Thursday 7 May 2009

Cycling Policemen - or not!


What on earth is the world coming to, PC Tony Cobban (on left of picture) would not sit on a bike for a publicity photo at the launch of a police crime awareness campaign because he had not passed his cycling proficiency test. ( normally sat by children)

His useless excuse was that he was being cautious because he had not passed his proficency test. In this day and age you have to cover all bases - it's the way of the world.

So it's quite possible that if you are unluckly enough to be mugged when PC Cobban is on patrol, the chances are that he won't intervene because he may to complete a risk assessment determining if his self defence training is adequate.

How a jobsworth or someone as stupid as him is actually employed as a policeman is beyond belief.

Saturday 2 May 2009

So called Traffic Calming & Road Markings

What on earth is happening to our roads & streets, everywhere you go there are speed humps, chicanes and more white and yellow paint than Picasso used in a lifetime. Why do we have speed humps, they cause damage to suspension and tyres on cars, they affect ambulances, police and fire engines reducing the response times to incidents.

What is with these chicanes where cars are drawn together and priority is given to vehicles in one direction. They are dangerous, visitors are unsure of who has priority and the holdups cause both frustration and excess CO2 emitted by stationary vehicles. Note: a vehicle is at its most in-efficient when idling.

Road markings are everywhere, hatchings at junctions, bus lanes where few buses are actually seen, no car lanes ( who can go in a no car lane and why?). Worst of all bus lanes in place at off peak hours, no conformity - in Leeds bus lanes only operate weekdays from 7am to 9pm, and 5pm until 7pm, in Newcastle bus lanes operate all day until 7pm. Bus lanes that change without warning, hatched crossings where it is near impossible not to get trapped within.

Stupid changes to lanes, more signs than than a deaf and dumb conference and a more confusing picture for motorists than an abstract painter on LSD.

Trying to find your way around a place you are unfamiliar with, is hard enough, doing so while adhering to these ridiculous 'rules' make it nearly impossible.

Enough is enough!! At least London are experimenting with the removal of traffic lights, as when they break down, the traffic rate increases.

Why do they have traffic lights all day on some roundabouts, they are only needed during peak times, and they may not be needed at all if the experiment in the previous paragraph proves correct.