S2T Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 So, travelling up the M74 on Sunday and 4 police motorcyclists join the motorway, in a 'box' formation ie 2 up front and 2 behind they overtake us and go onto the outside lane and stay there for the next 20+ miles travelling at a speed greater than the usual patrol cars at 60mph on the motorway There was plenty opportunity for them to pull into the middle or even the nearside lane but they chose not to. Of course what happened those travelling at 80mph+ caught them up and dived into the middle lane So I believe the new law is in place regarding hogging the middle lane when the inside lane is empty so why would the BoB drive in such a manner Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveD Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 because they can Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dommo Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 Possibly escorting the invisible man on his invisible motorbike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clansman Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 +1 (for SteveD) .............it is their right remember they are the LAW !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Colonial Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 In fairness, it might have training for prisoner or diplomat escort duty or many other things - but yes, it may also be because they can. Most Fridays just before lunchtime, you can see six police motorbikes and two police cars escorting the PM's car at near 100 mph up the M40 to J6 (?) at Princes Risborough to go to Chequers for the weekend. Nice he gets Friday afternoons off and gets to break the speed limit because he's in a hurry to relax in the countryside. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Man On The Clapham Omnibus Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 In fairness, it might have training for prisoner or diplomat escort duty or many other things - but yes, it may also be because they can. Most Fridays just before lunchtime, you can see six police motorbikes and two police cars escorting the PM's car at near 100 mph up the M40 to J6 (?) at Princes Risborough to go to Chequers for the weekend. Nice he gets Friday afternoons off and gets to break the speed limit because he's in a hurry to relax in the countryside. If that's the way he goes (yes it is J6 - Chinnor and PR), he has the pleasure of travelling along the Oxfordshire 30mph lanes. Quite inexplicably, many stretches of the Oxfordshire country roads are 30mph where no buildings exist on either flank. I guess he goes that way to avoid going through the outskirts of High Wycombe and through the centre of Risborough. There are occasional car-jackings in the A*** end of Wycombe, and he couldn't possibly have to trek along the A4010 from West Wycombe to Risborough as the emergency ambulances do now that Wycombe A&E has moved to Stoke Mandeville. Don't know why he doesn't go via the A413 Amersham bypass - far better way IMHO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S2T Posted July 30, 2013 Author Share Posted July 30, 2013 I thought they may have been training but 20+ miles is a bit excessive Interestingly they were more effective at controlling those that choose to travel at speeds over 70 mph than those patrol cars that travel at 60mph as all that happens then is that people edge past at 70 then speed up again whereas these motorcyclists travelling at 70+ meant no-one got past.....obviously they got further away from us as time went on Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Colonial Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 If that's the way he goes (yes it is J6 - Chinnor and PR), he has the pleasure of travelling along the Oxfordshire 30mph lanes. Quite inexplicably, many stretches of the Oxfordshire country roads are 30mph where no buildings exist on either flank. I guess he goes that way to avoid going through the outskirts of High Wycombe and through the centre of Risborough. There are occasional car-jackings in the A*** end of Wycombe, and he couldn't possibly have to trek along the A4010 from West Wycombe to Risborough as the emergency ambulances do now that Wycombe A&E has moved to Stoke Mandeville. Don't know why he doesn't go via the A413 Amersham bypass - far better way IMHO. You used to be able to see Chequers from the road - but some very convenient (expensive) roadworks and "beautification" projects have taken place so that it's hidden now - you know, just in case someone just happened to have a line-of-site, surface-to-surface missile with a range of 5+ miles and wanted to take a pop at a large building on the off-chance the PM might be there. The 30mph limits are part of that in some cases - hidden ANPR cameras give authorities a little bit of extra time to react when the cars are only doing 30 - because terrorists, of course, would never fake number plates or speed to achieve their objectives. Oops, do I sound cynical? Sorry about that - it's just that I'm off to the dentist in a few minutes for some work and not in my finest mood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FILFAN Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 Reminds me of a time I was on the A43 and a bike flew past line a bat out if hell ( no it wasn't meatloaf ) no lights or sirens. 