Mr. Plod the Policeman

[JustMe]

I have been wondering what sort of things people think that our friendly local Plod ought to do but do not do. My own absolute first is dealing with people who park on pavements and obstruct pedestrians by so doing. In other words not the people who stick a couple of wheels onto a wide pavement to allow more space for traffic to get past.

 

The second thing I think they need to deal with is adults and older teens who ride bicycles on the pavement often with little regard for the safety of pedestrians and indeed sometimes with what seems like a "get out of my way" attitude. This needs stopping before someone gets hurt. Would also add cyclists on the street to this. One way means one way including pedal cycles.

 

Would of course love to add dogs fouling our streets to this but I thought community wardens were meant to deal with that.

 

And although they have done something about this recently I think more should be done to deal with the menace of people driving along playing loud music to the annoyance of the world at large. Surely this is also dangerous. How can these people hear a warning horn, or indeed a siren from an ambulance over the racket they make.

 

And, Sherlock old chap, if you are going to say there are not enough bobbies on the beat to deal with what might be regarded as lesser issues then you may well be right but let us have more bobbies either by better use of existing numbers nationwide or by convincing the government to provide more funding.

[shetlandpeat]

Nice one JM.

 

Parking on the pavement is against the law. There has been a practice of allowing this on some of the narrower streets, but still against the law. When carrying out works on the pavement, a meter is the minimum required by law as well, street furniture, well here is placed to allow 1.5 m.

It is not just the obstruction to pedestrians but the damage to the pavement and the services below them. They are not reinstated to the same levels at they would be on the road. If we were to put something along the road, generally it would go about a meter, the pavement, the legal depth for power cables (LV) is >450mm.

 

Cycling on the pavement carries substantial fines. I personally feel there should be compulsory insurance. It is accepted that younguns be allowed but only under supervision.

 

We are doing something about dog mess here too. The other mess is the mud left by some farmers on the highway. It is against the law to do that. All loose mud should be cleared from the vehicle.

 

Driving without care and attention should be prosecuted more, especially the use of electronic unnecessary gadgets. Loud music too can fall under this. You could also report them to the PRS I would imagine as the music can be heard outside and with clarity of the vehicle.

 

But, like managers, they should just DO THEIR JOB.

 

Alas we have less police on the streets so we the public should get involved, or shut up. Glad you have done something JM. More should.

[Colin]

I have been wondering what sort of things people think that our friendly local Plod ought to do but do not do.

 

My first is for them to get out of their cars and start walking. They just might see something interesting that way.

 

My own absolute first is dealing with people who park on pavements and obstruct pedestrians by so doing. In other words not the people who stick a couple of wheels onto a wide pavement to allow more space for traffic to get past.

 

I hate that as well particularly as I frequently have to step into the road to get past but, where do you draw the line on this one. It's pretty subjective as to what constitutes a 'wide' pavement.

 

The second thing I think they need to deal with is adults and older teens who ride bicycles on the pavement

 

Agreed. As a cyclist, I never ride on the pavements unless I am forced to by idiot car drivers. Even then, if there are pedestrians around, I get off and push.

 

Would of course love to add dogs fouling our streets to this but I thought community wardens were meant to deal with that.

 

I've seen more policemen than community wardens.

 

I think more should be done to deal with the menace of people driving along playing loud music to the annoyance of the world at large.

 

Irritating and annoying, yes but not (as far as I am aware) illegal. There are other, far more dangerous, activities by motorists to worry about.

[Marooned in Maywick]

 

Would of course love to add dogs fouling our streets to this but I thought community wardens were meant to deal with that.

 

I would put dog owners/walkers at the top of that list.

[sludgegulper]

I think that they are doing a grand job albeit with their limited resources.

[Marooned in Maywick]

Ah - I appear to have been responsible for a lack of clarity.

 

I simply wished to point out that dog owners/walkers should deal with the removal of their doggy deposits rather than the rest of the community relying on the Community Wardens to chase them up.

[SnowFlake]

I think more should be done to deal with the menace of people driving along playing loud music to the annoyance of the world at large. Surely this is also dangerous. How can these people hear a warning horn, or indeed a siren from an ambulance over the racket they make.

