I currently live in USA - returning to UK later this year and a Octy 2 L&K Estate.

However, thought you all might like this. I have just watched a News report that went out with a State Trooper on Interstate (Motorway) patrol to investigate speeding and driving performance. Reporter noted that the Trooper was not reacting to the traffic that was driving at 75-80 in a 65 limit area, troopers response was that the weather was fine, the traffic was flowing smoothly and that his getting involved would only cause congestion and traffic bunching which could be dangerous. Just after making this statement he 'gunned' his cruiser and with all lights flashing pulled over a driver - not for speeding but for tailgating and aggresive driving. Doesn't it make you weep for the standard of policing in the UK - stick speed cameras everywhere, blame everything on "speeding" and stick the motorist for huge fines while ignoring the real causes of accidents - like aggresive driving, tailgating and poor road design and maintenance.

I respect the Troopers here, I have no respect whatsoever for the UK Police who have surrendered and pretence at sensible policing in favour of blind obedience. I am 60 years old and regret the utter contempt most of the UK population (at least everyone I know) now have for the Police. But unless there is some return to common sense then that comtempt will grow. But - why should they care? - no one in the UK can do anything about it! Jut get used to the Police State which will be complete when the government can track your every move through road pricing. It's 1984 but worse.

I currently live in USA - returning to UK later this year and a Octy 2 L&K Estate.

However' date=' thought you all might like this. I have just watched a News report that went out with a State Trooper on Interstate (Motorway) patrol to investigate speeding and driving performance. Reporter noted that the Trooper was not reacting to the traffic that was driving at 75-80 in a 65 limit area, troopers response was that the weather was fine, the traffic was flowing smoothly and that his getting involved would only cause congestion and traffic bunching which could be dangerous. Just after making this statement he 'gunned' his cruiser and with all lights flashing pulled over a driver - not for speeding but for tailgating and aggresive driving. Doesn't it make you weep for the standard of policing in the UK - stick speed cameras everywhere, blame everything on "speeding" and stick the motorist for huge fines while ignoring the real causes of accidents - like aggresive driving, tailgating and poor road design and maintenance.

I respect the Troopers here, I have no respect whatsoever for the UK Police who have surrendered and pretence at sensible policing in favour of blind obedience. I am 60 years old and regret the utter contempt most of the UK population (at least everyone I know) now have for the Police. But unless there is some return to common sense then that comtempt will grow. But - why should they care? - no one in the UK can do anything about it! Jut get used to the Police State which will be complete when the government can track your every move through road pricing. It's 1984 but worse.[/quote']

never a truer word said m8. big bro is watchin you :thumbdwn:

Its too true, everything is blamed on speeding more and more, which is not the case.

If police in london spent more time looking at the appauling driving rather than speeds people are doing it would be a much much safer place.

Einsteins theory of Reality:

"Less flesh and blood policing + more plastic cops + more cameras = ROBOCOP"

...give it ten years and we'll be being done for farting in public by an overgrown baked bean tin with a finger containing a built in pencil.

Hi

From my knowledge from TV programmes, so clearly extensive , two things particularly come to mind.

1) That a police office intending to question a suspect (not necessarily known to be an offender at that point) always has his hand on his gun holster. No doubt necessary in the US but heaven forfend if we ever get to that stage in the UK. Give me speed cameras and fines any day.

2) US police have recognised that 90 mph chases can endanger innocent bystanders and thus follow "joyriders" at a safe speed, and employ other tactics - e.g. nail-ropes across a road to slow down the offender in another way.

Exactly what happens in New York (i.e. high density people area), I don't know.

Seems to me that the UK has things to learn and things to fear.

Regards

Mo

Completely agree, The amount of idiots on these roads is ridiculous, so many A**e holes that drive about 2 cm away from the back of you car, with no intention of overtaking just for the hell of it?. Its not like these are talented drivers, if you broke they would just plow into the back of you, in which most wont be insured. The police and the government make you feel so bitter towards this country, and its only getting worse..........

I dislike cameras as they only concentrate on pure speed, rather than inappropriate speed or anything else which may be wrong with your driving/ car :grumpy:

Last night I followed a chap in a vauxhall astra (on the reg plate was OLD ) he sat on or under the speed limit all the way, including when he went through 2 sets of red lights

He will never get done by a speed camera but my god his is more dangrous!

The US police do go very OTT sometimes but on the other hand they are friendly enough to let you sit in their patrol car and have some pictures taken (ok I was a tourist).

I think our police force has been over there a few times to learn a few things but so has the yanks been over here, together maybe then might find a happen medium

or the silly old tart i was following the other night doing 25 in a 30 then braked hard at a speed camera

Having recently come back from Florida for my hols, the big thing you notice (where we were anyway) was that every-one obeyed the speed limits, and drove in a curteous way. There was no aggression towards letting people in or out...however that may have something to do with them owning guns :(

Only problem I see with US roads is a distinct lack of signage for directions.

