Spent the last three days reading a “ Bicycling Magazine ( http://www.bicycling.com/news/advocacy/when-cop-says-stop ) ” article about an Ohio case where two cyclists were stopped and one was “ Tased “ ! Over 11 pages this article went into some detail as to the happenings on that occasion . Suffice to say that the L aw E nforcement O fficer started off by acting incorrectly and now this matter will be finally settled in a Civil Court Action which will cost the Ohio State a LOT of money ! Some interesting points were raised about the way that Ohio Law operates and the behaviour of the people involved in this case but I am sure that the story could have been told more concisely . What is clear is that a L E O can order you to stop and the best result is that YOU STOP ! The grounds they have to Order you to stop may be a “ figment of their imagination ” but you won’t know this until after the interview has concluded . Whether there was a justification for the order does not matter since they are in the uniform and as citizens we are obliged to respect the uniform and the Laws of the Land . In reading the article it is clear that this particular L E O had not ordered a stop but he thought he had and thus an unfortunate incident occurred . Considering my own behaviour as to the Police I have always found that complying with their requirements and going along with their assessment of a situation has resulted in minimising the incident . Confronting the L E O only digs them into their corner and thus they can become self righteous and seek to add justification for their behaviour and the outcome then becomes more abrasive for all concerned . Copping a ticket/citation is never a pleasure but then there is the opportunity to contact the authorities to have the matter resolved in a straight forward way rather than having to adjourn elsewhere either voluntarily or otherwise . When on occasion I have been injured riding the bike I have had to refuse “ Hospitalisation “ because there was no provision for transporting the bike . How can you leave your property on the side of the road somewhere and expect to recover it later ? No way Jose ! Whatever is not “ Nailed down “ will get up and walk away since there are so many charming people out there only so willing to offer a new home to ANYTHING they chance upon of value ! In the article the two bikes were abandoned by the L E O ‘s and only chance saved the day ! So there is another reason to avoid creating a situation where you could lose control of your property . Over the years of riding the various Cycle Tour routes I have come across so many different attitudes of the L E O ‘s involved in Policing these events . Generally they behave respectfully towards those who are out to ride the route but there have been cases where Juniors have been rigidly officious and I can think of several cases where when stopped I have been told the bike will be impounded if I try to leave the point where stopped . In most cases when stopped I will walk on till out of sight but when confronted with a “ Stand Here ” order it is hard to overcome . Usually I then look to enjoy the hospitality of those on the scene since they have seen the unreasonable behaviour . One occasion on the Tour de France I was given a sumptuous lunch with wine and when the Gendarme involved approached for water ( hoping for better) he was sent away to the local shop . One of the hosts chortled about his getting one back for me but as it turned out we were delayed beyond the “ 15 min prohibition period after the passing of the “ Broom Wagon “ regulation ! A bit of “ tit for Tat threre I think . Reading the comments attached to the article it was easy to see that this was not there first time the article had been run and there was a series of exchanges in 2010 which could well have been left out since the two parties were too busy slanging each other to contribute value to the debate . From the initial comment by “ NoMoreSlowFiveO ” on 3/09/2010 to 14/09/2010 he responded repeatedly to comments by “ BadBadLeroyBrown ” . Hopefully when this article next appears these nonsenses will have been removed . Tour de France does the Gendarmerie no favours by having these L E O standing in the same spot for most of the day , rarely in the shade on hot days and exposed to the elements in inclement weather . As to turning Public roads into “ Private Roads ” for the passing of “ Le tour ” one wonders why they cannot follow the example of the “ Tour de Suisse ” and thus not create the problems for the community that result at present . Whilst the Policing forces are busily occupied the criminal elements are having a field day not only badgering people and enterprises to “ BUY ” their nougat and plastic Drapue but perhaps other crimes such as burgularising empty homes and stealing bikes and bike parts and breaking into unattended cars . Of course these activities take place elsewhere but then the response is so much quicker and positive investigation and not a “ incident no ” that will be the outcome when you report to the Insurance Co. your loss in an area where the “ Le Tour ” has visited . POSTED by Posterous as Blogger continues to give problems !
SAFE PASSING 101
Showing posts with label Gendarmerie. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gendarmerie. Show all posts
Sunday, September 18, 2011
WHEN A COP SAYS STOP !
Sunday, July 31, 2011
OPEN LETTER to CHRIS PRUDHOMME
Letter to Chris Prudhomme
Swanning around in your Limousine with a variety of " notable personalities " you will rarely see the "Glitches" that the everyday visitor to " Le Tour " has to overcome ! Certainly your subordinates have done their best to see that you have a " Trouble Free Ride " each day . No doubt you have briefings with your personnel each day to keep you abreast with potential problems .