 

 

im guessing then that you would class deaf people as dangerous drivers, after all they cant hear horns or sirens. you dont need to hear horns or sirens when driving, because any decent driver will be using mirrors and there eyes! so i find your staetment highly offensive.

[JustMe]

I am pleased to see that others think there are real issues with cycling and parking on the pavement. I incline to think that it is reasonable for anyone parking partly on the pavement to leave room for a double buggy to get past and that people should never park on the pavement if doing so restricts the view of pedestrians wanting to cross the road that it becomes a safety issue. And I am not unhappy to be forced to walk in the road in narrow little backstreets.

 

Confess that there have been times when I have been very tempted to ring Mr. Plod to complain both about dangerous parking and dangerous cycling and indeed vehicles on the street outside of the permitted times and i think the only thing that has stopped me (other than my mobile being at home) is a fear that while I was making a just but not terribly serious complaint then perhaps I would be talking to a Plod or even Sherlock himself at a time when someone was trying to contact them over something much more serious.

 

I also confess that there have been times when I have felt tempted to walk over a vehicle parked in a particularly awkward place. Now I understand this might be illegal but to be honest the reason I have not done it might be more to do with the fear of falling off and breaking a bone than the fear of prosecution.

[Frances144]

What's a community warden? Are they all over Shetland? Do we have one on the Westside?

[JustMe]

I think more should be done to deal with the menace of people driving along playing loud music to the annoyance of the world at large. Surely this is also dangerous. How can these people hear a warning horn, or indeed a siren from an ambulance over the racket they make.

 

 

im guessing then that you would class deaf people as dangerous drivers, after all they cant hear horns or sirens. you dont need to hear horns or sirens when driving, because any decent driver will be using mirrors and there eyes! so i find your staetment highly offensive.

Deaf people probably compensate for their deafness by being more aware of other sensory input such as sight. However my statement was not intended to be offensive to deaf people but at the same time if people do not "need" to hear horns and sirens when they are driving then why are vehicles fitted with them?. I would think that the sort of people who are content to deliberately deprive themselves of audio sensory input while driving due to the volume of their stereo might not be decent drivers.

[shetlandpeat]

I don't think JM was singling any one out who has a disability.

Loud music not only prevents hearing a siren but more worrying is the distraction it causes to the senses.

Many modern cars are quite sound proofed, so the driver has to be even more aware.

It can also distract other road users.

[EM]

I also confess that there have been times when I have felt tempted to walk over a vehicle parked in a particularly awkward place.

I haven't tried that, but I have done worse, namely:

 

As many people will know from experience elder people, particularly women who tend to suffer from brittle bones easily break a hip in a fall and many never leave hospital afterwards.

This is an excellent point, and exactly the justification I use for my only vigilante activity. When crossing a street correctly at a pedestrian crossing sometimes a mucho-macho driver will zoom past ignoring the lights. When this happens to me while crossing, and I am within range, I have a habit of kicking the offfending vehicle strongly with the intent of indenting the panel as much as possible. The result can be spectacularly 3D. This activity is clearly "wrong" but my reasoning is that the cost and hassle caused to the driver could dissuade them from repeating the maneuver, and next time it could be a frail elderly individual subject to the bone conditions noted by strider49er.

 

I've carried this out three times now, the best being to a fancy Merc cabrio. In that case the driver stopped and tried to perform a citizen's arrest on me. I ignored him completely and proceded to walk on up the street dragging him along behind me. After 50 or so metres he gave up.

[JustMe]

I think that they are doing a grand job albeit with their limited resources.

Yes perhaps they do but part of my post was about limited resources. Something I was going to mention was the "rules" that the council have made such as the ban on drinking in public places which, judging from the empties I see, is not exactly being enforced and now a ban on smoking in any part of the bus station. Rules are made to be enforced. Otherwise what is the point of them?.

[shetlandpeat]

We are sort of lucky. We have a choice in whether we break a law or not.

This is where the problem may lie. The trivialisation of offences has lead to acceptance of more serious ones.

[Carlos]

Would also add cyclists on the street to this. One way means one way including pedal cycles.

The pedestrianisation times on the street also apply to cyclists, although there could be a fair bit of enforcement done on a lot of vehicles not following those.....