Man jailed for leaving car lights on

Absolutely. Take all of the traffic cops out there off the highways, which, by the way, are the most dangerous place the vast majority of human beings in the Western world spend time, and place them in the inner cities where they can fight gangs.

Violence will rise! Traffic tickets will disappear! The number of annual traffic deaths will DOUBLE!

The fact is that there are cops assigned to different beats. Traffic cops are there to keep the highways safe from people doing unsafe things like speeding, driving with improper lighting enabled, reckless driving, etc. There are other cops assigned to keeping the neighborhoods and cities safe.

Didn't think we had traffic cops in this country

In policing there are management choices to be made to target resources to best effect.

"A crime, is crime, is a crime" Margaret Thatcher 1981.

You tell some pensioner who has been mugged by a drugged up gang of hoods that this equates to Mr Jones inadvertently leaving on his fog lights. Ever hear of such a thing as a warning for minor offences so that resources can be best used to tackle serious crime.

Now the negative kudos player can keep on posting.

Take a look at deaths caused by traffic accidents and compare to deaths caused by any other criminal offense.

I think you will be surprised to hear that deaths caused by traffic accidents far outweigh any other criminal matter, including homocide.

Tell the pensioner who was mugged for the $50 in his wallet that his crime was *more* important than an accident that occurred on the highway, resulting in the deaths of a family of four, because some dope blinded them by leaving his lights on and see how well that goes over.

Warnings are all well and good, but for all you know this guy has had multiple citations and used up his warnings.

The Vovlo/BMW estates are traffic cops, they are modified, reacently Volvos Special Vehical unit gave police modified estates to winchester ambulance service to aid in respose times to accidents.

God its amazing the experts that pop up on policing in the UK when there's a thread started.

Read the story, he was warned once.

Are you counting yourself in those numbers? To be fair, you're putting in as much of a contribution as anyone.

Why? Simply because they're disagreeing with your point of view? Seems like you're putting yourself forth just as much as an "expert" as the others contributing to the current topic.

You are in the US - here is a US statistics site Clicky How about amending your post to show something that is actually true and not sensationalistic
You might also amend the above to not be so patronising.

i dont give two s***s about traffic laws!!w00t.

I work with the police alot unfortunatly, and they are exactly the same ones you are taking a pop at, i have seen them in action dealing with druggies and drunks in and around Winchester, and yes the traffic cops DO help with such problems because the whole service is under funded, i know this because i work for Hampshire County Council and deal with the polce authority on a regular basis, i always knew this stuff, i didnt appear because of a thread

There we have it. I think they followed the advice that is being touted in this very thread.

He was warned - this being the most leniant thing the police could do, and the least resources used.

He failed to heed the warning, so he was issued a fixed fine. This is the next fastest fix the police have on their hands. Five minutes, ten minutes tops.

He refused to pay the fine, so he was taken to court. I would be very surprised if he wasn't given an opportunity to pay up at this point too, but I can't say that with any degree of certainty. He didn't pay, so he went to prison.

What would anyone have them do, other than this?

I think out Mr Potter knew damn well what he was doing, and knew that he could sell his story to a tabloid for twice what he earns in a week, making his 5 days in the nick a nice little earner, don't you think?

Some of you folks don't know my background and what I do "know" about the law and the allocation of resources by enforcement agencies.