Police +VOSA roadside check in Slough today

[Sp!ke]

My journey into work was disrupted by a Police +VOSA stop check today.

They were pulling over about 30% of passing cars on the A4 in Slough this morning. Pretty slick operation, maybe 6 policemen and a dozen or so VOSA inspectors. Total delayed time only 2-3 minutes.

Despite driving the my 26 year old W123, everything checked out fine and they even commented on how nice the old girl looked.

Looked to be a few cars being taken away on low loaders so I guess they must be finding some rather illegal vehicles. Didn't see any halfords presence like others have witnessed.

They should do this more often and get more dodgy vehicles off the road. Strikes me though that the worst offenders probably don't go to work at all so doing this during rush hour may have a much lower hit rate than at other times of day.

I thought it a bit of a wasted opportunity that no-one really spoke to me other than from a distance through the window. Had I been a drink driver, no-one had the opportunity to have smelt alcohol on my breath or witnessed my behaviour and given me a breath test. A brief word would have been enough to spot and test those worse for wear.

Got to be a good thing overall though.

 

[GrahamC230K]

In that location I am sure they were finding enough problems!

 

[A-AvantGarde]

In that location I am sure they were finding enough problems!

LOL

Agree that it's got to be a good think, random roadside checks have got to be welcomed. I bet that they find other things / issues through this method too.

On a slight tangent, anyone remember the discussion / proposal about MOT's possibly falling into line with European countries and changed from every year to every two years?

 

[BTB 500]

What were they checking? Tyres etc. I assume? MOT / insurance / tax can obviously be done by ANPR without even stopping you.

Wonder if they were after dodgy (aka "show") number plates?

 

[gbjeppm]

We have had an ANPR check on the A24 just round the corner from where I live, on 4 different occasions in the last 2 weeks, haven't seen anybody being pulled though.

 

[Sp!ke]

They checked my tyres, steering (for play), lights and numberplate. Didnt seem to bother to look at my tax disk or ask for any documents so I guess they just knew from using ANPR.

 

[fuzzer]

i got stopped with one of these at the end of last year.

Complete waste of my time. took 20 mins and made my late for work

To add insult to injury i was waved through to the comment of " were not even gonna bother looking cause your car's an '06"

I was absolutely fuming...!

 

[television]

On a slight tangent, anyone remember the discussion / proposal about MOT's possibly falling into line with European countries and changed from every year to every two years?

The talk are still going on and nothing fixed as of yet. I do know that officials are going around and checking waiting rooms and toilets,,, when something definite comes I will post it

 

[Spinal]

Got stopped by something similar about 2 years ago in central London. Seemed more like a training excercise as there were easily 50 or so cops hanging around...

Funnily enough, my tax disk wasn't their biggest concern once they found that the first box they opened in my car contained 0.689" barrels (which though from a set of Tippman A5s look quite similar to those from a M16 I'm told).

Took me 30 minutes to explain that I was the chair of my colleges paintball club and was bringing the equipment to our weekly training....

Michele

 

[BTB 500]

I got stopped (on foot) by the Police near Trafalgar Square because I was carrying a monopod. Had a funny conversation along the lines of "so let's get this straight sir, it's a tripod with only one leg?!" Had to show the contents of my camera bag to convince them!

 

[Shude]

i got stopped with one of these at the end of last year.

Complete waste of my time. took 20 mins and made my late for work

To add insult to injury i was waved through to the comment of " were not even gonna bother looking cause your car's an '06"

I was absolutely fuming...!

Of course it is possible that a vehicle from that year could have bald tyres, dodgy plates, blown bulbs, mis-aligned headlamps or other mechanical defects due to accidents etc but apparently they don't need to check for that!

On a slight tangent, anyone remember the discussion / proposal about MOT's possibly falling into line with European countries and changed from every year to every two years?

IMHO the MOT should be annual starting on the car's 1st birthday, not the 3rd! See my above comments for why. You could buy a car, brand new at a stealership and then never take it to a workshop for 3 years with the current system.

 

[robert.saunders]

We operate these in P'boro on a regular basis, joint effort with DVLA, VOSA, local authority (parking, untaxed vehicle), Police etc. Works well and does have an impact on the high number of foreign registered vehicles (of which there are a lot in P'boro) as well as those UK-registered in general states of roadworthiness

 

[jaymanek]

when i was stopped a couple of weeks back for black number plates the officer tried to tell me that my tyres were worn.. when i tried to explain that these were less than a month old, he was having none of it...

then he got his tyre depth guage out and i proved him wrong..

 

[A-AvantGarde]

when i was stopped a couple of weeks back for black number plates the officer tried to tell me that my tyres were worn.. when i tried to explain that these were less than a month old, he was having none of it...

then he got his tyre depth guage out and i proved him wrong..

Sorry, but Black number plates on a modern car is just asking to be pulled over.

 

[mattc]

Funnily enough, my tax disk wasn't their biggest concern once they found that the first box they opened in my car contained 0.689" barrels (which though from a set of Tippman A5s look quite similar to those from a M16 I'm told).

the M16 is a 5.56mm round (0.22" - yes approx I know). 0.689" falls somewhere between a 600 and a 700 Nitro express elephant gun! (think you average white hunter from 1910 with a very heavy double barrelled shotgun). If the numpty thought your barrels look like an M16 he/she needs some serious training. but hey; we are safe in their hands eh (computer says.... )

 

[jaymanek]

Sorry, but Black number plates on a modern car is just asking to be pulled over.

this was on my W123.... infact the other officer said he wasnt sure if it was allowed or not, he had to check with the control room!

 

[mattc]

this was on my W123.... infact the other officer said he wasnt sure if it was allowed or not, he had to check with the control room!

Forgive my ignorance but is the rule something about over 25years old?

 

[jaymanek]

cars after 1973 cant have black/silver number plates... but as most policemen are fairly ignorant as to mercededs models, i have managed to get away with it for ages... ive put the normal ones on now... did the same with the SEC as if they pull me in that they will probably have me for the tints too!

 

[crockers]

when i was stopped a couple of weeks back for black number plates the officer tried to tell me that my tyres were worn.. when i tried to explain that these were less than a month old, he was having none of it...

then he got his tyre depth guage out and i proved him wrong..

I think he was just trying to prove your boast about having 8mm wasn't true........lol:bannana:

 

[Apial]

If you are in a hurry, can't you bring your car back at a later time for inspection?