I got stopped by the Police for following road signs
davmaggs
Posts: 1,008
Part of the main road going from Putney swimming pool up the to the main highstreet has been closed off so cyclists have to follow a diversion around the back roads when heading towards Sheen. The thing is that the side road that you come out of at the end of the diversion leaves you 20m inside the roadworks and having to cycle against the one-way signs.
Anyway this morning I spotted two coppers waiting in the traffic cones. I loitered for a while at the junction deciding what to do as I knew they were looking for cyclists when they attempted to edge behind the signage so that I wouldn't see them. As I had no choice I pulled out and went for it (slowly) and sure enough I got stopped.
They were polite and reasonable once I pointed out that I'd followed all the diversion signs to the letter and had been brought out into a point in the works where I'd have to break the rules. Prior to that I think that they'd been waiting to leap on an excuse, but deflated when I pointed at the signs. Anyway they made me wheel the bike the last 20m and I was on my way.
I'm not bitter about the encounter as they were reasonable, but what strikes me as wasting everyone's time (and budget) is that two uniformed coppers are guarding roadworks at 0930, whilst Putney police regularly fail to attend 999 calls on the high street. Also it is rather petty.
I did advise them that they could end their task simply by moving the diversion sign, but their answer was that they'd call the council (no chance). Instead they seem intent on standing there there nabbling people and not fixing the cause. No doubt once it gets dark they won't be out on patrol.
Anyway this morning I spotted two coppers waiting in the traffic cones. I loitered for a while at the junction deciding what to do as I knew they were looking for cyclists when they attempted to edge behind the signage so that I wouldn't see them. As I had no choice I pulled out and went for it (slowly) and sure enough I got stopped.
They were polite and reasonable once I pointed out that I'd followed all the diversion signs to the letter and had been brought out into a point in the works where I'd have to break the rules. Prior to that I think that they'd been waiting to leap on an excuse, but deflated when I pointed at the signs. Anyway they made me wheel the bike the last 20m and I was on my way.
I'm not bitter about the encounter as they were reasonable, but what strikes me as wasting everyone's time (and budget) is that two uniformed coppers are guarding roadworks at 0930, whilst Putney police regularly fail to attend 999 calls on the high street. Also it is rather petty.
I did advise them that they could end their task simply by moving the diversion sign, but their answer was that they'd call the council (no chance). Instead they seem intent on standing there there nabbling people and not fixing the cause. No doubt once it gets dark they won't be out on patrol.
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Yeah, I saw them this morning. I must admit I didn't really understand why there were two policeman policing the very end of the roadworks - if you don't want people going the wrong way put coppers at the place the works start, no?0
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This month's figures not looking up to scratch perhaps?1985 Mercian King of Mercia - work in progress (Hah! Who am I kidding?)
Pinnacle Monzonite
Part of the anti-growth coalition0 -
I was stopped in the early hours of sunday morning on my way home from work because my tail light had gone out.
I was naffed off to say the least, Exeter that night was horrendous for fights and drunks and one of our ambulance crews was assulted by a drunk trying to help his friend. When we called the police they said they had no one to send (to an ongoing assault!!) and yet they seemed to find the time to pick me up over a tail light with had only just gone and which I could have done nothing about until daylight anyway
Methinks their priorities are wrong when they will allow a paramedic to be assulted and yet find the time to have two coppers stop me to tell me about a tail light.Officers don't run, it's undignified and panics the men0 -
what time did you go past?
I'm half thinking about writing in a letter about wasting police time, blah blah blah.
The comedy moment was me loitering for a length of time trying to see what they were up to, and them finally seing me (too busy talking) and then trying to edge back behind the signage to hide. They didn't seem to think that I'd notice 4 legs hiding behind a road sign with a 3 ft gap under it.0 -
"I can SEE you!"1985 Mercian King of Mercia - work in progress (Hah! Who am I kidding?)
Pinnacle Monzonite
Part of the anti-growth coalition0 -
Similarly odd scene spied from Chelsea Bridge this am. The northbound pavement over the bridge had two parkkeepers - err - Pretend-Police Community Support wannabes, I think, at the end of the northbound pavement.
