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tome

tome

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Just had a call from SWMBO on the M1 Northbound between J 11 and 12. She's had a puncture, and made it to a phone on the hard shoulder. Told her to stay clear of the car but to get into the passenger seat and lock the door if any other vehicle slows and approaches.

Police car stops and I can hear them on her mobile. They can't help her change the tyre in case she sues them for not doing up the wheel-nuts correctly.

Has the world gone mad?

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Yes, completely

nm

<hr width=100% size=1><A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.ybw.com/cgi-bin/forums/postlist.pl?Cat=&Board=wanted>Stuff Wanted </A>
 
Not gone mad, just gone lazy. The three current "Jobsworth, I can't be arsed to do my job" escuses are: Fear of litigation, Data Protection Act, Quality Procedues (ISO 900etc). Anyone who uses these escuses is generally talking out of their ar5e and is just being lazy.

Not that I would impune the boys in blue, but pretty much anytime they are asked to help, or cock something up they wheel out one of the above escuses.

'bout time taxpayers started demanding a service rather than taking this on the chin if you ask me.

{Rant mode off}

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Blame the USA ....

Sorry to all those good Americans ..... but the craze of suing anyone and everyone to gain compensation has been common place in States for years ...... sad to say that some of the bad examples have crossed the pond to UK making this stupid situation crop up.

Examples :

+------------------- Bizarre Lawsuits ---------------------+


[Courtesy of netscape.com]


A student attending a college in Idaho fell from his window
while mooning a friend. The student then sued the college,
claiming that it had not provided adequate information about
the dangers of upper-story windows.


A California woman sued a grocery store after she dropped a
six-pack of beer on her feet. The woman was not injured, but
she said that it hurt. She won the lawsuit.


A construction worker in Tulsa intentionally cut his hand
off with a circular saw. When he was taken to the emergency
room, he told doctors not to reattach the hand, saying that
it was possessed. The man is now suing the doctors for not
reattaching his hand, claiming that the doctors should have
known he was psychotic.


A Blue Cross-Blue Shield worker sued IBM, claiming that
their keyboard's "faulty design" had caused pain in her hand
that kept her from working.


A man riding his bike from work at night with no lights,
only reflectors, was hit by a Jeep after the driver ran a
stop sign. The bicyclist sued the bike manufacturer because
he was not warned that reflectors might not be enough to
prevent an accident. The man was awarded $6 million.


Robert Lee Brock, an inmate in Virginia, has filed a lawsuit
against himself, claiming that he violated his own civil
rights by getting arrested. He is suing for $5 million and
asking the state to pay, since he can't have an income in
prison.


A man filed a suit against his son's baseball team when he
was asked to stop smoking so close to his kid's dugout. The
father claimed that this caused his son great emotional
distress. The judge fined the man and his lawyer $2,250 for
filing a frivolous suit.


Chris Morris brought a suit against the state of Michigan
for $1 million. Morris claims that he caught a cold in the
rotunda (a large, round room) of the state capitol building.
He was there to observe an art exhibition.



<hr width=100% size=1>Nigel ... and of course Yahoo groups :
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/gps-navigator/
 
no actually

The service we require of the police force is not to be the RAC. With all due respect to the lovely Mrs Tome, the fuzz's job is not to change her tyre but to ensure her - and everyone else's safety. If they are policing a busy M-way then they have other priorities than fixing her tyre. If they were on the graveyard shift in the Scottish highlands, they might prioritise things differently.

<hr width=100% size=1><A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.writeforweb.com/twister1>Let's Twist Again</A>
 
Yes its sad that things have come to this but on the other hand I don't pay my taxes for the police to change my tyres, I pay my subs to the AA for that. I optimistically expect the poice to catch the swine who stole a load of my tools or my outboard engine or the little hooligan who stole my wife's handbag from her classroom.

<hr width=100% size=1><font color=purple>Ne te confundant illegitimi.</font color=purple>
 
If Mrs Tome can't change the tyre, and you've told her not to accept help from anyone, who's going to do it?
My missus used to carry a piece of scaffold pole in the car. It was for giving extra leverage on the weedy spanner thing they supply. When a kind gent stopped to help, she let him do it, and stood behind him with the pipe in case of any nonsense!

