BBC News: 4x4 drivers fined under new law

Essex CC like to put bridleway signs within byways if the two join then part, or else put a bridleway sign at one end and a byway sign at the other.

Where the council difinitive map states that the route is a byway and they have told your local LR club that it is a drivable route, is this enough to escape police prosicution for ignoring a sign. Do you always obey the signs, or the county council?

Don't fancy reaching the end of a byway, and meeting a copper. If he points to a bridleway sign, you are sure to end up in bother.

David

The Beeb, one sided? - inaccurate? - what that great British institution ......... Steve, surely, never can't be !!!

The Countryside and Rights of Way Act governs use of RoW, whether by a motorised vehicle or not, and including walkers (who for some reason call themselves ramblers), horse riders, bikists and 4x4ers.

The BBC have chosen to call them "new laws governing 4x4 vehicles". You cannot govern a 4x4 vehicle, nor can you prosecute one. If the BBC wants to spout the same bullshit that I expect from ITN and the Daily Mirror then they can raise their own sodding revenues and give me my licence fee back. The BBC is just about the last bastion of proper English and quality reporting, and it's following many of the broadsheets in going down the toilet IMHO.

For some reason there is a great desire to make news sexy, relevant, interesting and exciting. News is just stuff that happens that we may or may not want to know about.

Rant over (for now)

Tim Hobbs

'58 Series 2 '77 101FC Ambulance '95 Discovery V8i

Good to see they are spending the time on important things instead of wasting time trying to catch burglars or car theives or, heaven forbid, walking the streets trying to *prevent* crime - that wouldn't do their figures much good would it...

On or around Tue, 29 Jul 2003 21:15:43 +0100, Tim Hobbs enlightened us thusly:

and a fine rant it was too. send it to the BBC news lot.

You are Alastair Campbell and I claim my five pounds...

Ah, but deciding what we may, or may not want to know about is the issue. We are all free to believe whatever we're told.

I agree entirely. Just give me lots of 100% accurate news without any topping, gesticulation, speculation or Trevor MacDonald and I will decide for myself whether I am interested in it.

For all the other stuff there is

I was brought up with the Daily Mail, and spent the first 18 years of my life believing that this was journalism. Fortunately I escaped to a Naval College for a year and spent every Sunday morning reading the Telegraph (when it used to be a newspaper) and the News of the Screws. That used to take me round to bar opening time, at which point I would get shitfaced and have my lunch. It's the British way...

Tim Hobbs

'58 Series 2 '77 101FC Ambulance '95 Discovery V8i

What about the electric battery powered ones? Are the classed as a toy?

Got one for £30 from a friend who works in a catologue returns department. I take the kids over to the old tennis courts on the park. Even I've had a go on it.

-- Nikki

I should imagine that its the first of many. On Bridleways you are allowed to use them on foot, horseback and pedal cycle.

I think things went downhill with the demise of the Light Program - when TV started to realise that news, per se, wasn't really a good seller, they became delivery agents for a bit of news and a lot of interpretation with contextualisation. In other words, news is boring

- and only by putting it within the broader context would people want to watch (or in the case of wrieless, listen to) it. 'Sexing it up' is as only as broadcast news delivery itself, but things really do seem to be getting out of hand. I reckon we're now told 'what' to think, tather than 'how' to think...

Urgh... That is by far one of the saddest things I've ever seen :-(

You try telling that to the kids of today...

I drive a bridlepath EVERYDAY.

BUT I do live about a mile down it so it's ok.

Last week a new sign appeared at the end of it say no unauthorised vehicles ...etc//etc///etc...... and over last weekend a few dog walkers and hang-glider pilots, came back to their cars to find letters of warning, so maybe it's national thing.

A friend of mine has a 'smallholding' in Derbyshire with what's more like a path as his main 1 mile or so driveway. This is on his land and only leads to his property, but is classed (I believe) as a bridleway (it's not shown in detail very well on the DM, and there was some confusion a few years ago as to whether the actual bridleway was indeed shown in the correct place. I reckon it's out by about half a mile, as there's another track not shown on the DM).

He had a very rough time during the Foot and Mouth outbreak - with clueless walkers (maybe substitute an 'n' for the 'l' there) ignoring the 'sod off' signs. He now has an on-going battle with ramblers who insist upon giving him a hard time whenever he going to of from his own property, on the path which is on his deeds, for using his own vehicle.

So a couple of us reckon on a days trundling up and down in our 101s to clear it all of overgrown bush - this will at least make it look more like a road than a path, but it's a shame to have to do so.

That's interestin Smurf, does that mean you have an 'easement' in your deeds allowing you to access your property ??

The new sign at the end of the Bridleway states "vehicular access to farm only"..... For "farm" read "80 plot caravan park and camp site" so as you can imagine even with access only traffic it still gets quite a bit of use. I will post a pic of sign somewhere this evening.