Wednesday 30 December 2009

The season of good-will

So with the festive season comes a fair amount of good-will, generally combined with the Christmas Drink-Drive campaigns.

So it brings to mind a few people that I stopped on the roads on Christmas eve 2007...

One guy was driving through a little country village way too fast, I wasn't in a position to get him for speeding but figured that he could be educated the hard way. I stopped the car and told him that I'd stopped him because of the excessive speed that he was travelling at through the last village. (It was about 6pm so it was quite dark of course and he hadn't seen me behind him).

The guy immediately protested and I explained that because it was Christmas I wasn't going to give him a ticket for speeding, just a bit of a friendly warning (this is while he's standing beside the car shivering as I talk to him - I'm cold as well but don't let it show) and I explain that as I had stopped him for a moving traffic offence I was also going to require him to provide me with a specimen of breath (to perform a roadside breath test) to which the guy looked a little shocked so I explained that as it was Christmas eve every car stopped was being breath tested anyway...

Of course the breath test was negative (no alcohol in his breath) but I dragged out our meeting a little longer by explaining why I didn't want him speeding around on Christmas Eve or any other evening and after spending a good 10 or more minutes with the driver I said to him "If you had been doing the proper speed through the village of ******* I wouldn't have wasted 10 minutes of your time - it just goes to show that speeding will end up with you losing more time than if you'd been driving properly in the first place..." to which the guy nodded and smiled, wished me a merry christmas and he went on his way a little more sedately...

I don't know exactly how that driver felt with how he was treated by Southernshire Constabulary on that evening - what I do know is that I might have prevented another accident which would destroy someones Christmas entirely and I may have saved a life.. I did the nicest thing possible and gave the guy a warning for his speed instead of points on his licence and a large loss of money.. I sometimes wonder if it had the desired effect over the longer term or just that one instance but by and large it made ME feel better being as it was Christmas.

I hope that you have ALL have a wonderful, safe, and Merry Christmas and that you will all remain safe and have a Fantastic New Year.. Stay away from the roads if you are drinking, enjoy the time you have with your family and try not to create another time consuming domestic dispute, if you feel like arguing with your partner then go for a walk for 20 minutes then go back and talk with a level head.

Stay Safe.

Happy New Year!

6 comments:

  1. I don't usually allow stupid comments through on to the blog anymore but this one from Chris cracks me up..

    Chris obviously cannot read otherwise he would know full well that I'm not a traffic cop because it's pointed out so many times in this blog that it's not funny.

    Clearly Chris is a knob jockey.

    Don't you know Chris that real criminals drive cars too!! Besides, if your mother was hit and killed by a drink driver would you say that there should be more cops on the roads doing breath tests? I dare say you would - you are clearly a pathetic moron but hey, you gave me a laugh due to your inability to read properly.

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  2. We have a mini roundabout which I often pass. It has a left turning and a straight ahead main road. In between is a small no through road. Two lanes approach the roundabout, one marked for the left turn, and one for straight ahead. To often some drivers go down the left lane, which is less used, and then try to force their way in to the other stream at the roundabout.
    I was very amused to see one of our local police standing by the roundabout, and when anyone tried this, he stood in the road and waved them down the cul-de-sac!
    That was all, but it takes ages to get out again when the traffic is busy.
    I liked the approach, no paperwork, and they were delayed far more than if they'd joined the correct lane.

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  3. My most memorable stop from a police officer was as a 16 yr old, speeding on my brand new CB250 Honda in Wigan. Suddenly a job Norton Commando is alongside me and I'm pulled. He gets off his bike and spends 5 minutes talking about my bike (it was a brand new model in the UK at the time). No mention of my excess speed at all. Final comments were, "Smashing bike that, son. I might treat myself to one, off you go". I couldn't believe it. Just as I was about to start it up he came back with, "Oh yes, I almost forgot, your speed, no more chances from me young man. Next time you'll go to court and at your age your insurance will end up costing you more than the bike did, so I may make you a silly offer for it if you chance you luck again". Wry smile. Off he went. I didn't chance my luck. And I still recall this after over 40 years.

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  4. Off Topic, with apologies…..

    Chris Grayling MP, the Shadow Home Secretary, is a regular visitor to our bit it seems, so will likley have visited your pages via our link to you.

    Chris has forwarded a letter, asking that we pass on his best New Year wishes and thanks to all police officers. As hyperlinks don’t always get through the spam filter, you may wish to pop over to our site for a look.

    http://thinbluelineuk.blogspot.com

    (http://thinbluelineuk.blogspot.com)

    We are keen that the letter, received today, is seen by as many officers as possible. We have published it on our site today and also forwarded a copy to the federation offices should they wish to distribute it.

    Kind Regards

    Steve

    ReplyDelete
  5. Off Topic, with apologies…..

    Chris Grayling MP, the Shadow Home Secretary, is a regular visitor to our bit it seems, so will likley have visited your pages via our link to you.

    Chris has forwarded a letter, asking that we pass on his best New Year wishes and thanks to all police officers. As hyperlinks don’t always get through the spam filter, you may wish to pop over to our site for a look.

    (http://thinbluelineuk.blogspot.com)

    We are keen that the letter, received today, is seen by as many officers as possible. We have published it on our site today and also forwarded a copy to the federation offices should they wish to distribute it.

    Kind Regards

    Steve

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hand on heart, my dealing with police when driving have been amicable. On one occasion I was working on the ambulance service, and en route to work a shift at Walton-on-Thames. I had left early as I wanted to buy a new car, and there were several good car dealers on the way to my shift from where I lived in Epsom.

    Unfortunately, I found myself behind a wide load being escorted by police. I was stopped, and waiting for the all clear when a sharp eyed officer noticed my uniform shirt and tie. He approached me and asked who I was. When I explained to him that I was on an early shift at an Ambulane station, he kindly offered to ask his control to notify my control that I would be late. Grateful for this consideration I thanked him.

    Moments later, after a brief chat on his PR he returned to me and flagged me on. I was able to pass the convoy and carry on to work.

    I believe that he exercised his discretion, and reasoned that a full manned emergency ambulance to cover a busy area warrented a brief disruption to the wide load. I remain thankful for his discretion, and the discretion I have encountered from officers since leaving the service.

    I cannot agree with the knob jockey fraternity.

    ReplyDelete