life - FEATURE
PC Clive Richardson
“I’m dedicated
to road safety”
PC Clive Richardson
Most of us cringe when
the word Traffic Cop is
mentioned, the image of
Robo Cop springs to mind, no
mercy, “Serve and Protect.”
We spent two days with PC
Richardson and discovered
traffic cops really do have a
heart, and they are there to
save lives!
HALFWAY through a second
shift with traffic cop PC
Clive Richardson your Island
Life team thought it was
starting to get the hang of
this policing business.
“Now, did that car have a current
tax disc?” said PC Richardson.
“Yes,” we shouted triumphantly.
“Ah, but did you also notice the
driver was not wearing a seat-belt,
and that he was dressed in a pink tshirt and had a pony tail.”
“Er, no,” we confessed.
“Policemen,” said PC Richardson,
“can look at nothing and see
everything.”
Clearly, we still have a long way to
go.
With more than 30 years service
under his belt PC Richardson, 52, is
entitled to have retired by now.
Ten years ago he suffered a major
heart attack and had double bypass
surgery but even that couldn’t keep
him away from the job he loves.
“Every day is different. You never
know what you are going to do,” he
Robin Holbrook explains to PC
Richardson, but still receives a £30 ticket.
34
A two-vehicle collision in Mill Hill Road,
East Cowes, involving injured persons.
A driver pulled out of a junction into
the path of an oncoming vehicle.
explains.”
Less than a minute from the
traffic division’s Shanklin base, PC
Richardson’s eagle eyes home in on
a motorcyclist with no lights and
a number plate that is too small to
read.
Robin Holbrook explains his
bike is a racing bike which he
occasionally takes out on the road
and only in daylight hours.
But PC Richardson replies it is still
a requirement to have a brake light
for the safety of other motorists and
a number plate that can be read in
the event of an accident.
One polite thank-you and a
fixed penalty ticket later and the
motorcyclist is on his way.
“Most members of the public don’t
go out to break the law,” adds PC
Richardson.
“Mo re often than not they are just
errors of judgement.”
In Newport, the computerised
number plate recognition system’s
alarm goes off.
According to the database the
car in front is showing it has no
registered keeper and no insurance.
Stella Baker is on her way home
to Freshwater and is able to tell PC
Richardson that as her husband
is a motor trader she is covered by
his traders’ policy – something not
included on the police database.
PC Richardson adds: “Although we
have records of who is insured, the
database can’t tell us everything.
“It won’t tell us if a motorist has
bought their insurance half an hour
ago for example.”
“It depends on how quickly the
insurance companies upload the
information.”
A Land Rover towing a trailer with
a different number plate and with
unconnected lights is also stopped
and checked.
The driver explains he has two
vehicles which tow the trailer
and hadn’t really thought about
matching up the number plates.
PC Richardson adds: “A trailer and
vehicle with different registration
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