Mud-club
Chat & Social => The Bar - General Chat => Topic started by: muky-kid. on June 16, 2005, 21:56:29
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:D Evening all..
Whilst out and about in my van today i saw parked in a layby just before a busy motorway junction a mobile emmisions testing van, which was accompanied by a couple of traffic cops and cones directing traffic into the layby for what i presume or make out an emmisions test. Whether this is voluntary or not im not sure :?
Are they just scientists doing a survey, or is there a darker side to there activities i.e if they catch say 7 out of 10 vehicles breaking the emmisisons law, does that mean the minimum CO levels for vehicles is going to be reduced even thurther :?
I tried to get back there with my Rangie to see what they would make of it, whilst running on gas, but never made it :( If they were just enviromentalists who had hired the equipment for propergander i think they would have dived out in front of the Rangie thinking all there christmasess had come at once.. :lol:
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Never mess with these guys they have the power to spoil your day. :roll:
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just ask guy how much fun he has doin that !
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Are they just scientists doing a survey, or is there a darker side to there activities i.e if they catch say 7 out of 10 vehicles breaking the emmisisons law, does that mean the minimum CO levels for vehicles is going to be reduced even thurther :?
That would be the civil servant mentality.... 7 out of 10 vehicles don't meet the emmission regulations... so let's lower them !
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Sounds like it could be the vehicle inspectorate. It's not just emissions they check but everything on your vehicle and can serve rectification notices for minor faults or detain the vehicle until it is repaired.
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they are doing random spot checks on vehicles to see if they comply, we had the gits down in sussex doing it , they also use it as an excuse to check over the vehicle, if you fail the roadside check they issue a ticket and nick you and then they check the mot station if you had it done recently and make sure the mot is not dodgy.
when they were here they were pulling every other van on the road, no cars or trucks just light commercials
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They also use these as an excuse to pull over vans and minibuses that might have illegal immigrants on their way to work. They actually catch a lot of people for non-related crimes through this random spot check method.
It's a pain in the butt if they can fine you for emissions. If the MOT is only a couple of months away you could have an emissions problem and not know anything about it. If they catch this during the MOT test then there's no fine, so in principle there should be no fine for on-road checks.
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If you have nothing to hide - you've nothing to worry about :wink: We welcome the Vehicle Inspectorate to check our vehicles
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I've seen them guys too
Same as, rushed home to get my LPG disco but would'nt pull me!
Try'd to drive into the layby where they were working but i got 'moved' along!
:lol:
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Yes they get good at doing a 'job lot' multi agency checks, from VI, to immigration and Social Security
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ever heard of a gv 9 same sort of thing can happen to a car and you have to get recovered by a recovery truck if its bad enough
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ever heard of a gv 9 same sort of thing can happen to a car and you have to get recovered by a recovery truck if its bad enough
Is it the gv9 that gives you 7 days to rectify the fault and in some cases a partial re-test. I might have the got the forms mixed up as I've not had a gv9 for about 10 years
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ever heard of a gv 9 same sort of thing can happen to a car and you have to get recovered by a recovery truck if its bad enough
I can arrange for the Range Rover to dissapear :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:
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ever heard of a gv 9 same sort of thing can happen to a car and you have to get recovered by a recovery truck if its bad enough
Is it the gv9 that gives you 7 days to rectify the fault and in some cases a partial re-test. I might have the got the forms mixed up as I've not had a gv9 for about 10 years
u get that for having tinted windows up here
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ever heard of a gv 9 same sort of thing can happen to a car and you have to get recovered by a recovery truck if its bad enough
Is it the gv9 that gives you 7 days to rectify the fault and in some cases a partial re-test. I might have the got the forms mixed up as I've not had a gv9 for about 10 years
u get that for having tinted windows up here
some days i should jaust stay in bed & shut the F^&k up!!
went out 2 day to get swmbo a birthday pressie & guess what,met 2 really nice police chaps who gave me a prohibition notice for having my windows tinted,had to remove them there & then so i could get it lifted n go shopping,were really sound guys aswell :evil:
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You eman you can't have tinted glass in your windows? What about Ford Galaxy's where it's standard fitment on the back? They made you remove the windows then and there?
Wow, what a place you live in.
Mike
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ur not allowed ANY tint from the b post forward ie windscreen & side windows,ur allowed any colour or strength from the b post backwards including the rear window ,had to remove the film at the side of the road n get the copper to check it so he could give me a un prohibition order
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Ah that makes some sense - but they let you do it there and then? That was OK really.
They just pulled you and asked you to do it?
Wish they'd do the same for some of the kiddies round here with their silly number plates.