Having had a chat with one Deputy Sherriff, I cant say I was overly impressed by him compared to the UK bobby.

Happens all the time, that one... I've actually overtaken a car like that once. Speed limit was 40 mph, car was doing 35, dropped down to 25 mph. I thought - s*d it I'll go past (this was in my old car, not exactly boy racer material )

Person being overtaken was flashing lights, beeping horn, the lot. I never exceed the speed limit during the overtaking manoevre.

Normally I'd stay behind but that speed diff was so large and the road was empty (this was at 9pm as well, not really suitable to beep one's horn either IMHO).

Must admit I'd love to see more focus on driving skill rather than speed-only. That said, I wouldnt like the 'all-guns-blazing' approach much either

Happens all the time' date=' that one... I've actually overtaken a car like that once. Speed limit was 40 mph, car was doing 35, dropped down to 25 mph. I thought - s*d it I'll go past (this was in my old car, not exactly boy racer material )

Person being overtaken was flashing lights, beeping horn, the lot. I never exceed the speed limit during the overtaking manoevre.

Normally I'd stay behind but that speed diff was so large and the road was empty (this was at 9pm as well, not really suitable to beep one's horn either IMHO).

Must admit I'd love to see more focus on driving skill rather than speed-only. That said, I wouldnt like the 'all-guns-blazing' approach much either [/quote']

Just a quick addition - I have had two punctures on Interstate 95 while in the USA. On each occasion a Police Car stopped to ask if I needed any help, when I said that I was okay (I CAN change a wheel!) in both instances the Policeman (well one was a policewoman) waited with with the emergency "lights" flashing about 25 yards behind me until I had finished and moved off.

US cops have a lot of bad press in Europe - and I am sure there are some bad ones - but all those I have met have been courteous and polite.

sounds like the US is yet another country that does it better than the uk :( I still say that in all the (european) countries i've d4iven in , here is by far the worst for driving standards and agression - last year we did 2500 miles round the south of france and saw far more bad driving in the 1 1/2 hour trip from the ferry to home than we did in the rest of the trip :thumbdwn:

going to the states next year so will find out

looking forward to driving over there - a drive through death valley must be better than a drive through london

Just a quick addition - I have had two punctures on Interstate 95 while in the USA. On each occasion a Police Car stopped to ask if I needed any help' date=' when I said that I was okay (I CAN change a wheel!) in both instances the Policeman (well one was a policewoman) waited with with the emergency "lights" flashing about 25 yards behind me until I had finished and moved off.

US cops have a lot of bad press in Europe - and I am sure there are some bad ones - but all those I have met have been courteous and polite.[/quote']

Just like to point out that the cops deal with a lot more than speeding motorists. Robberies, thefts, burglaries, rapes, drunks, fights, domestics, druggies, deceptions, etc etc, in fact all the crap the rest of us don't want to know about.

My experience with the police in the US has been very positive too - asked a Trooper for directions to a place selling food on a Sunday, he actually rang around to find one for us. Well impressed.

Police in the UK certainly does need to deal with a lot, and unfortunately there is a lack of respect for them in a lot of places. I'm sure they do some good work too, but when you have the experiences I've had with the law (friendly as they were) during a break-in, and also a getting run over by a drunk driver (nearly killing me), when I gave details of a witness, numberplate of the car and NOTHING was done, it is hard to see my level of expecting the best go back up...

Same with councils, who appear to be great at 'pass the buck' but not at sorting things.

As for druggies - yeah I wish.. Not seen much action taken, even though they get caught and released on a regular basis. Soz bit grumpy today :(

I have noticed a common thread in a lot of postings about the British police. It is a shame they have got such a bad name. I have to say its not an easy job to do. Contrary to common belief there is no fun or pleasure in issuing tickets to motorists. There is also no fun in talking to relatives of recently deceased drivers or watching those drivers being cut out of their cars. I do exercise discretion and I am polite. I do understand people have a lot of bad experiences to share but really we are not all bad and believe it or not there is a purpose to what we do. The roads could be a lot more dangerous.

Anyway, sorry about that I've had my say, just felt I should stick up for the police for a change.

Just like to point out that the cops deal with a lot more than speeding motorists. Robberies, thefts, burglaries, rapes, drunks, fights, domestics, druggies, deceptions, etc etc, in fact all the crap the rest of us don't want to know about.

agreed - but a while ago we were told they could not attend our 999 call when we were under seige by a gang of the local teenager asbo collectors for a hour or two due to a lack of people which is bad enough ( we suffered criminal damage then and were in genuine fear of the incident ).

The very next day , in the same police area they manage to find 12 coppers for a big speed trap.