When I went past (in the road, I should point out), they were ticketing one naughty cyclist (presumably for riding on the pavement, but perhaps they had nabbed him en route to an armed robbery) and had another one standing waiting. Meanwhile, as there were two of them and they had therefore had their hands full with one ticket and one waiting, another two riders sailed by.
As you say, why not place them on the south end, and prevent riders, rather than place "gotcha - one more for the quota" (generally on CB the pavement riders are on the same side as the traffic that's flowing in their direction)?0 -
davmaggs wrote:what time did you go past?
I'm half thinking about writing in a letter about wasting police time, blah blah blah.
The comedy moment was me loitering for a length of time trying to see what they were up to, and them finally seing me (too busy talking) and then trying to edge back behind the signage to hide. They didn't seem to think that I'd notice 4 legs hiding behind a road sign with a 3 ft gap under it.
Me? About 9.25am I guess. I remember thinking at the time it seemed a bit heavy handed. But I don't think it's worth complaining about them wasting police time really. They weren't there just to chastise cyclist, I'm sure.NGale wrote:I was stopped in the early hours of sunday morning on my way home from work because my tail light had gone out.
I was naffed off to say the least
Honestly, I can't see your problem here. You were riding at night without a rear light! They were right to stop you. I guess had they, at that very minute, been separating a knife fight then you'd have got clean away with it, but then again you may have been mown down by a lorry 5 minutes later because you were invisible.
In short - just because other people are doing WORSE things and getting away with them, this doesn't give anyone any reasons to complain about getting done for whatever minor thing they get caught for (red light jumpers, this is for you too).0 -
Passed two PCSO's on (very creaky) bikes near Tooting Bec on Friday. About 19:50, and neither had lights on. Neither looked totally in control of their bike either. Halfwits!1985 Mercian King of Mercia - work in progress (Hah! Who am I kidding?)
Pinnacle Monzonite
Part of the anti-growth coalition0 -
Obviously you wheren't following signs as you where cycling against a one way sign. Which would suggest you went through a no entry sign.
If your sat nav told you to drive down a rail road, would you do it?0 -
gaz545 wrote:Obviously you wheren't following signs as you where cycling against a one way sign. Which would suggest you went through a no entry sign.
If your sat nav told you to drive down a rail road, would you do it?
With all due respect he totally was following the signs and din't go through a no entry sign (I know as I have also followed them). The dumb thing is that if the diversion went one street and about 100 yards further then there would be no need to police it.0 -
To be fair to the Police, I'm sure that at every meeting they have with busybodies from the community in some areas, one of the top complaints from them is cyclists behaviour. Campaigns like this are both petty and a waste of time, but they need to be seen to take action in the areas in which people have raised concerns. Even if these people are clearly idiots.0
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Shoulda D locked the pair of 'em and and fled to Epping Forest.Cannondale Supersix / CAAD9 / Boardman 9.0 / Benotto 30000
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biondino wrote:davmaggs wrote:what time did you go past?
I'm half thinking about writing in a letter about wasting police time, blah blah blah.
The comedy moment was me loitering for a length of time trying to see what they were up to, and them finally seing me (too busy talking) and then trying to edge back behind the signage to hide. They didn't seem to think that I'd notice 4 legs hiding behind a road sign with a 3 ft gap under it.
Me? About 9.25am I guess. I remember thinking at the time it seemed a bit heavy handed. But I don't think it's worth complaining about them wasting police time really. They weren't there just to chastise cyclist, I'm sure.NGale wrote:I was stopped in the early hours of sunday morning on my way home from work because my tail light had gone out.
I was naffed off to say the least
Honestly, I can't see your problem here. You were riding at night without a rear light! They were right to stop you. I guess had they, at that very minute, been separating a knife fight then you'd have got clean away with it, but then again you may have been mown down by a lorry 5 minutes later because you were invisible.