Did they also check all documents?
Mike
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didnt check any of my documents what so ever,asked if i had it but didnt ask to see it ,the y pulled me & used there light meter on the windows to give a reading
ill post a pic of the notice 2 moz at some point as im away out 2 nite,they were also kind enough not to book me for havin a scooby style front plate & just asked me to change it asap
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I'm glad they didn't book you but it pisses me off they don't always ask for all papers given that halfd the country doesn't have insurance. It may be that theyw orked out you'd be likely to have them but it seems potty not to ask - same with speed camera tickets why not ask for MOT and insurance?
Fannying about with light meters - great!
Glad it worked out for you though.
Mike
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I would imagine that they merely saw a young person in a small car with lowered suspension and blackened out windows. Whilst in this case it might have been being driven carefully by someone that can actually drive they were possibly concerned by cisions of it ploughing through a bus load of nuns because the driver couldn't see out of the windscreen :)
I'm a little disturbed by the fact that they were doing their job without sticking to the letter of the law seems to have caused so much anger. They could have hurled the book at him, they didn't they just wanted him to watch where he was going, sounds alright to me...
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I agree that they dealt with the tinted windows in a sensible way - but surely to goodness they should have checked MOT/Insurance at the same time?
I wouldn't say I was angry but I do find it depressing that when given the chance the powers that be don't chase up the basics like MOT/Insurance. No insurance is a major problem now and it's hard to check without asking the driver to produce the documents - as far as I know.
Mike
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nope,all on computer now,along with road tax and mot. the don't have to stop you,the summons goes straight to your door :shock:
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There is a national insurance database as well as a national mot database, you can get car tax online without having to show documents for either. The likelyhood is, they knew more about the car before they got out of the car than the owner does :)
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I didn't realise that there was an insurance database. The MOT database is surely partial as my own MOT wasn't a computerised one.
I assume the automatic summons you refer to would be from one of those roadside jobs for tax.
Mike
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no drmike,it can be for any of the three(altho as you said mot is't fully running yet,soon tho :wink: ). and then when they do away with road tax and start charging per mile,the will just tag you and plot your speed and distance,speeding ticket in the post an nobody ever saw you. welcome to 1984 :shock:
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If you have nothing to hide - you've nothing to worry about :wink: We welcome the Vehicle Inspectorate to check our vehicles
Don't be smug. It is not a case of having nothing to hide. :shock:
When everything is normal you can still get a ticket.
One of my pals with a S111 109 was pulled over at one of these checks.
They did a handbrake test.
Two beafy coppers pushed and rocked the vehicle taking up the play in the diff and failed his handbrake even though they could not push it more than the play in the diff would allow them to.
He felt very disgruntled by this. They gave him a police escort home (about 2 miles) and ordered him to get it to a MOT station to retest after rectification. Needless to say the retest passed it without anything needing to be done. What is worse he got 3 points on his licence.
It is just aggro imposed on the motorist through ignorance and the desire to find something wrong with your vehicle to book you for. If they want to they will find it. You dont have to hide it or know what you are hiding. There maybe something unknowingly hidden on your vehicle that will be a possible offence committed if a copper deems it so.
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I assume your series mate could have gone to court and disputed the 3 points etc. - not that I'm saying I would have done as it could be something of a lottery depending on the magistrate.
I wonder if this sort of thing is a result of coppers being required to get a certain number of convictions - at least in some areas. Two cops pushing against a hand brake is hardly scientific. Did they need him to propduce the MOT somewhere?
As for the 1984 point in another post - well the quite apart from the technology actually working new legistlation would be required to have you for speeding using it where there is no tangible evidence whatsoever. My little Garmin GPS unit can't always be relied on to work how far I've walked so all this fine talk of plotting all cars everywhere is IMO just that at present despite what the system manufacturers say.
If your car isn't being used on the road you can't be done for no insurance or MOT. I understood the offence was using the vehicle whie not insured/MOT'd so their computer better have som evidence of use.
God I feel old - when I were a lad ...
(For one thing cars were a lot slower and there was much less traffic and it was more expensive to own a car).
Mike
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I assume your series mate could have gone to court and disputed the 3 points etc. - not that I'm saying I would have done as it could be something of a lottery depending on the magistrate.
I wonder if this sort of thing is a result of coppers being required to get a certain number of convictions - at least in some areas. Two cops pushing against a hand brake is hardly scientific. Did they need him to propduce the MOT somewhere?
Mike
He is not one to readily go to court voluntarily, would rather have the 3 points than the hassle.
This was in Derbyshire.