Yes they do some crap jobs but to use the age old cliche ... they should put more effort into the things that are really important - the things that are ruining peoples lives now. Yes i know they get orders from above , but those orders dont tell them to hide behind hedges with a laser gun

I have always had a very healthy respect for the police but the way they go for the easy target of speeding has totally changed the way i look at them

and thats before the subject of getting off when caught driving at 160 mph - " to evaluate a car" comes up

sounds like the US is yet another country that does it better than the uk :( I still say that in all the (european) countries i've d4iven in , here is by far the worst for driving standards and agression -

Yes, lane discipline in the UK IS absolutely appalling, but as for being the worst drivers in Europe, I think not. I lived in Spain, and I visit it 3-4 times a year and I recently went from Barcelona to Seville, which is about 750 miles. In the one day return trip, I saw no less than 3 (three) crashes containing 11 cars. Of course, this does happen in the UK (see 'M6'), but an English friend who lives in Spain still, told me that Spain had multiple times the road accidents that UK does, per head of population.

Tailgating is a national sport in Spain, and overtaking within 1.5 metres of your rear bumper an art, not to mention a quick headlight flash to remind you to pull into the slower-moving traffic as soon as a car-length gap becomes available, preferably at 100+ km/h.

And Italy!!! Don't even get me started there. Hard Shoulder??? No, Lane 0.5. My Italian friend tells me the secret to crossing the Road in Rome is to actually AVOID eye contact with drivers. I'm guessing this is similar to the concept of not looking a predator in the eye directly, or this will be seen as a provocation, for which you will suffer. Oh, it can't be that italian drivers are all inconsiderate, I think they just sell the cars there with Dents as an optional extra

I think we are all sorry, and sad, that the Poice in the UK have got such a bad name. BUT THEY ASKED FOR IT. When speed cameras came in and common sense went out the window then a feeling of injustice was born in the average man - and that injustice was targeted at the police. That was coupled with the wild talk of a few Chief Constables who seemed to align exceeding the speed limit in any circumstances with the worst criminality.

Policing in any country only works with the cooperation and acceptance of the population, when the UK Police started their attack on motorists they began to lose that cooperation - and inevitably it extends into all parts of their activities and not just motoring.

If the Police want to regain the publics confidence then they should know what to do, unfortunately their leaders are wrapped up in meeting "Targets" so they won't change.

Solution - Chief Constables should be elected by the people and not appointed. Then we could elect Chief Constables who had the same priorities as the electorate.

going to the states next year so will find out

looking forward to driving over there - a drive through death valley must be better than a drive through london

Just come back from 3 weeks hols on West Coast in which we did 3000+ miles in a rented Chevy Impala - it was like driving a sprung mattress.

A drive through Death Valley IS much better than London. But MUCH hotter (out of the car). Strange to be at over 100 F in the valley bottom and still see snow on the mountains.

But the distances are huge - much larger than London - well over 50 miles from one side of the Death Valley national park to the other. We ended up staying in the middle of the valley at Furnace Creek Ranch for 2 days - nice but not cheap. They have the lowest golf course in the world - over 100ft below sea level.

As yet have little experience of Spain so cannot really comment there but although i wasn't impressed with italian driving I didn't witness the problems andmost importantly - the agression over here . I think this is made worse but its just that total disregard for other road users that gets me down.

And for the lack of respect for police .... when i can be in my own home in genuine fear for the safety of myself , my family and our property and they cannot respond to a 999 call made in very obvious distress then its a very sad reflection on them when they would rather divert the manpower to screwing the motorist. I will add that when the second call went in telling them i was going out "suitably protected " ... they bl**dy soon turned out then .....no doudbt to protect the scum from the nasty man trying to protect himself.

The respect is gone they should look at recovering it not provocking the hard working population even more.

Yes' date=' lane discipline in the UK IS absolutely appalling, but as for being the worst drivers in Europe, I think not. I lived in Spain, and I visit it 3-4 times a year and I recently went from Barcelona to Seville, which is about 750 miles. In the one day return trip, I saw no less than 3 (three) crashes containing 11 cars. Of course, this does happen in the UK (see 'M6'), but an English friend who lives in Spain still, told me that Spain had multiple times the road accidents that UK does, per head of population.

Tailgating is a national sport in Spain, and overtaking within 1.5 metres of your rear bumper an art, not to mention a quick headlight flash to remind you to pull into the slower-moving traffic as soon as a car-length gap becomes available, preferably at 100+ km/h.

And Italy!!! Don't even get me started there. Hard Shoulder??? No, Lane 0.5. My Italian friend tells me the secret to crossing the Road in Rome is to actually AVOID eye contact with drivers. I'm guessing this is similar to the concept of not looking a predator in the eye directly, or this will be seen as a provocation, for which you will suffer. Oh, it can't be that italian drivers are all inconsiderate, I think they just sell the cars there with Dents as an optional extra [/quote']