Encounter with Police????

[Gubbins]

Enjoying my ride over the yorkshire moors and spotted a horse mounted policeman up in front, or at least so I thought..
I am very visible with the cree set to strobe, but the rider just crossed the road which I thought was odd.
Anyway turns out its not a Police officer but is what appeared to be a young girl with a very convincing police outfit that said Polite.. not police.
Camera didnt pick it up too well as its of to the side but interesting all the same..

 

[Plasmadaddy]

Very common in London, lots of motorcyclists and cyclists are getting them now.

Personally I think they're naff!

 

[grldtnr]

Very common in London, lots of motorcyclists and cyclists are getting them now.

Personally I think they're naff!

Oh, I don't know if they that naff,should it make the feckless think your plod, all to the good!
Do have reservations re woodentops thinking your impersonating a PC,that carry's aslap on the wrist.

 

[Arash]

See loads of motor bike riders wearing them, it seems to to imply to them that every one should be mindful of their right to ride like arse holes.

Impersonating a police officer carries a prison sentence.

 

[Gubbins]

I keep looking for a sticker for my car..
Cyclist on board. ...

 

[anotherkiwi]

A sticker for my bike:

"My other car is a bike too"

 

[Spotty dog]

My girlfriend wears one to commute to work, after experiencing some unplesent near misses including teenagers opening a car door as they overtook her and an ambulance switching on its sirens in a long narrow viaduct with no place to pull over and let it pass.
I persuaded her to let me build an e bike for her and wear the said Polite jacket, with her higher average speed and ability to pass parked cars on hills etc more quickly, and the jacket making cars more careful when passing her she has not had any bad experiences since.
If we ride together she does not wear it as my presence as a rather large bloke following behind seems also to all but eliminate the agro she got as a petite woman cyclist alone, I would add she is a very competent rider with good road sense and riding habits.
I think impersonating an officer would mean directing the traffic or verbally addressing people as if you are an officer of the law, she wears a black and yellow helmet and her bike is black with no logos on it.
Someone she works with said where did u get the police jacket from she said it isn't it says polite they was stood 3 ft away from her and still thought it said police!.
Interestingly the Dutch spelling for Police is Politie either way it helps make her ride to and from work less stressful.
Just a thought if I rode a carbon race replica road bike and dressed from head to foot in team sponsors covered lycra wear could I get stopped for impersonating a tour de france rider and face a random drug test.

 

[Arash]

Because the former is part of the police act and the latter is not:

Any person who, not being a constable, wears any article of police uniform in circumstances where it gives him an appearance so nearly resembling that of a member of a police force as to be calculated to deceive shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale.

source:
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1996/16/section/90

I am not sure where you stand with those vests but the above is quite clear.

 

[Spotty dog]

She has not been stopped yet and has used it for 12 months and intends to keep using it.
However if she is stopped I will report the level of fine warnings prison sentences etc she recives.
Personally I have bigger issues with people who ride thru red lights along pavments or at night with no lights, and last but not least careless or inconsiderate car drivers that can result in deaths of other less protected road users road users.
Please feel free to quote all the relevent codes of law chapter and verse for those offences too.

 

[Gubbins]

In the instance shown on the video had the rider not just set off across the road I would have assumed police and rode on. A police officer would not have done that which made me look again.
I would not be suprised if anyone wearing this kit was stopped and told to stop wearing it..

 

[Arash]

Look I am not bothered that you or some one you know wears one, it doesn't bother me that I have seen people wearing them on sports bikes behaving like prats.
Having basic knowledge of some laws because of previous work I have done, I pointed out possible implications so that readers may using their own judgement and common scene make adult decisions.

I am also entitled to my own views on the matter and still think they are pants.

 

[Gubbins]

Look I am not bothered that you or some one you know wears one, it doesn't bother me that I have seen people wearing them on sports bikes behaving like prats.
Having basic knowledge of some laws because of previous work I have done, I pointed out possible implications so that readers may using their own judgement and common scene make adult decisions.

I am also entitled to my own views on the matter and still think they are pants.

You might want to re word this as it suggest you think your views are pants. ...[emoji12]

 

[Arash]

Haha I was referring to the vests that are pants! haha

 

[Spotty dog]

Clearly it bothers you enough to quote the law chapter and verse within 4 mins of my posting, if it keeps her safe I don't mind her wearing it if the police tell her to remove it then so be it.
Has anyone actually been taken to court and fined yet for wearing one I don't intend trawling the net to find out.
As I said if she gets stopped will report what happened for the benifit of other riders considering buying one.

 

[Arash]

Its clearly meant to make people believe that the wearer is a police constable, lets not pretend any one buys it for any other purpose. I have also linked the relevant legislation.
Like I have also said you are an adult and make your own decisions.

In the grand scheme of things it really doesn't bother me any more than questionable modifications on cars/vans or people on road bikes with so tight a lycra that I was going to call the rspb and report them for cruelty to birds on account of the budgies that they had smothered. I do have a good chuckle though.

Life is too short and my time far too valuable, I come on most forums to learn and share knowledge.

So while I am out walking my dog and smoking a very nice cigar, feel free to type more self riteous trite, word of warning though, you may get keybard hernia hahaha

 

[Plasmadaddy]

Sad to say but the facts speak for themselves.
Idiots in cars who don't look, don't look! Simple as that.
Wearing high viz with police, polite, pratt or plonker makes no difference.

My girlfriend insists on wearing a high viz pink vest when she rides her Harley, makes no difference a-holes on the road will always be a-holes until they cause an accident or worse....

Unfortunately us bikers and cyclists have to ride defensively at all times and even then we take our lives into our own hands every time our two wheelers are on the roads.

 

[mike killay]

She seems to have a blue and white checkered band on her helmet and I think that is where she could face trouble.
Polite is not Police, so although similar, she would probably get way with the jacket.

 

[Gubbins]

Sad to say but the facts speak for themselves.
Idiots in cars who don't look, don't look! Simple as that.
Wearing high viz with police, polite, pratt or plonker makes no difference.

My girlfriend insists on wearing a high viz pink vest when she rides her Harley, makes no difference a-holes on the road will always be a-holes until they cause an accident or worse....

Unfortunately us bikers and cyclists have to ride defensively at all times and even then we take our lives into our own hands every time our two wheelers are on the roads.

I read somewhere that the most common phrase used after a car/bike accident is "he came out of nowhere! ".

 

[Gringo]

Well Nicky Fletcher and her hi-vis clothing and accessory's ( including the polite range) was on Dragons Den. She was asked about the legality of wearing polite clothing,
Here reply

"I thought of the idea in 2010 and I went to ACPO and asked if it was ok. I gave them an array of designs and they said it was fine. There’s no way I would be pushing this if it was illegal."

Horse riders have been wearing this stuff for years and I've not once heard of any issues with the police.
If someone feals more comfortable wearing one then why not.
You shouldn't condem wearing them just because one or two idiots do bad things with one on, after all if they take them off they will still be idiots

 

[Plasmadaddy]

I read somewhere that the most common phrase used after a car/bike accident is "he came out of nowhere! ".

Check out SMIDSY (Sorry mate, I didn't see you!)

http://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/london-life/londoners-on-the-road-beware-the-smidsy-sorry-mate-i-didn-t-see-you-9793521.html