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If you have nothing to hide - you've nothing to worry about :wink: We welcome the Vehicle Inspectorate to check our vehicles
Don't be smug. It is not a case of having nothing to hide. :shock:
When everything is normal you can still get a ticket.
One of my pals with a S111 109 was pulled over at one of these checks.
They did a handbrake test.
Two beafy coppers pushed and rocked the vehicle taking up the play in the diff and failed his handbrake even though they could not push it more than the play in the diff would allow them to.
He felt very disgruntled by this. They gave him a police escort home (about 2 miles) and ordered him to get it to a MOT station to retest after rectification. Needless to say the retest passed it without anything needing to be done. What is worse he got 3 points on his licence.
It is just aggro imposed on the motorist through ignorance and the desire to find something wrong with your vehicle to book you for. If they want to they will find it. You dont have to hide it or know what you are hiding. There maybe something unknowingly hidden on your vehicle that will be a possible offence committed if a copper deems it so.
Not being smug at all - I think you will find that 99.9% of roadside checks are carried out in a friendly manner. If I were your pal that had been pulled I would definately be seeking further advice to clear my name and licence - I certainly wouldnt put up with it and settle for 3 points :roll: If it had been persued further maybe the coppers in question would have been educated into the world of the Series 3 and gained some valuable knowledge for future roadside checks :wink:
The aim of the first post by myself was to highlight that some people will knowingly get into an unroadworthy vehicle and drive it on the highway and they should be worried about the possible consequencies. The point being made is that if you are a genuine motorist you shouldnt worry about these roadside checks as they are there to weed out the law breakers.
We get checked in our work vehicles regularly especially at this time of year, and once we have been checked it is re-assuring to know that the vehicle has a clean bill of health.
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:oops: apologies for accusing you of being smug.
I feel that for some people it is easy to say that the law is on your side etc but the real life world of practicality makes one think twice before pursuing an issue. You have to be really serious in your crusade for justice ( rephrase that into legal war of attrition).
The intimidation of needing to seek justice & restitution from the courts is so overwhelmingly heavy for some in terms of expense and time that accepting the fine and the points is unfortunately the most expedient option. Particularly if you just happen to live in a village, rural community where you more easily stand out in a crowd driving a heavily modified Landie.
For the ordinary citizen without a lot of financial clout, legal representation is but a myth under these circumstances. If it is covered on a legal representation insurance policy, then it is achievable. Sadly some of these types of cases are not covered by such.
The last and hopefully only legal case I have had to endure (not going into details) was charged by my legal representative at 150 UK pounds per hour and took 6 months to resolve. :evil: Thankfully I won. :D
I would not like to go through that again.
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I thought that in this case it would be just pitch up at a magistrates court and put your case before the magistrates. I don't think you'd need or really want legal representation in that case just put your case:
They said my handbarke was faulty because two cops could move it a bit
MOT passed with no changes made
Explain about transmission brakes
If you're lucky the magistrates understand this and you get off. In fact I'd have thought you could write to the cops and explain and they'd let you off. I had a wonderful excahnge of letters with the local speed camera bods who were actually very helpful and nice about my wriggling. Needless to say I got nowhere.
All that said I'm not sure I'd gamble the time but as things stand on 6 points I probably would!
Mike
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Still think courts are intimidating places and without proper legal representation it is possibe to dig a hole for yourself from which it is impossible to climb out. That is why some folks shy away from that process.
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You're probably right but I know people who will go along in their suit and talk sensibly to magistrates or judges and get results. I have known magistrates and while some are odd others seem to have a good supply of common sense.
Having legal representation for some things can work against you and some solicitors would say if you can manage alone it can make a good result more likely as you come across as 'the man in the street' who is being dealt with harshly.
I probably depends who you are and how well you can express yourself (and any previous experiences you've had in court rooms!).
Mike
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Brand new Disco last year, left the dealers, check was about 600 yards from the dealer, failed the test. taken back to the dealer, okay, back to the police, failed again.
Made the papers! Police appologised and let them off.... but what about all that got caught :?:
Fact is, you can't get the police to do anything for you, but drive a car and you're a criminal. Try having a "Hot Hatch" as a second car..... they follow you for ages waiting for you to do the slightest thing to give you a tug. Fact is that they are after statistics now, not to protect the public.
Nuff Said.
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lowey - no need to apologise :wink: Is there any chance your pal could use legal aid, SWMBO and me have used it in the past to get results for a motoring matter and a civil matter (albeit no hefty coppers were involved) and won both times :D as we dont have the finacial clout to take on the authorities privately. Citizens advice bureau are very good and also some local solicitors have a free one hour advice session, well worth it if it gets a result in your favour :D