I read a news report this morning about a Polish registered car travelling the wrong way up a motorway, colliding with a Jaguar going in the correct direction and causing the death of 5 people. This isn't an isolated incident, about 3 years ago I was doing some agency driving in the winter months, when out of the early morning gloom on the A1M, a foreign registered lorry came hurtling towards me, luckily being early morning the road was pretty empty and there was plenty of room for evasive action. Unfortunately with the relaxation of cabotage rules, and the disparity in fuel prices between here and the continent making it profitable for european lorries to ply their trade over here, this isn't going to get better any time soon. Especially when you take into account the fact that fines for driving offenses are pretty much disregarded once the offended leaves these shores, and it is too much time and trouble to try and chase them for payment.
Its not just major offenses, but a vast multitude of minor ones as well, you drive a HGV about with no number plate on for any length of time and you are pretty sure to receive a fine for your crime. Yet you take note of just how many non British registered vehicles are tramping up and down the highways and byways of this nation without plates on their trailers, or quite often with different plates to the towing vehicle. They are pretty much disregarded by traffic officers, as they know the fixed penalty they issue will be ripped up once they are out of sight. Contrast this to the French system, where offenders are marched to the nearest cash point to withdraw the money for the fine. No doubt if we implement this system it will breach someones human rights.
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Its not just major offenses, but a vast multitude of minor ones as well, you drive a HGV about with no number plate on for any length of time and you are pretty sure to receive a fine for your crime. Yet you take note of just how many non British registered vehicles are tramping up and down the highways and byways of this nation without plates on their trailers, or quite often with different plates to the towing vehicle. They are pretty much disregarded by traffic officers, as they know the fixed penalty they issue will be ripped up once they are out of sight. Contrast this to the French system, where offenders are marched to the nearest cash point to withdraw the money for the fine. No doubt if we implement this system it will breach someones human rights.
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