them the error of their ways through prosecution in the belief this would discourage them from doing it again. often progressing a motoring offence would lead to other things, for example the recovery of a loaded firearm in one vehicle I stopped, and a kilo of cannabis resin in the boot of all things a Fiat Coupe! That is where my love affair with the car began, not that I could afford one on my wages back then... Nowadays such reports do not come through for investigation, but usually stay on a massive queue in the TPU until someone decides their just aren't enough staff to investigate or it runs past the statutory time limit of 6 months. sad but true. The reduction in RPU staff also minimises the chance to disrupt criminals who use vehicles and the road network to carry out their activities, so there is a knock on effect
Last edited by Ballypete; 18/12/2017 15:41.
Doris the 1998 Portofino Blue 20V and Zoe the 1999 Alfa Romeo 916 Spider Bog standard needn't be boring...
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