Surrey Police: 400 bikers stopped in anti-noise operation
Hundreds of motorcyclists have been stopped by police in Surrey as part of an anti-nuisance campaign.
If you were stopped by police while riding in Surrey this summer, you weren’t the only one. Officials there say they stopped hundreds of motorcyclists in an effort to cut down on noise and nuisance riding.
The stops were made as part of Operation Downsway, an annual campaign run in Surrey and Sussex that serves as a catch-all for bad summer behaviour. Officially, it is aimed at addressing the so-called “Fatal 5 Driving Offences” of excess speed, not wearing a seatbelt, distractions (ie, using mobile or a hand-held device), drink and drug driving, and careless or inconsiderate driving.
But Surrey Police Chief Inspector Karen Coyne told BBC South East recently that more than 400 motorcyclists were stopped for issues including speeding and loud exhausts - 407, to be exact.
Whether all 407 received warnings or notices, however, is unclear. Coyne told the BBC that officers had sought to engage with riders at biker cafes and other hotspots.
“We want to stop these riders and actually speak to them,” Coyne said. “Officers enjoy doing it because it's a chance for them to be really proactive.”
The issue of noise has been a particularly contentious one in Surrey this summer, with popular biker cafe Ryka’s finding itself at the centre of multiple petitions sparked by complaints of noise.
People in the nearby village of Mickleham say they’re sick of “intolerable” noise levels coming from bikers riding to and from Ryka's. They claim they are unable to enjoy being out in their own gardens due to the “torture” of passing motorbikes, and are pushing for a public space protection order (PSPO), which would then allow authorities to impose certain restrictions and put up noise cameras.
Coyne meanwhile conceded that “it is not just motorcyclists” who are creating noise issues and observed that some 394 cars had also been stopped as part of the campaign.
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Chris Cope is a fourth-generation journalist, originally from Texas. He has lived in the UK for roughly two decades and has been writing about motorcycles for most of that time. He has written for dozens of publications and websites in the UK, US, Canada, and Australia.
