Is it an offence to take a photograph from a car?

[Gromit]

Police have shamed 80 drivers who took photographs of a crash on the M1.

Pictures of them appear in todays Daily Mail and the story says they have committed an offence by using a camera while driving.

It is the first time I have heard of that. Are they telling Porkies?

Drivers committed an offence by using phones and cameras at the wheel

http://www.dailymail....fe.html#ixzz23nWZmIZe

They were undeniably ghoulish but is it right to publish their photos?

[bazwillrun]

thats to sp reply to baldic three posts earlier

[FredPuli43]

^typo^ Section 41 (D), not '42(D)'

[sp1814]

FredPuli43

I see your point - the drivers using their phones as cameras weren't actually using them as commuication devices, but as recording devices. Were any of the drivers to face prosecution, I guess they could use that as a technical 'get out' clause.

Well spotted!

[Baldric]

SP, thanks, that's how I read the story initially, but as I had read the paper earlier and didn't recall seeing that story, was the reason I asked.
I've just checked and that story is not in todays paper in this area, (S/East)

[DTCwordfan]

Well at least there is plenty of evidence for the ambulance chasers to use.

[ChuckFickens]

"Traffic slows to a crawl as you pass accidents on the opposite carriageway. They are likely not to have slowed down deliberately"

I understand what you are saying, but the traffic slows to a crawl because people slowdown to look. if nobody slowed down to rubberneck then the traffic wouldn't slow down at all.

[rojash]

Exactly the point I was about to make, Chuck.

[sp1814]

rojash/Chuckfickens

What you're saying is true - however (and I didn't know this before watching a surprisingly interesting documentary about how/why traffic jams occur), all it takes is one driver in the fast last decelerating from (say) 70mph to 50mph (to look at an accident on the opposite carriageway) to cause traffic to slow down up to half a mile back.

There's a word for that effect, but I can't recall what it is.

[StarBeast]

Just had a look at the pictures, all of those are committing offences, they are all driving without proper control.

[ChuckFickens]

I think it's simply called traffic bunching.

[rojash]

"There's a word for that effect, but I can't recall what it is."

Is it Salad Bowl, maybe?

[rojash]

^^ AB censor knows more words than I realised :-)

[Ellipsis]

Police have now released some of the images and sent letters to the owners of the cars warning them that they were committing an offence and highlighting the dangers of their behaviour

They were committing an offence and they've been cautioned - that's how I read it. I caught sight of an example letter on a news report and it looked very much like a caution - I think it even said that the offence may be taken into account if future offences were committed.

BTW I think the general formal term is "queueing theory", something I studied as part of my degree many years ago:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queueing_theory

I'm not sure if there's a specific name for queueing theory as applied to road traffic.

[ChuckFickens]

And, yes you are right, SP that's all it takes.

It's what normally causes random hold ups on motorways for no apparent reason, it normally one driver driving too close to someone in front, meaning at some point they have to brake sharply, this then causes cars having to brake sharply to travel back along the traffic like a wave getting more extreme the further away from the cause until eventually it brings the whole lane to a halt.

[StarBeast]

It's the concertina effect, someone slows down so do others, if you could stand on a bridge and watch the brake lights then when they start to move backwards then a jam will occur even though the traffic is still going forwards the combined effect will bring the traffic to a standstill, briefly. When it speeds up again no one will be able to see any cause.

[StarBeast]

chuck's post appeared while I was typing.

[bazwillrun]

you can also describe it with the "Butterfly Effect" part of chaos theory

[sp1814]

Just remembered the term used in the documentary. It's called the 'pinch effect'.

There's a Wikipedia page on it, but I urge you not to read up on it, unless you want your brain scrambled.

[anotheoldgit]

sp1814

/// A teenager got knocked down and seriously injured outside outside our offices last week. A crowd gathered on the street to observe the emergency services. ///

/// It took the paramedics a while to get her stabilised before transporting the kid to hospital, and in all that time, the crowd just stood gawpi ///

And to witness all this sp I suppose you stood 'GAWKING' through your office window all that time? :0)

[sp1814]

AOG

Nope, but glad you asked so I could clarify.

I noticed people standing looking out of our office windows on to the street outside. I went over, looked after i clocked what had happened, went back to my seat.

You see - I literally can't look at accidents - turns my stomach (same reason why I can watch any documentary about wars, because without warning, you may see a shot of a dead or injured soldier/civilian).

I knew the crowd hadn't dispersed because when I went to the gym 20 minutes later - they were still there.

And it was the same people...and more had gathered.

I am the opposite of a gawker. If I DID gawk, I would throw up.

(But weirdly, I have no problem watching 'slasher' horror films - go figure).