Fake motorcycle police. Why?

Dressing up like the plod. To achieve what exactly?

Posted: 17 January 2012
by Ben Cope

People who like to pretend they're police baffle me and annoy me in equal measure.

I took this picture the other day at Cobham, about to join the A3 heading to Guildford. I guessed that the guy on the left had just bought his rather fetching BMW off the guy on the right. He was being led to the A3 by the guy on the right and sent on his way.

I said to my girlfriend, who was sat next to me: "Keep an eye on the bloke on the right, I bet when he joins the A3, everyone in the outside lane will anchor on, he'll join the middle lane and sit there at 61mph and everyone will bunch up behind him, afraid to go past".

That's pretty much exactly what happened. As we joined the A3, from the elevated position you could see cars doing a good 80mph in the outside lane but as soon as we joined from their left, everyone behind slowed up. Mr Fake Policeman moved into the middle lane and held a steady 60mph. I told my girlfriend to get in the outside lane and go past him and hopefully others would follow. As we did, he approached the M25 junction and pulled off - he had no need to be in that middle lane, especially at 60mph.. When he pulled off the A3, as you would expect, traffic went back to how it was before.

I just don't get people who dress up like this. What do they lack in their life that means they now feel the need to 'go out on patrol'? They clearly know that the way their bike is stickered up, people will assume they're police and so they'll act accordingly. You might chip in and say 'Of course he's not police, you can easily tell' but the fact is you've had time to study the picture and from 50 metres away the average car driver can't tell the difference. Afterall, everyone anchors on when they see a 'Traffic Officer' thinking that they too are police.

What really grates me is that more often than not, the fake coppers are questionable riders themselves, just like this guy was.

So, dress like a policeman, make traffic slow down, then when they realise you're a fake, they brandish all bikers as idiots. I'm not against being seen, I just don't think you need to try and elevate yourself in some way by trying to dress like a copper.

Do us all a favour: Get. A. Life.



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motorcycle police, fake, copper, motorway, hi viz, loser
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Drapes
Saw one on the M6 near stoke last week (identified by not having the tall light on the back or any other flashing lights and no black and white chequered band on the helmet) got along side, shook my head and gave him the wanker sign and fucked off. The car drivers behind saw and duly picked up their speed.

Posted: 17/01/2012 at 16:38


Chris G 14
I see people doing this all the time in central London - @Drapes I think that was harsh but fair! Tossers

Posted: 17/01/2012 at 17:01


Sparkwood
Attention seekers, dumb fucks!

Posted: 17/01/2012 at 19:40


PhantomGixer
Firstly why should somebody wearing a High Vis Jacket, white helmet and some reflective stickers on his bike make him a wanker. Surely If people in cars/buses/vans etc actually paid some respect and actually took some notice of us commuter riders who ride come rain, come shine.

Then people wouldn't have to 'pretend' or 'get noticed' therefore having more chance of making it into work and home again ALIVE!!

And no I don't have one of these bikes, styled like this.

Posted: 17/01/2012 at 20:14


evil ken evil
i can never tell if there dressed as a police man or Coco the clown!

Posted: 17/01/2012 at 20:36


Nathan Seery
High-viz automatically means Police-imposter?

On our side of the pond, our police moto-officers still wear left-over equestrian gear in either black or dark blue.

I personally want to be seen. High-viz is one of the best tools for that.
Now if they said "Police" on their jackets/bikes/helmets/etc, then ya you'd have a point. But not as it stands.

Posted: 17/01/2012 at 21:55


Ayo
White Pan = Wally alert. Check the panniers. If they carry touchdown marks, all is forgiven.

Posted: 17/01/2012 at 22:27


Tobias Hermansson
So the guy takes adequate safety precautions when riding his motorcycle in winter time. In other words, he doesn't wan't to die. And you are being an arrogant dick about it? All the while you are hunched up in a car... You sir, are the on who should get a life!

Posted: 18/01/2012 at 08:37


My Name Is Michael Caine
Taking precautions is one thing, actively mimicking a police officer is another, therefore yes, he is a ******.

Posted: 18/01/2012 at 09:13


Mike Burrows
Surely they dress as policemen so car drivers are more likely to offer them overtaking opportunities? Filtering on a Pan or BMW tourer isn't easy if the cagers aren't paying enough attention to leave a gap for you.

Posted: 18/01/2012 at 09:18


Pagik
Isn't there actually some laws against impersonating a policeman? And surely these utter UTTER wankers are breaking this law. I cannot tell you the level of utter hatred I have for the burkes.

Seriously, no, seriuosly, get a fucking life.

Posted: 18/01/2012 at 09:26


celticriders
I couldn't disagree with you more on this first of all they don't look like police, second if you got out of your fucking car and rode on road in all weather you might understand the need to be seen and third, if you are a biker you will except them for who they are and not judge or have you spent to long in your car?

