So, in a hypothetical situation that they pulled me over, would they be legally able to do so JUST to have a chat about what I'm wearing or would they have to go through the preamble of checking my licence and identity in order to MAKE it legal?
Nigel, I'm just supporting your right to test ride MVs naked , (assuming you're wearing a helment of course and small children can't see your other helmet).
They can pull you over for any reason, I used the licence and identity as just an example. Any reason to stop you is legal, always has been always will be Firstly though, you have done exactly what I said this thread was not intended to do and that is start a debate. This thread was not aimed at those whi have no issue wearing all the kit. Those of us who frequent this board I would suggest ride with appropriate kit 99% of the time and in the 1% of times I bet there is still more cover and protection than a pair of shorts, T shirt and flip flops and this is the group that being stopped is aimed at. Even wearing all the kit is no guarantee of protection. I can testify to that. The kit I was wearing caused my life crippling injuries. But as has been mentioned, if stopping someone and advising them of the potential pitfalls of not wearing proper kit saves one bad injury, then it has achieved something bearing in mind that one of the primary functions of a Constable is the protection of life and property using whatever means at their disposal. Someone said that they can ride stark b@llock naked providing they are wearing a securely fastened crash helmet (aside from any decentcy laws being broken) and it would only affect any injury claim up to a maximum of 25% and in many cases probably nothing at all for contrib, but if a little bit of advice is going to prevent just one such injury with a youngster (who are the most likely) then I don't see any issue for complaint. After all it isn't going to affect you is it? Or is it?
I think this one would always start a debate, even though thats not the intention of the post, as the Police have limited resources and is it the best use of their time, some might say it is. If they do it right and only pull over people who are blatanty not wearing proper gear and look like they need education it might work. I think if I was stopped for wearing what look like normal jeans (but are decent Kevlar ones) and got lectured I'd just be a bit annoyed, but maybe i'm not who they would target. If i'm wearing a mankini then fair enough . Back to your original post though, sorry I can't help, I've crashed wearing normal jeans and a good leather jacket with armour and ironically my legs were perfectly fine but I fractured my elbow . Helmet was a right off after sliding along on my face, so would put me off ever wearing an open face helmet.
Apologies. I wasn't trying to hijack the thread. I was just trying to get a bit of light-hearted stuff going on in the lounge. Something this forum desperately needs at the moment as it seems to be withering on the vine. I understand the well-meaning nature of the police pulling people over to 'help' them but it still smacks of the kindly, intelligent uncle lecturing the thicky youngster about why what he's doing is wrong. A touch patronising, IMO. The UK has pretty much the safest roads in the entire world. One of the very few things that Britain leads the world in these days. I understand that you don't end up in that position by resting on your laurels but, at the same time, it's well known that the police are underfunded and overstretched. Wouldn't it make more sense to get the police out of their cars and onto the beat? Seeing as we seem, to the casual observer at least, to be comprehensively failing to apprehend and prosecute the ne'er-do-wells. A cynic might say that it's much easier to go after the motorists.
A couple of points Firstly. If I had wanted to walk the beat, I would never have gone on traffic in the first place and enjoyed 95% of my service or obtained the qualifications, experience or knowledge that I have been fortunate enough to obtain. Traffic is a specialist area. I was fortunate enough to join when we had a full time road safety department and traffic management team. We all had specialist areas of knowledge and experience which by and large has vanished now, but investigation, protection and prevention has always been part of the remit. Once upon a time you were not even considered a proper traffic cop until you had every licence available. I still regret not renewing by PCV anf HGV licences Secondly, I wish that every motorists could spend at least one shift witha traffic cop to get a real flavour of what they do and what there role actually is.It is not just about prosecutng people. Thirdly, traffic cops make more crime arrests than any other department just through carrying out routine stops. Apparently my old partner and I still hold the record for te number of arrests in one set of nights set 20 + years ago and they were all quality nicks, burglary, theft, GBH, 1 attempted murder. It is very easy to be cycnical and I am not defending the Police as the job is very different now to the one I joined, but one of the requirements of the role of Constable (which is what all ranks still remain despite fancy names) is the protection of life and property. If offering advice is going to avoid the need to attend a crash where an exposed body has been dragged down the road for a few hundred feet, (which I have seen many times) then job welll done and a lot of money saved. This has nothing to do about prosecuting motorists, it is about educating.
OK. So if the aim is to educate why don't the police offer a course in proper motorcycle clothing and preparedness? That way, any people who wanted to be 'educated' could turn up and get the advice they're looking for. That way they could see all the people who wanted their advice in groups. Save time and money? Got to be better than wasting the time of people who don't want to speak to them by pulling them over? I don't doubt that the police do an extremely difficult job with sometimes limited resources. Certainly it must be a VERY frustrating job that I wouldn't thank you for but if resources are so limited wouldn't it better to spend the time where it's actually appreciated?
