DVLA nearly over 70 renewing licence

[Mike Sales]

You may jest, but I have a family member who is in the final stages of their probationary period as a police officer, and I asked them how I'd know if their warrant card was genuine - "no idea" was the rather worrying reply.

I am always struck by how, in TV cop shows, the detective flashes their card and the member of the public never scrutinises it, but accepts a glimpse of something in a little wallet.

[Jdsk]

You may jest, but I have a family member who is in the final stages of their probationary period as a police officer, and I asked them how I'd know if their warrant card was genuine - "no idea" was the rather worrying reply.

I am always struck by how, in TV cop shows, the detective flashes their card and the member of the public never scrutinises it, but accepts a glimpse of something in a little wallet.

"How to Verify a Police Officer":
https://www.northyorkshire.police.uk/st ... e-officer/

Jonathan

[thirdcrank]

TV series aren't much of a guide to police-related matters. I would say that Ben Elton's The Thin Blue Line was good. Detective Boyle played by Mark Addy was a remarkably accurate portrayal of a colleague in Ireland Wood CID when I was there in the early 1970s.

[Jdsk]

TV series aren't much of a guide to police-related matters.

And in another domain... the popular expectation of survival after resuscitation has been driven by fictional television programmes:

"Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation on Television — Miracles and Misinformation":
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/N ... 6133342406

"Cardiopulmonary resuscitation on television: are we miseducating the public?":
https://pmj.bmj.com/content/94/1108/71

"It isn’t like this on TV: Revisiting CPR survival rates depicted on popular TV shows":
https://www.resuscitationjournal.com/ar ... 1/fulltext

Jonathan

[Paulatic]

TV series aren't much of a guide to police-related matters.

You telling me "Vera" ain’t true…I’m shattered.

[Mick F]

"How to Verify a Police Officer":
https://www.northyorkshire.police.uk/st ... ce-officer

Dial 101?

Sorry, but if suspected someone was impersonating a police officer, I'd be dialling 999.

[thirdcrank]

Bogus officials have been a real problem for many years and I get the impression that their activities have now gone online, like so much else. A lot of their visits to houses have been motivated by the life-long habits of many older people dealing only in cash. I fancy that things like more people being paid by bank transfer and government pressure to have pensions paid into an account may have reduced this but there was a generation of thrifty pensioners who had their savings hidden in the house. They were then vulnerable to some quite audacious thefts. One of the key points then is that older people are often easily confused and make poor witnesses; they may even die before a case grinds its way to court. Detailed instructions like those from North Yorkshire above are not much use to somebody who is confused. It also seems obvious to me that advice needs to be national - especially about what a warrant card looks like - always assuming such a thing exists. Perhaps an app would be ideal, but that takes us straight back to older people.

Bearing in mind that most people know that if they call, eg British Gas, then, pace Flanders and Swann, the gas man cometh. An unsolicited visit from anybody might raise concerns.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1dvAxA9ib0

I know a few warrant card anecdotes but I don't remember any real problems with this. I could imagine somebody trying to stall for time with a breathalyser but it's not something I've encountered.

[francovendee]

Years ago I was involved in a road rage incident. My error was that I was in the wrong lane .
We were on our way to a funeral near Bournemouth and were already late. I had to squeeze in to the correct lane, the jam was stationary and I signaled and pulled across. The 4x4 driver behind hit his horn and went around me. He then shot out of his car shouting abuse. I apologised and explained my error. He was having none of it, telling me he was a policeman and demanding to see my licence. I agreed but only after he shown me his warrent card. He made a great show of looking in his car for it and but didn't have one. He tried to save face by telling me he didn't have it with him and I was lucky.
We last saw him tear up the road in a cloud of black diesel smoke!
It really upset my wife and I suppose I should have called the 'real' police and had him arrested for impersonating a police officer.
I think looking closely at a warrant card makes a lot of sense.

[thirdcrank]

'GO AWAY!' Chris Eubank tells vigilante cyclist he’s a COP when caught using phone at wheel of £370k car – before jumping red light

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/15166439/ ... ht-mobile/

[Ben@Forest]

TV series aren't much of a guide to police-related matters.

You telling me "Vera" ain’t true…I’m shattered.

I was surprised to find out recently that the 'George Gently' novels, which the TV series was based on, were set in Norfolk. And I only found that out after reading that the first few series of GG were actually filmed in Ireland!

[[XAP]Bob]

I think the answer is that a driving entitlement is not lost by the introduction of more stringent testing. eg I passed my motorcycle test in the 1960s on a Bantam 175 and was always qualified to ride a motorbike of any size. I didn't bother with any extra paperwork to keep my motorcycle qualification at age 70 but I see I still have A listed which is academic as I've no intention of riding one.

This govt list shows how qualifications are partly based on date of passing test

https://www.gov.uk/driving-licence-categories

AIUI, the extra requirements for certain vehicle categories at age 70 are an attempt to check that such drivers are still physically up to it. It could be argued that it should apply to all drivers but it doesn't. Most licence-holders are able to self-certify

And it really should lost.

Yes, there should be a grace period (part of which can run before the updated requirement is brought it) for anyone to take the updated test… but the license should be contingent on the currency of a test.

All licenses should have a relatively short expiry (5-10 years).

[thirdcrank]

When driving tests were introduced (1934?) existing licence holders were not required to take a test. At one time, in the days when most crashes reported to the police went to court, a lot of those drivers were disqualified until they passed a test.

I passed my tests in 1965 (car) and 1970 (motorbike.) Apart from the fairly short practical test, which only involved riding round a very short circuit for the motorbike and not killing the examiner when he leapt out to test the emergency stop, the only theoretical test was three questions about the HC so that was six across two tests. Since then, the tests have become more sophisticated and existing licence holders have not been automatically re-tested.

The DVLA seems to be struggling to keep up with the current situation, without introducing more. Resources might be better directed at people who don't bother with things like insurance and MOTs.

[Jdsk]

The DVLA seems to be struggling to keep up with the current situation, without introducing more. Resources might be better directed at people who don't bother with things like insurance and MOTs.

A move from criminal justice to administrative regulation might make it easier to focus on where the greatest risks lie, and on which interventions work.

Jonathan

[Jdsk]

When driving tests were introduced (1934?) existing licence holders were not required to take a test.

And tests were suspended during two previous national emergencies My father never took one.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Ki ... st#History

Jonathan

[thirdcrank]

I don't know what the licensing arrangements were when tests were suspended. eg During the Suez crisis I remember that provisional licence holders were permitted to drive unsupervised but that's not the same as getting a licence without a test.

My dear old dad was taught to drive (a three-ton truck) in the Army during WWII and was able to get a full driving licence when he bought his first car in 1965 on the basis of his military "test." He did loads of driving after that and retained a clean licence.