Tuesday, October 24, 2006

The long arm of the law, with only a short reach



As some of you may know, my car was broken in to last week while I was working in Manchester and just when I thought it had been an expensive week for me to be a car owner, I saw the yellow fluorescent jacket of the Traffic cop telling me to pull over.

My offence was going 48 in a 40 at 11.02pm on a quiet dual carriageway, in fact there were more cars queuing up to be 'processed' than there were on the road... Anyway, as I drove off with a 60 pound fine and points to accompany it, I couldn't help noticing that the £60 fine equals the amount I had to pay for new glass when my car was broken into.

Isn't it rather ironic that the police don't seem to cracking down on crime, rather catching motorists unawares at 11pm?

Where were they at 4pm last Thursday?

2 comments:

Man in a Shed said...

Have you had your offer of victim support for the broken window yet ? My car was vandalised and that was the major police contribution to the business.

Truth is its easier to catch honest citizens who make mistakes than serrious criminals.

However I've also had a few points on my licence once years ago - where I didn't believe the case was clear cut. But it has made me a safer driver ever since - so the £40 fine was money well spent.

Paul Hurst said...

This case was definately clear cut and there's no disputing the facts but it still feels like losing a game because of some obscure rule... Quite legitimate but somehow a bit of 'bad luck too'