In short - just because other people are doing WORSE things and getting away with them, this doesn't give anyone any reasons to complain about getting done for whatever minor thing they get caught for (red light jumpers, this is for you too).
I was driving at the time. If I had been on my bike and the light had gone I would have walked the rest of the way. The nearside tail light went about 5 minites after I left work.
What annoyed me the most was the fact that the police car was sat there at the end of Queen Street waiting for whoever happened by and yet at the other end of the street my colleague was being attacked (he is still in hospital after being kicked in the head)
Ok so my tail light had gone, fair enough, but the total ambivilance of the police to the fact their control had refused to send a unit to help our guy followed by the total disinterest of the officers who stopped me to the fact that a violent crime had been committed less than a quater of a mile from them made me angry.Officers don't run, it's undignified and panics the men0 -
If the crowd weren't around they would've shot me
Tried to play me out like my name was Rodney
F**kin police gettin badder
But if I had a camera the sh*t wouldn't matter
Fight the power.0 -
The polie are responding to complaints from Putney residents because a number of people on bicycles have chosen to ride down the closed road. I've seen a few myself and can't decide which is worse:
1) those cycling on the pavement which is only just wide enough for two people walking and has a wall on one side and a 6 foot wire fence on the other. Lots of children and old people walk along that bit of road and people with bikes have been barging through, swearing etc etc.
2) riding in the cycle lane into oncoming traffic. I didn't see what this moron planned to do when a cyclist came the correct way along the road....
You experienced the poorly planned last bit of the cycle diversion where you come out at the leisure centre. You have two legal options. You could walk the bike down the pavement and cross the road where the roadworks end, or you could cross the road and go up the road opposite, take the next two rights and return to the south circular.
The choice is whether you see yourself more as a car, or more as a pedestrian.
Whether the police would be better further down the roadworks is a valid arguement. however a number of cyclist join the road along the length of the roadworks and decide to do one of the two things raised above so the police pick them up at the end I suppose.0 -
Local copper on his crappy (official-issue) mountain bike riding in the dark with no lights or hi-viz clothing. I stopped him to inform him of this and he said he knew but the station didn't have any batteries! Still went out on it though. Didn't whether to laugh or not. Muppets.Visit Ireland - all of it! Cycle in Dublin and know fear!!
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Alternative route is to keep going west instead of coming back to the leisure centre and go through St Mary's Grove. No through road to cars but I believe it is a legal throughway for bicyles. BIG potholes though!
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=st+mary's+grove,+putney&sll=51.466053,-0.233846&sspn=0.003242,0.008744&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=St+Mary's+Grove,+London+SW13+0JA,+United+Kingdom&ll=51.466427,-0.235595&spn=0.003242,0.008744&t=h&z=170 -
Ha - sorry Ngale, I just automatically assume you were cycling!0
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alan sherman wrote:The polie are responding to complaints from Putney residents because a number of people on bicycles have chosen to ride down the closed road. I've seen a few myself and can't decide which is worse:
1) those cycling on the pavement which is only just wide enough for two people walking and has a wall on one side and a 6 foot wire fence on the other. Lots of children and old people walk along that bit of road and people with bikes have been barging through, swearing etc etc.
2) riding in the cycle lane into oncoming traffic. I didn't see what this moron planned to do when a cyclist came the correct way along the road....
You experienced the poorly planned last bit of the cycle diversion where you come out at the leisure centre. You have two legal options. You could walk the bike down the pavement and cross the road where the roadworks end, or you could cross the road and go up the road opposite, take the next two rights and return to the south circular.
The choice is whether you see yourself more as a car, or more as a pedestrian.
Whether the police would be better further down the roadworks is a valid arguement. however a number of cyclist join the road along the length of the roadworks and decide to do one of the two things raised above so the police pick them up at the end I suppose.