Posted: 18/01/2012 at 09:43


Peter de Zeeuw
There is a big difference between dressing to be seen and deliberately making yourself look as like the police as possible. The photograph above is of someone who has gone out of their way to make people think they are police, there are a number of people who do the same on the M4. They deliberately buy the same bike and put the same stripes on. It is easy to make yourself seen without looking like plod.

The worst part is that when you clock them in your mirror when on your bike, you end up changing your riding style until they pass when you can be confident it isn't the police trailing you. That is infuriating.

Posted: 18/01/2012 at 09:43


Spurdog
There's a good chance he's a courier or an instructor and rides in all weathers and in the dark hence the Hi-Vis. There are some thin skinned bikers out there if a bit of Hi-Vis upsets them!

Posted: 18/01/2012 at 09:47


Chris S 22
I do work with SERV, our HiVis and ex-police pan-euros (complete with blue lights and battenburg flashes (albeit orange and yellow rather than blue and yellow) often seem to get us mistaken for police, despite the big Emergency Blood patch on the back of the jacket. If it means people get the fuck out of my way on a blood run I'm all for it

Posted: 18/01/2012 at 10:02


shaun foster
Fake police? All those two are doing are wearing high vis clothes and have reflectors on the back of his paniers. Its your stupid fault to think their police.

Posted: 18/01/2012 at 10:51


N S
I like how the rage is directed at the riders, and not the police. Don't forget, they are the rent-seeking dicks who are actually actively stealing and abusing you on a daily basis.

Posted: 18/01/2012 at 10:56


bounty320i
To me they're just two guys with HIVIS gear on. If the guy in the car had ever been on a bike he would have known the difference between a patrol bike/policeman and a guy on a bike who wants to make it home/work in one piece.

Posted: 18/01/2012 at 11:07


Vincenzo Iaciofano
I was upset at first but think also i have to be more alert and check the markings. The roads are dangerous enough with out watching out for more hazards like imposters.

Posted: 18/01/2012 at 11:41


Timpster
The bike on the left is a K1 BMW the one on the right looks like an ex-Police K1100RT so perhaps the reflective stuff on the panniers was already on it.
Regardless i don't see the need for such an article from a professional journalist ( in a car ) to be honest.
The only thing he did wrong was sit in the middle lane @ 60mph but he's unlikely to be the only person who does that as bloody car drivers do it every day.
Also, we may all be dressed like that one day if we are riding!

Posted: 18/01/2012 at 11:48


Royal Boy
They just look like normal bikers wearing hi-viz to me. But then I didn't see how the guy was riding - perhaps he was trying to ride in a way that suggested he was police? Otherwise, what's the issue?

Posted: 18/01/2012 at 11:49


Ruxxy
If you fail to notice the lack of any identifying police markings then you should question you observations in the first place, So they want to be noticed, so what? I don't ride to fade in to the scenery, do you?

Posted: 18/01/2012 at 11:51


typhon219
I'm all for hi vis to be seen but he sat in the middle lane at 61mph? unless he was a completely unobservant mauppet he HAD to know that he was holding up traffic which makes me think he IS purposely trying to look like the plod and cause a nuisance, or at the least he need some training on observations and awareness. If he's trying to look like the police (which his actions, not just his clothing etc point towards) then I agree he's a twat. And the fact that the author could predict his actions so well tells me that there are a few twats including him out there doing the same, in which case I agree - get a life.

Posted: 18/01/2012 at 12:40


evil ken evil
i first commented on this last night

but after reading all the opinions on this article ......

i still think the guys a nob!

like typhon said if you wanna wear high viz fair enough ...but dont play at being a police man and generally being a pest to the motoring public

what also makes me laugh is the fact some people on here turn their noses up at the idea of someone being in a car like their some kind of sub breed

Ive got a dirty confession to make ....yes i own a car aswell as a bike (shock Horror)

how can this be ?

why is it so ?

cos im a realist!

Posted: 18/01/2012 at 13:58


Aki
You see this all the time, they know what they are doing and they think they're being clever doing it. I'm not saying there should be a law against wearing hi viz gear and a white helmet but clearly with the markings on the panniers and they way he choose to ride his clear intension was to give the majority a perceived perception that he is a copper.

And to all those saying that clearly he's not a copper because of a lack of police markings, thats easy to say sat at your computer studying a picture, lets see what you would do if your travelling down the motorway at 70-80 and out of the corner of your eye you see this bike join the carriageway?

Posted: 18/01/2012 at 14:03


Drenched
I do love the anti car comments. What happened to the idea of petrol heads? I own two cars, and a bike. I commute on the bike, and use the car at weekends with the family, or if there is snow.