Whilst you were with France TV you were quick to pick my brains about my activities on the periphery of "Le Tour " and also whilst " understudy to JM Leblanc ", but since becoming " The Man " you rarely deem a simple "hello" as appropriate for a man of your importance . Amazing then that i get to meet some of the General Officers of the Sapeur Pompiers , Army and Gendarmerie as well as assorted Politicians whenever i find the time to be at a " Depart " or " Arrivee " ! Some i have advised of my Blogs , so it may be that their staff have been detailed to have the occasional read . Phillippe Sudre is also aware of these blogs but as to whether he deems it worth his time to read my offerings i couldn't say .
In previous " Open Letters " to you i have suggested ways to improve the security of the " Signage " but neglected to point out that many of the large Roadside Signs proclaiming " Road Closure details of route nos with dates and times " could be better . All Media receive a looseleaf book , known as the "Guidebook" and this is a very helpful tool to ALL , but it neglects to coordinate that very important issue of "Road Closures" ! Surely you want the world to know WHEN the routes of the " Le Tour " each day will close , don't you ? Many of those i speak to at the " Le Tour " tell me that each Department of France has a Web Site that offers info on these " Route Closures " but the general public are rarely aware of this , let alone the Overseas Visitor , many of whom do not understand the French Language whether written or spoken .
BY adding an additional column in the “Guidebook “ to the Caravan and the Racers anticipated passing certain points times , " ASO " will in consultation with the various authorities be able to advise the WORLD of the "Road Closure " times . Media of all persuasions will no doubt pass on to their readers this information, as they tend to copy out your pages , as if it was their own work in the effort to inform their audience . Each Department has it's own branch of the Police National and Gendarmerie responsible for the "Security of the "Le Tour route" and since these signs have to be constructed to inform the public then the information should be accurate and thus ALL will see a coodinated result !
During one Etappe in the Pyrennes , when i was at the bottom of a " Col " , i had a Gendarme Officer , as he was passing me in his official car , tell me that i should stop cycling , as the "Col" was NOW closed ! This was more than an hour before the time PROCLAIMED on the" Sign displaying Closure times " that i had only just passed ! When i arrived at the " Col" there were several " touring cyclists " but none of the private cars that passed me after this rash statement was made . The Gendarme with the rank " Major " then again told me that the road was closed even though there remained 35 mins until the posted time . My solution was to pick up the bike and walk off the road until i reached a point beyond the " Col "
where i could ride once again . Further down the road i found that the times posted had been extended another hour and half , as is normally the case when you pass into a new area of control . As to what happened to the " touring cyclists " i could only speculate , but had they relied on the published information then they were sadly inconvenienced and carrying a "touring bike " with luggage weighing as much as 50kg , in many cases , would be out of the question .
Expect to hear more points of interest from me over the next months as i know how hard it is to get action when too many issues are raised at the same time . Have your people read my " OPEN LETTER to Pat Mc Quaid “ about the " Authorised Driver Permit " , that i feel is required to avoid a repeat of the incident that nearly killed two racers .
No where on page 7 of the " Guidebook " does " ASO " refer to driver conduct in relation to the Racers or even the ordinary cyclist AND since the " Le Tour " as an event is about Cycling , one wonders who was responsible for coordinating the material published ? No doubt Phillippe Sudre after our discussion took a look at that page . After publishing my blog post about the RMC Radio Stationwagon i saw the driver many times but he never again caused me any problems . Whether this was good luck or he had the matter brought to his attention is not for me to say .
Security of the "Le Tour " route is an important concern but having the Public sit on the side of the route for 5 hrs each day is asking too much particularly since the "Tour de Suisse" is able to run an event with "Private Security on motorcycles " and Army reservists causing the routes to be closed for periods ranging from 10 mins to 30 mins before the arrival of the racers unless in the mountain passes when longer periods may be required . Could be that your people need to look at the abilities they display and adopt some of their expertise !
A Bientot
Swanning around in your Limousine with a variety of " notable personalities " you will rarely see the "Glitches" that the everyday visitor to " Le Tour " has to overcome ! Certainly your subordinates have done their best to see that you have a " Trouble Free Ride " each day . No doubt you have briefings with your personnel each day to keep you abreast with potential problems .