No protest from me about getting caught. More that two uniforms is overkill in a safe area at 0930 when the same station doesn't come out to crimes in progress. Plus the works have been going no for weeks and they could remedy the issue by moving the signs but prefer to stand in one place.0 -
What annoyed me the most was the fact that the police car was sat there at the end of Queen Street waiting for whoever happened by and yet at the other end of the street my colleague was being attacked (he is still in hospital after being kicked in the head)
That sucks for sure but I very much doubt that they were aware of worse things happening elsewhere but chose to sit there waiting for something more minor to happen instead. And you can't really expect them to rush off if someone they've pulled up tells them/claims there's something going on down the road?0 -
PBo wrote:
ahhh now hold off...new job means I can cycle to work more....huzzah!Officers don't run, it's undignified and panics the men0 -
davmaggs wrote:Anyway this morning I spotted two coppers waiting in the traffic cones. I loitered for a while at the junction deciding what to do as I knew they were looking for cyclists when they attempted to edge behind the signage so that I wouldn't see them. As I had no choice I pulled out and went for it (slowly) and sure enough I got stopped.
So you actually got stopped by the police for ignoring a left turn only sign?
That bit is crazy, such a well signed and set up diversion ends in a bit of a farce, but there is an option to dismount and cross the road via the crossing which is all perfectly legal.0 -
Please read the OP again. Complaint is about allocating two coppers to a duty that is a waste of resources in an area where they don't respond to 999 calls. Stick a CSO or change the signage fixes the problem.
If you want to argue the toss then let me describe more. You get to the end of the diversion that the authorites have sent you down (point 1), and virtually at the end you must pass through a fire gate. This is unmarked (point 2) and only once you are through it and then look up the street waiting to pull out would you see a no entry sign (point 3).0 -
It is not a waste of resource to the residents that walk on the pavements along there though.0
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alan sherman wrote:The polie are responding to complaints from Putney residents because a number of people on bicycles have chosen to ride down the closed road. I've seen a few myself and can't decide which is worse:
1) those cycling on the pavement which is only just wide enough for two people walking and has a wall on one side and a 6 foot wire fence on the other. Lots of children and old people walk along that bit of road and people with bikes have been barging through, swearing etc etc.
2) riding in the cycle lane into oncoming traffic. I didn't see what this moron planned to do when a cyclist came the correct way along the road....
You experienced the poorly planned last bit of the cycle diversion where you come out at the leisure centre. You have two legal options. You could walk the bike down the pavement and cross the road where the roadworks end, or you could cross the road and go up the road opposite, take the next two rights and return to the south circular.
The choice is whether you see yourself more as a car, or more as a pedestrian.
Whether the police would be better further down the roadworks is a valid arguement. however a number of cyclist join the road along the length of the roadworks and decide to do one of the two things raised above so the police pick them up at the end I suppose.
I got stopped here by some PSCO's a while back. Was heading to RP with the missus and came across the roadworks. Had no idea how long they went on for so we hopped on the pavement and proceeded slowly. Normally I wouldn't do this, but she's hardly cycled since my accident and is nervy and a little wobbly. It was early in the morning and there were no peds about but I quickly realised that the roadworks were gonna go on for a while, before we got the chance to turn off, we were stopped by 2 Plastics. I explained the situation and was brusquely told we would be fined, they asked for our names and addresses which we both refused to give. The arguing went on for a while (as several other cyclists rode by unchallenged), eventually one of them suggested I 'could just give a fake name/address' At this point we just remounted and pootled off having realised there was naff all they could do about it. Total waste of time/money. Actually PSCO's are a total waste of both anyway. Does annoy me that the police will deal with stuff like this when they are totally dis-interested in the spate of thefts that have occurred in my communal garage. Reported by me and neighbours and the cops have shown f*ck all interest.- 2023 Vielo V+1
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How did you miss the large "cyclists diversion" sign?0
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I was cycling behind the missus*, prob worrying more about her than the sign, or maybe it was pre sign as I certainly didn't see one.
*this makes it sound like she's a massive fatty, she isn't!- 2023 Vielo V+1
- 2022 Canyon Aeroad CFR
- 2020 Canyon Ultimate CF SLX
- Strava
- On the Strand
- Crown Stables
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There has always been a sign and cyclists diversion for these roadworks. Much better than the last lot where cyclists weren't catered for at all initially.0