Anyway, with more and more high vis legislation being threatened, I suspect it won't be long until a good percentage of us have to dress like the luminous tw*t in the photo... :(

This just reminds me of a few years ago with HID headlights came out, initially the only people that seemed to have them were the police, and when someone who wasn't a copper pulled up behind you with them, you would automatically slow down.... You could argue that if we were all following the letter of the law, that it wouldn't matter... ;) and I am sure that is true...

Posted: 18/01/2012 at 14:38


LeedsRider93
I bet they are IAM riders...

Posted: 18/01/2012 at 15:21


hivizwearer
I ride a bike for a living, all year and all weathers. I've been rear ended while waiting to emerge at a roundabout. I've seen plenty of near misses because car drivers don't look properly.

I therefore wear hi-viz, and the poorer the weather, the more I wear. My bike is white with reflective markings to the side and rear and yet cars still pull out.

I look at the picture and see two guys trying to enjoy a ride and get home safe. I read the article and see a bigot. Sat in the passenger seat of a car making poor judgements and urging others to drive faster.

What the article doesn't say is whether there was any traffic in the middle lane and was the biker just maintaining progress ready to leave at the next exit, why blast past everybody and then pull back in at the last minute?

Its the narrow minded drivers who make derogatory remarks that are usually the ones doing 80+ then slow when they see something like this, but what about motorway maintenance, delivery wagons, recovery trucks, all with stickers on the back, are they all the same?

The last post suggests they may be IAM, an organisation determined to increase better road safety through training, I suspect the nay sayers above would never think that they need further training but the results prove themselves.

Time to leave visordown ....

Posted: 18/01/2012 at 16:45


Drenched
@chris little
Surely a reason to stay with visordown? You make a sensible reasoned argument relating to the published opinion of others. If we all thought the same, then we wouldn't need visordown. Add to the environment, rather than running off if people have a different view to yours.

I'm somewhere between both camps, hi vis doesn't appear to make much difference. Cars/bikes/lorrys are controlled by humans, humans make mistakes. Unfortunately car drivers make mistakes that can be painful for bikers.

I posted on Facebook about how I could make a mint selling stealth technology, as my bike is clearly invisible (after a recent near miss), to which a lorry driving friend pointed out that people also don't see his 10ft wide 15ft high artic, covered in lights and signage...

Anyway, I digress, no one apart from the original poster knows whether the behaviour was deliberately police like, or as you suggest, just someone having fun.

Posted: 18/01/2012 at 17:26


Jeff Scott
These guys are just doing what everyone else does - trying to get throught the day in one piece so they can get home to see their families. If any of you non riders google about the best way to be seen by car drivers then you will see it states that white helmets and hi-viz is the best way - which is what i wear. Building sites state hi-viz for safety! A "motorway maintenance" car will have the same rear reflective strips and sometimes a row of roof mounted orange lights. How many times have you come up behind one of those at night and slowed down?? Answer - every bloody time.

Do we ban hi viz on the building sites?

Do we change the rear reflectives on a "motorway maintenance" car?

I too have been rear ended on a bike despite having rear reflectives, hi viz and a bloody white helmet. If it makes some you guys notice us then great - means i can get home in one piece.

Posted: 18/01/2012 at 17:27


kris Rexter
Cheep hi viz gear like workwear jackets are reasonably warm and waterproof and pretty dam cheap for us all year rounders pans deauvilles especially ex police hi milage well maintained bikes are good winter hacks again pretty cheap keeping the sportsbike and power ranger gear good for those sunny days and if you ride briskly in hi viz it can part traffic like the red sea. Personally I have fluro helmet jacket gloves etc but I also wear bright hawaian shirts and other bright clothing away from bike I also have my ex army gore Rex camo. But hey I thought it was all about being individual or enjoying our freedom

Posted: 18/01/2012 at 18:11


Hedgehog5-2
Some disturbing opinions posted here... the highway code recommends the use of hi-vis, light coloured helmet & reflective strips where possible... the police use this system because it makes them conspicuous & may save their lives in what is their job... what's the problem?... is it that you like to think that you know better than the highway code?... are you a that much better at riding than the police that you could offhandedly dismiss their tried & tested model?

Of the 2 riders photographed here, one is wearing a yellow helmet & riding a red motorbike ffs! The other is as much like a police vehicle in your mirrors as a white car with a roof rack... that either may cause a driver slow down to the speed limit is easily offset by the fact that they'll be paying more attention to driving rather than thinking about what's for dinner... which is a good thing right?

