No Hiding from the EA

oldgit

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a cutting from our local newspaper The Kent Messenger.
medwayspeedo.jpg


83 boats ??????????????????
 
Indeed, 83?

May I hijack this thread and ask the photographers if a lens of the length shown in that picture could be hand held and produce useable pictures?
 
Also, if the E.A. man must wear his L.J. on the riverbank why doesn't the copper?

Or is it in there somewhere?

P.S. Last w.e. I saw a moorhen chick which had been moved from its nest and was in a strong flow of river, cheeping vainly and almost certainly going to be dead within a few hours. Because of my location I was content that a boater's wash had not thrown the chick from it's nest, just the heavey rain. But it was a good / sad reminder of why boats need to have minimal wash on the Thames - particularly at this time of year.
 
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For clarification 83 unregistered boats were given warning notices, no boats were caught speeding but once the jungle drums started every one would know the e a were about and cut their speed.
Also not a requirement to wear a life jacket if more than 2 metres away from the river bank.
 
May I hijack this thread and ask the photographers if a lens of the length shown in that picture could be hand held and produce useable pictures?

Its a question of shutter speed and a steady hand. A rough rule of thumb is that the slowest shutter speed handheld should not be less than the reciprocal of the focal length - eg - 500 mm lens shutter speed should be 1/500th second or shorter.

Digital cameras let you select quite high sensitivity (ISO) settings which also makes it easier to use fast shutter speeds in poor light. Image quality would not be competition standard but probably more than good enough for identification purposes.
 
Having boated on the Mudway for a few years...

Suspect the Medway is going to very hard work indeed regards getting some of the boats on the river up to BSS standard.
 
[QUOTE 83 boats ??????????????????[/QUOTE]

Is this really a effective use of police resources in a time of bugetary restraint??

Police officer will be on double time and day off in lieu, all for what, stopping people enjoying their leisure time.

EA could surely have done it all without such heavy handed approach.
 
Is this really a effective use of police resources in a time of bugetary restraint??

Police officer will be on double time and day off in lieu, all for what, stopping people enjoying their leisure time.
Of course it is: spoiling people's days and collecting money. That's what government is all about!

How effective it is depends on the arrogance of the plod and on the size of the "fine". I presume it will actually be a "penalty charge" rather than a fine, so if it goes to court at all it will be in the civil court rather than criminal (lower standards of proof, doncha know) and the EA and dibble get to keep the cash.

Even if the penalty is only £50 (I'm guessing), that's still over £4k.

Not as good as changing the film in scameras or pressing the "print" button on the speeding ticket printer, but not a bad return on two blokes work for a few hours -- and far more "effective" than time-wasting activities such as catching thieves or vandals.
 
[QUOTE 83 boats ??????????????????

Is this really a effective use of police resources in a time of bugetary restraint??

Police officer will be on double time and day off in lieu, all for what, stopping people enjoying their leisure time.

EA could surely have done it all without such heavy handed approach.

It has been said - either on here or perhaps I heard it at a RUG meeting that this year (?) the Boys in Blue had been tagging along with EA enforcement officers because the Police head found it "profitable" - Non licence payers had been found to present sone "other matters".

If you like - the licence matter was just "a starter for ten"
 
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Am guessing here but...speeding would not be problem on that bit of the river,it is extremely narrow and very very twisty with the trees on either bank preventing you from seeing more than few boat lengths in front of you.
Far more likely would be reminding people that the BSS came into force a few months earlier and would they like to get their boat up to scratch er ......ASAP.
 
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Far more likely would be reminding people that the BSS came into force a few months earlier and would like to get their boat up to scratch er ......ASAP.

On the Thames and Wey you are required to produce your BSC when applying for a licence so it is automatically checked. This means that checking that a valid licence is displayed also allows them to check on the safety certificate.
 
On the Thames and Wey you are required to produce your BSC when applying for a licence so it is automatically checked. This means that checking that a valid licence is displayed also allows them to check on the safety certificate.

Not if youre a visitor . You can just rock up , pay some money and youre in .
 
...It has been said - either on here or perhaps I heard it at a RUG meeting that this year (?) the Boys in Blue had been tagging along with EA enforcement officers because the Police head found it "profitable" - Non licence payers had been found to present sone "other matters".

If you like - the licence matter was just "a starter for ten"
That's a pretty common argument used to justify plod's focus on arbitrary, victimless "offences" committed by accident by people who will probably just hand over the money rather than quibble. It holds about as much water as a bucket with a hole in the bottom. If they were really interested in nicking criminals, they might find that it helped if they started by investigating crimes rather than by stopping boats on the off-chance that someone might be so unnerved at having been caught with an inadequately sealed toilet that they put their hand up to a bit of house-breaking on the side!
 
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It has been said - either on here or perhaps I heard it at a RUG meeting that this year (?) the Boys in Blue had been tagging along with EA enforcement officers because the Police head found it "profitable" - Non licence payers had been found to present sone "other matters".

If you like - the licence matter was just "a starter for ten"

RUG meeting??????????????
 
Unfortunately,human nature being what it is,a few people need a gentle nudge to remind them to go to the trouble of getting holding tanks or a porta pottie along with everybody else .
It is only recently that the common Medway practice of dumping raw sewage into the river has been prohibited,everyone was warned years ago that this was on its way,so no excuses.

If the police wish to chase speeders or people who dump s*it in my river,thats just fine with me.
Will offer them every assistance as well :):)
 
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Unfortunately,human nature being what it is,a few people need a gentle nudge to remind them to go to the trouble of getting holding tanks or a porta pottie along with everybody else .
It is only recently that the common Medway practice of dumping raw sewage into the river has been prohibited,everyone was warned years ago that this was on its way,so no excuses.

If the police wish to chase speeders or people who dump s*it in my river,thats just fine with me.
Will offer them every assistance as well :):)
(1) It's not "your" river.
(2) No-one said anything about dumping s*it in anyone's river. (I have the necessary equipment to commit rape, but that doesn't mean I have the slightest intention of ever doing so).
 
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