Whilst you were with France TV you were quick to pick my brains about my activities on the periphery of "Le Tour " and also whilst " understudy to JM Leblanc ", but since becoming " The Man " you rarely deem a simple "hello" as appropriate for a man of your importance . Amazing then that i get to meet some of the General Officers of the Sapeur Pompiers , Army and Gendarmerie as well as assorted Politicians whenever i find the time to be at a " Depart " or " Arrivee " ! Some i have advised of my Blogs , so it may be that their staff have been detailed to have the occasional read . Phillippe Sudre is also aware of these blogs but as to whether he deems it worth his time to read my offerings i couldn't say .
In previous " Open Letters " to you i have suggested ways to improve the security of the " Signage " but neglected to point out that many of the large Roadside Signs proclaiming " Road Closure details of route nos with dates and times " could be better . All Media receive a looseleaf book , known as the "Guidebook" and this is a very helpful tool to ALL , but it neglects to coordinate that very important issue of "Road Closures" ! Surely you want the world to know WHEN the routes of the " Le Tour " each day will close , don't you ? Many of those i speak to at the " Le Tour " tell me that each Department of France has a Web Site that offers info on these " Route Closures " but the general public are rarely aware of this , let alone the Overseas Visitor , many of whom do not understand the French Language whether written or spoken .
BY adding an additional column in the “Guidebook “ to the Caravan and the Racers anticipated passing certain points times , " ASO " will in consultation with the various authorities be able to advise the WORLD of the "Road Closure " times . Media of all persuasions will no doubt pass on to their readers this information, as they tend to copy out your pages , as if it was their own work in the effort to inform their audience . Each Department has it's own branch of the Police National and Gendarmerie responsible for the "Security of the "Le Tour route" and since these signs have to be constructed to inform the public then the information should be accurate and thus ALL will see a coodinated result !
During one Etappe in the Pyrennes , when i was at the bottom of a " Col " , i had a Gendarme Officer , as he was passing me in his official car , tell me that i should stop cycling , as the "Col" was NOW closed ! This was more than an hour before the time PROCLAIMED on the" Sign displaying Closure times " that i had only just passed ! When i arrived at the " Col" there were several " touring cyclists " but none of the private cars that passed me after this rash statement was made . The Gendarme with the rank " Major " then again told me that the road was closed even though there remained 35 mins until the posted time . My solution was to pick up the bike and walk off the road until i reached a point beyond the " Col "
where i could ride once again . Further down the road i found that the times posted had been extended another hour and half , as is normally the case when you pass into a new area of control . As to what happened to the " touring cyclists " i could only speculate , but had they relied on the published information then they were sadly inconvenienced and carrying a "touring bike " with luggage weighing as much as 50kg , in many cases , would be out of the question .
Expect to hear more points of interest from me over the next months as i know how hard it is to get action when too many issues are raised at the same time . Have your people read my " OPEN LETTER to Pat Mc Quaid “ about the " Authorised Driver Permit " , that i feel is required to avoid a repeat of the incident that nearly killed two racers .
No where on page 7 of the " Guidebook " does " ASO " refer to driver conduct in relation to the Racers or even the ordinary cyclist AND since the " Le Tour " as an event is about Cycling , one wonders who was responsible for coordinating the material published ? No doubt Phillippe Sudre after our discussion took a look at that page . After publishing my blog post about the RMC Radio Stationwagon i saw the driver many times but he never again caused me any problems . Whether this was good luck or he had the matter brought to his attention is not for me to say .
Security of the "Le Tour " route is an important concern but having the Public sit on the side of the route for 5 hrs each day is asking too much particularly since the "Tour de Suisse" is able to run an event with "Private Security on motorcycles " and Army reservists causing the routes to be closed for periods ranging from 10 mins to 30 mins before the arrival of the racers unless in the mountain passes when longer periods may be required . Could be that your people need to look at the abilities they display and adopt some of their expertise !
A Bientot
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
M.Le President N.Sarkozy
M.Le President N.Sarkozy you can use your "power" to stop the miscreants dishonouring France as they fleece the "public" with their "plastic drapeau" and "nougat" ! An open letter to you that the Gendarmerie and Police National should read and ACT UPON TODAY !
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Super Besse
Whjlst the weather was bad on Super Besse i was in the warm in Issoire awaiting the Sunday start ! Georgethecyclist and his team rode out this morning into lousy wzather whilst i drifted down the parcours in the car thinking to ride the final 50 km but even 5 hours before the racers arrive the Gendarmerie were lining the route and there was continual drizzle even dampening " El Diablo's enthusiasm .
Several posts in place to amuse those that qre interested .
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