5 miles down the rd I pull into mcd's for a coffee and he was sat there having his breakfast Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colinb8 Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 If that's the way he goes (yes it is J6 - Chinnor and PR), he has the pleasure of travelling along the Oxfordshire 30mph lanes. Quite inexplicably, many stretches of the Oxfordshire country roads are 30mph where no buildings exist on either flank. I guess he goes that way to avoid going through the outskirts of High Wycombe and through the centre of Risborough. There are occasional car-jackings in the A*** end of Wycombe, and he couldn't possibly have to trek along the A4010 from West Wycombe to Risborough as the emergency ambulances do now that Wycombe A&E has moved to Stoke Mandeville. Don't know why he doesn't go via the A413 Amersham bypass - far better way IMHO. If he went the A413 route - he would also be able to survey the proposed route of HS2 -- and realise just how popular he is in the Tory heartlands Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rab (bombero) Reid Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 20+ miles isn't excessive! It takes a lot of concentration to travel in formation and it can't be replicated by just nipping out into the outside lane for a couple of miles. These guys have to maintain this discipline potentially over a couple of 100 miles! It's also considered safer and away from the majority of other road users.. TBH, I get more than a tad hacked off of some comments about the emergency services .. yes, there are bad apples in every barrel, but c'mon! When I do fire safety inspections, if I walk out of a hotel no-one bats an eye but walk out of a nightclub (during the day), I get "Oh, is that you sorting out your free entry for tonight!" I wish I could answer "No, just ensuring that if c**** like you go there tonight, you'll remain safe in the case of a fire!" My favourite: Out on fire safety duties and we get a call over the radio to attend a house fire, so we hit the sirens and lights and head off. At one point we negotiate our way through a junction; lights on red. I then get a call to say that enough fire engines are at the incident and we're not required, so I switch off the sirens and lights and we stop to turn around and go back to the area that we're doing our fire safety checks in. A guy screeches up in front of us blocking us, jumps out, comes up to my window and fires [pun] off a mouthful of abuse, "What's the problem with you f*****s! Can't you be a**** waiting at the lights like everybody else, you bunch of ****s!, etc" I explain that we were not required at a fire call and he retorts "Ya f***** lying c***! Away and play pool ya lazy b******ds!" Here endeth my rant (and lesson) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 Police bike training used to, and may well still include a level of defensive driving quite different to that needed by regular motorists. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Man On The Clapham Omnibus Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 I have drawn attention to how much fun a Westfield is going round that nice chicane that goes past the Chequers drive. In fact we considered buying the lodge nearly opposite the Girls Guides place when it came on the market a few years ago until we were virtually frisked for merely stopping on the roadside to look at it. It was tiny for the money anyway... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S2T Posted July 30, 2013 Author Share Posted July 30, 2013 20+ miles isn't excessive! It takes a lot of concentration to travel in formation and it can't be replicated by just nipping out into the outside lane for a couple of miles. These guys have to maintain this discipline potentially over a couple of 100 miles! It's also considered safer and away from the majority of other road users.. TBH, I get more than a tad hacked off of some comments about the emergency services .. yes, there are bad apples in every barrel, but c'mon! When I do fire safety inspections, if I walk out of a hotel no-one bats an eye but walk out of a nightclub (during the day), I get "Oh, is that you sorting out your free entry for tonight!" I wish I could answer "No, just ensuring that if c**** like you go there tonight, you'll remain safe in the case of a fire!" Here endeth my rant (and lesson) My step son and his partner are both in the police so have no reason to be critical of the emergency services per se. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norman Verona Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 During the war, on weekend when there was a full moon and no cloud, Churchill and his guests stayed at Ronald Trees house as the white drive to Chequers was like an arrow pointing at the building. There was no known attempt by the Luftwaffe to bomb Chequers, which is surprising. Maybe they didn't know he was there most weekends. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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