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Ensuring safety

Sort of agree, but might it not be argued, in a Devil's Advocate sort of way, that Mrs Tome's safety might be more assured inside a moving car heading for her destination, than sitting on her own, at the side of a motorway, late at night?

<hr width=100% size=1>Je suis Marxiste - tendance Groucho
 
Re: no actually

I'm not suggesting it is their job - however as they were there anyway it does seem a little mean not to help, all they need to do is crack the nuts off (fnarr, fnarr) - I'm just passing a general comment on the proliferation of this particular excuse which is used by many people as just that - an excuse. Why not tell the truth - "I'm sorry we're not paid to do that and we have to be off now to do more important things"

On a different note a survey by the AA or RAC found that most people (about 70% I Recall )can't get the wheelnuts undone and have to call a breakdown truck to change the wheel, so the scaffold pole is a bloody good idea! I often struggle if some eejit in quick fit has done them up with an impact wrench

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Re: Ensuring safety

I'm certainly not suggesting that the Police should be going around doing the job of the AA/RAC. However, in this situation where a lone female is stranded on a busy motorway late at night, there are some well-established safety implications. Changing a wheel on a motorway hard shoulder is dangerous at any time, more so at night. Though MrsE can do it in theory, she would almost certainly have needed assistance to crack the wheel nuts.

The police told her they would be back to check on her in half an hour, then drove off leaving her alone. Things to do, motorists to chase - I doubt they stopped for more than a minute. The AA arrived very quickly afterwards, I believe they give high priority to lone females.

So, well done the AA and shame about the Jobsworth Police IMO. Even if they acted according to procedure, they missed an opportunity to render some basic assistance and re-assurance. Shame.

I was relieved to hear she was on her way again, and arrived safely at 3am.

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Re: no actually

AlexL writes "I often struggle if some eejit in quick fit has done them up with an impact wrench"

Do what I do, hand the eejit the wheel brace from the car and tell him to remove each wheel nut and retighten by hand.

I must admit I used to own a garage business and always made it a point to make sure wheel nuts were NOT hammered home but hand tightened. This was after one of my eejits changed a wheel on my car and on the way home I got a flat. I could not shift the bl**dy nuts and I ain't a 10 stone weakling. One sorry mechanic got a reaming the following morning along with the bill for the breakdown wagon to come out to me.

Windy hammers are useful if used properly


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hammer.thumb.gif
 
Re: A TEACHER!!! nm

!

<hr width=100% size=1><font color=purple>Ne te confundant illegitimi.</font color=purple>
 
this should get peeps blood boiling
<A target="_blank" HREF=http://observer.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,6903,986923,00.html>http://observer.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,6903,986923,00.html</A>

<hr width=100% size=1>Catapultam habeo. Nisi pecuniam omnem mihi dabris, ad caput tuum saxum immane mittam.
 
Re: Ensuring safety

There is a very interesting law in France called "non-assistance to persons in danger". For example if you see somebody being mugged and don't go to his assistance, you can be prosecuted.

If the police left your wife alone in a dangerous place then in France they would run the risk of being prosecuted. What they would be more likely to do is to radio for a breakdown truck and stay with her until it arrived or else give her a lift to the next garage.

This said, the other day I saw a couple of Gendarmes under the bonnet of a broken down car. Admittedly, She was very nice looking.

John



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Re: Ensuring safety

That assumes that she was in danger.

Contrary to what you read in the tabloids, this is a very safe country. She was in greater danger from the traffic that anything else, and so would have been the 2 policemen.

Its sad that we have become such a timid society, afraid of letting our kids walk to school, our wives to walk in the dark, afraid of being sued, afraid of even helping people etc.



<hr width=100% size=1>this post is a personal opinion, and you should not base your actions on it.
 
Re: Ensuring safety

It's highly likely that the plods were perfectly competent and willing to change the wheel, but have been forbidden to do so by their bosses, for fear of litigation.

If so, had they got their hands dirty, the well-deserved thank-you letter could have got them sacked

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Re: Ensuring safety

It is a similar position with nurses outside of hospital. Just outside not allowed because of litigation against the hospital if the nurse is on duty.

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