I don't go for the full hi-vis but I do wear a white helmet & use some reflectors... I like the fact that I sometimes see people do a double-take to see whether I'm a copper rather than as just another non-existent road user. Get a life?... yep, I've got one & intend to keep it thankyou.


http://www.direct.gov.uk/prod_consum_dg/groups/dg_digitalassets/@dg/@en/documents/digitalasset/dg_070195.jpg



http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/TravelAndTransport/Highwaycode/DG_069854

Posted: 18/01/2012 at 18:20


Harby
This is a typical piece of shoddy journalism that is low on facts and merely based on supposition, conjecture and the "journalist's" (if he can be called that!) prejudices. How ironic that this so called bike journo is in his nice warm car whilst denigrating two riders who are just doing their best to ensure they are warm, seen and get home safe to their families.

I am willing to hazard a guess that the majority of respondents who have agreed with this hack are sportsbike riders who think they are riding gods who have no need for hi-viz but whose bikes haven't seen the light of day since September and won't be out until May. Fair weather riders all who have no concept of what it is like to ride in Winter conditions dealing with the cold, poor road conditions, stupid myopic drivers and dark mornings and afternoons. The problem is not with these two riders but with the hypocrites who denigrate them but don't have the bottle or skills to ride throughout the Winter months.

It is exactly this type of crappy, cheap, tabloid journalism that became the norm and caused me to cancel my subscription of T.W.O and look where that is now.

Posted: 18/01/2012 at 19:52


celticriders
well said

Posted: 18/01/2012 at 21:33


trev cator
so what its all two wheels ,get out of your car,and get your fucking bike out on the road,i suppose i could come out with a load of bullshit about fair weather riders,or seasonal riders ,sports bike ridres ,harleys and so on who gives a ...... , there choice ,its our choice what we ride and when ,its all two wheels bud

Posted: 18/01/2012 at 21:53


Drapes
I ride a blue and white bike, have a blue and white jacket and red helmet, I ride permanently with my lights on, I have a high vis vest on over my black waterproofs in winter and yet cars still pull out in front of me, I make myself seen as I'm 6'4 so there's a lot to see when I'm sat up, its more car drivers complacency than bikers being not being visible

Posted: 18/01/2012 at 22:49


evil ken evil
This seems to have divided the visdordown posse

Ok,

Mindless morons on superbikes on one side of the room (thatll be me)

Annorack "i am greater then yow cos i have hi viz and a stifficate" cozzer wanna be's on the other side please!!!

And could the myopic car drivers on the forum please commit hari kari at the first available opportunity please.

Posted: 18/01/2012 at 23:18


abg1976
Hello from Spain!
Having living for 10+years in Uk I do understand why some guys bitch about the fake police look.
In the other hand, I am also surprised that you wouldnt like to have that kind of power on the rest of the traffic (even scared to overtake you on the highway!), when Im really tired of mindless car drivers taking the piss...is a shame that a biker has to look like a policeman to get that kind of respect, but its not his fault really.

Posted: 19/01/2012 at 09:24


Peter de Zeeuw
Why is everyone missing the point? I don't believe anyone has suggested that high-vis is a bad thing. The article was specifically about bikers deliberately trying to look like police and riding in a manner which is irresponsible.

I have no issue with people wanting to be seen. I do have an issue with people wanting to be thought of as the police in order to influence the way they are treated on the road.

People who dress like the police are in the same camp as those who stand on the roadside with fake speed cameras and the ramblers who have all but killed off green-laning. In my opinion.

Bikers are in danger of being seen as self-righteous in the extreme. I am starting to hear the same attitude as we hear from cyclists who cycle on the footpath 'for their own protection'. They view their own safety as more important than that of pedestrians. In the same way, motorcyclists who mimic the police cause motorists to behave unpredictably, and motorcyclists who ride with their full beam on risk blinding drivers and causing accidents. We all have to survive on the road together, some mutual respect is the way forward.

You'll never get rid of the idiots on the road until people realise that driving is a privilege and not a right. So let's not go out of our way to piss other road users off. I commuted in and out of London long enough to understand that hi-vis is nothing compared to defensive riding. Stop blaming everyone but ourselves for accidents - I see as much bad behaviour (more) from motorcyclists these days as I do from car drivers. There seems to be this idea that it is the car driver's job to see us despite the fact that we are travelling at 40mph faster than them, cutting through traffic and we are 1/4 the size of a car.

Take some responsibility for what you are doing. Protect yourself without adversely affecting others. Wear hi-vis - but don't look like plod.

Posted: 19/01/2012 at 10:37


Caldo Knorr
Hello everybody,riding in Portugal can be a dangerous thing and the only time I feel relatively safe is around marked police units (cars, motorcycles, etc) because it´s then that all other people (drivers and riders alike) take notice to what they are doing and act a little more conscious. If the rider in the photo photo chooses to wear that for whatever reason, it´s his decision. And nothing makes me think he was riding in a dangerous manner, if he was to exit on the first exit why go faster?

Posted: 19/01/2012 at 11:51

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