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Originally Posted by WorldClassAccident
Phew! An outbreak of reasonableness. I thought it was going to be handbags at dawn.
MrTowed does help with some of the legal details and by quoting them almost word for word they sound different to the reality of how they are normally enforced. Doesn't change the way they are worded in law though.
I have on on/off relationship with the law so it is nice to have some idea about which bits i am actually breaking. Normally I have to check with a mate who is plod on the Isle of Man but traffic laws seem a bit different over there sometimes.
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Individual officers usually have a great deal of discretion in how they enforce the law. All forces have their own policies in respect of how some offences are dealt with, however, and some run a 'zero tolerance' approach to vehicle matters.
This means that in some counties every blown bulb gets a ticket, every driver stopping for five seconds on a box junction gets a ticket, every under inflated tyre gets three points (bet you didn't know about
that one!) so what gets ignored in Ambridge might get you fined in Weatherfield.
It was pioneered by Rudy Giuliani in New York and results in an overall reduction in
all crime. Funnily enough, people with criminal tendancies and a lack of morals tend to drive unroadworthy vehicles to commit crime. Who'd have thought it .
So, when a question comes up regarding vehicle law, I'll usually chip in with what I know (and can reference from sources in the public domain) about the
exact wording and meaning of the legislation.
What I can't say is how any of the other one hundred and thirty two thousand two hundred and thirty four bobbies in Great Britain* might deal with the matter if you get stopped while driving your home built steam carriage (first used on or before March 1st 1936) on a bridleway without being accompanied by an attendant carrying a wheel chock and a sack of feed for a horse.
By adding to these discussions as I do I hope to allow other car builders to make a more informed choice about parts of their builds, just as I've tapped the knowledge of engine, suspension and bodywork specialists while building my own car.
And always remember, there is no situation so desperately bad that the arrival of a Police Officer can't make it infinitely worse.
*
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2013/ja...s-drops-lowest