'Cruising'

[Meakin]

Well said Jeff

I think this law is badly thought through and again a much better way is to provide an area where they can go.

as has been said a lot of these are car enthusiasts not hooligans like you see at football matches and the like. Sure there are one or two morons but the law already exists to stop these.

In melton they have enthusiasts park their cars in the town centre on a Sunday before Christmas to encourage men to come Christmas shopping are they going to be banned as well?

Seems a very poor law to me.

Paul

[SootySport]

Ummmmm.........

 

How exactly are they going to define "cruising"?

 

A gathering of car owners?

Well, it does say 2 or more cars at a gathering       Guess we'll all be guilty of this Anti Cruise law,  not just us but the whole of UK motorists.

[s2rrr]

They will be arresting everyone on the M6, M25, M62 car parks if we aren't careful. I don't think it is actually on the statute book yet merely an interpretation by an obviously irate council or area.

 

Bob

[Dommo]

Well, it does say 2 or more cars at a gathering       Guess we'll all be guilty of this Anti Cruise law,  not just us but the whole of UK motorists.

 

You'd have thought most people's driveways would fall into this!

[tisme]

Looking on the web, there would appear to be a number of requests for a copy of the High Court Injunction - I assume the councils involved will have to make these available to whoever request it.

 

It would indeed be interesting to read the wording and definitions - the trouble with "common sense" is that those words and local authorities and quite often the police don't go hand in hand. Local Authorities in particular are notorious for "jobs-worths" who revel in the application of "rules" as it gives them the ability to control peoples lives in a way they would / should never be allowed to.

 

I would not be at all surprised if any meeting of Westfields in the West Midlands is not reported to Walsall or Wolverhampton Councils and or the Police - either by an over zealous council official or a member of the public who immediately categorises a handful of Westfields in the same way as they would a bunch of chav boy racers.

 

This could have a real impact for any car club in the UK - even simple things like car based "treasure hunts" or classic car "rallies".

 

Maybe the Club needs to seek clarification before we all get arrested !!    

[s2rrr]

Cerrioli was right then get out of the Midlands. This is an injunction, wonder what the civil liberties people will make of that gem.

 

Bob

[AidanPlace]

I believe we have to apply to the parades commission if we want to organise a sunday blat with more than a few cars.

[Murraymint]

Now these guys are cruising or maybe flying at the end...

 

http://www.rallye-magazin.de/rallyes/motor/videos/norschleife-2014/index.html

[Rory's Dad]

Now these guys are cruising or maybe flying at the end...

 

http://www.rallye-magazin.de/rallyes/motor/videos/norschleife-2014/index.html

 

Some remarkable escapes too!

[Lyonspride]

I would not be at all surprised if any meeting of Westfields in the West Midlands is not reported to Walsall or Wolverhampton Councils and or the Police - either by an over zealous council official or a member of the public who immediately categorises a handful of Westfields in the same way as they would a bunch of chav boy racers.

 

I can definitely see that happening, i'm betting there are folk local to the area meets, who would complain just (if you really boil it down) out of jealousy.

 

Whether it's us, or whether it's a classic car club, at some point they'll try to apply this "law" to the wrong crowd and it'll become national news.

[dombanks]

yeah and we all know who will win...... think of the children.....

 

The problem for me is i cant see how we can define ourselves any different to a bunch of barry boys. we drive around in groups, we A*** about a bit (who hasnt tried a little back end action on a hairpin), we accelerate away quickly.  we would call them dangerous and us "spirited". yes we tend to go out on open roads more and we don't look to race but then..... can everyone hand on heart say when they have been out in a group at a set of lights they havn't? i would bet at some point 80% of us have done something like that.

[Dibby]

There is a touch of the old rose tinted specs here, I wonder how many people have died in kit car blats, pushing the limits in something with all the crash protection of a crisp bag. We have noisy, brightly coloured, unusual shaped cars but we wouldn't put a foot out of place on a public road .... oh no hofficer, I wouldn't dare break the speed limit in one of the quickest cars on the road.

 

Those in glass houses...

[dhutch]

... we don't drive like these loons on public roads ...

The problem is that driving can be perceived in different ways by different people, I've had abuse shouted at me by people (50yrs plus) who just assume that a loud car must be driving too fast, regardless of the fact i'm following another car doing 30, and then also recently when coming into a 40 limit from a 60, locking a front wheel up on small bump in the road, causing a brief squeal, which got someone riled up enough to shout obscenities in my direction.

Now at no point was I in excess of the speed limit, or even driving anywhere near mine or the cars limits, but the car itself can spark a stereotyped opinion, in much the same way as a whale tail on a Saxo.

 

Whilst i'm sure most Police officers are going to have some common sense with the application of this "law", there are plenty of folk out there who knowing this "law", would complain if they heard/saw a group of Westfields driving through their village.

We look like a duck, swim like a duck, and quack like a duck; we can hardly get upset with the rest of the motoring public for not realising we are in fact swan's with race quackers fitted!

 

And that's my biggest fear, especially given how laxly and hurriedly drafted such things often are, that the descriptions are simply going to be too "catch all", and will end up dragging far more than the intended victims in.

 

This is it, most of the time I am either on my own, completing at am MSA licensed autotest/autosolo, or other approved event.

 

However I also attend some local WSCC meets, which involve rocking up in a pub/garage/gardencentre carpark (often but not always with prior consent) standing around talking, loooking under bonnets, running engines, and typically ending with a 'blat' around the local streets. Driving within law, but often including rapid acceleration and more engine noise that most production cars, if not a wreckless speeds.

 

Excluding illegal road racing, and other than the fact the average age is normally well above my own, how is this different to the events that this law appears to be targeting?

 

 

 

Daniel

[Lyonspride]

 

how is this different to the events that this law appears to be targeting?

 

 

Many, dare I say most are not that different from us, just car enthusiasts. The problem they have is the "boy racer" crowd that tags a long and often causes trouble with cheap/tacky bazzed up hatchbacks, the guys that want to emulate "fast and furious" movies or the "need for speed" video game series, but don't spend enough on their cars to actually care too much about trashing it into a wall.

[jeff oakley]

The problem is that to councillors and the great and good we are all the same, we drive none normal cars and as such we are a concern as we do not fit the brave new world of control. So they seek a method to control us by picking on a group who are easy to do so, the "chavs with modded cars". And in the process some applaud this move as even though they have a "fancy car" they are above the Chavs. Whilst they are supporting the new moves, they miss it actually affects them, but it is too late.

 

I give you an example, I am a member of The Friends Of Brimsham Park. We had a problem with a few young lads night fishing getting noisy as they drunk more and more. Residents campaigned for a drinking ban in the park, which the council was happy to oblige as the elections were coming and they were getting pressure from candidates.

Then when it was pointed out a ban would mean no alcohol with a picnic for them, no beer on a hot day whilst sat watching the world go by, suddenly they no longer wanted it. What they wanted was a ban on those who they did not like drinking which is a whole different game.

Once they realised what they would lose they did not like it, so we still have an odd rowdy night and no ban. we have sleep walked our way to allow this sort of thing to happen.

 

In Brighton, the council there stopped an old established event, the speed trials, due to one tragic accident. They saw it as an opportunity as a car hating green dominated council to stop what they did not like. It was only the efforts of Brighton and Hove car club and a campaign on the internet that got the ban lifted.

 

In many EU countries modified cars are banned, Classic cars need to have permission to be driven to and from events is that where we are heading?