Official statement from POLITE

Can someone please post a link to the official police statement, don't wear it myself but have friends who do.
Infact, I went out riding with someone on sunday who was wearing one and the drivers definitely did slow down a lot more, even though she was on a 13.2hh pony!!
As an aside, given the number of people who go out dressed as coppers for hen and stag parties every saturday night, I doubt very much that the police will do anything about riders as they seem to turn a blind eye to drunk people bringing the force into serious disrepute!!
 
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Either way I will be continuing to wear it. I know plenty of people that go to fancy dress parties in much more convincing police outfits (some including the actually word 'POLICE') and none of them have ever been arrested. Pop them on a horse, they still wouldn't be arrested.
 
Wallkissmas - "I will not support a company that feels it can flout the law and with her stinking attitude she won't get any support from me."

You said here that a law is being flouted. Which law? There is no law. A law would have to be passed.
 
dunkley said:
Wallykissmas - please explain exactly how you understand/think it is going to be banned.
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I have to question why the other company have removed their items from sale.

I fully understand until a law has been introduced the items are not banned, what I'm stating is IF they are banned people stating they will continue wearing them will then be flouting the law.
 
The statement from Equisafety is just appalling.

I bought a non-polite 'please pass wide and slow, thankyou' obviously because my backside is wider than my horse and you won't be able to squeeze past otherwise. :D
Oh and as the tabard was brought from Equisafety and fell apart after several rides. I had to invoke the use of a needle and thread! And the headband fell apart. :mad:

The 'POLITE' product was introduced to clearly impersonate the police and make drivers think that you're mounted police. A fine example of this was the pistonheads forum comments and the fact that drivers now deliberately speed and drive at people wearing them thus now making vunerable people on horses targets.

Personally I think riders look stupid wearing the POLITE tabards. Frankly it give horseriders a bad name for being up themselves and above everyone else.

My point is that the normal tabard works perfectly fine and people slow down and a smile and a thankyou wave always works. Manners is everything.

In the light the Police can ask people to remove the 'POLITE' offending tabards I take it that Equisafety will be refunding the purchasers of the product that are no longer able to be worn on the public highway without causing an offence?...
 
I am amazed at all the fuss being created over this. I have only received positive comments regarding my Polite tabard - from pedestrians and car/van/lorry/tractor drivers. All say that at first glance it looks like police, just like the Motorway Maintenance vehicles which everyone slows down for!, but then they realise it is just me on Frayne (a 12.2hh Exmoor!!), but it makes them smile and definitely slow down for me. I have noticed that people slow down earlier and more when I am wearing it. Noone has accused me of being 'up myself', no one has driven at us aggressively. A lot of my friends wear the range - and have had similarly positive experiences.
 
They might not look Police mounted on a horse, but they do look like Police mounted on a motorbike
WA_Police_Motorbike-02.jpg
 
exmoorali said:
All say that at first glance it looks like police QUOTE]

Bingo, and there you are the act of deception impersonating a police officer because of the wording is made to look the same.

Suggest you read the thread on the Piston Head forum on their views of the 'POLITE' range and then decide if you want to risk being a target.

People would slow down if you wore a normal tabard.
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wallykissmas said:
I too recived the email , and replied asking to be removed. I will not support a company that feels it can flout the law and with her stinking attitude she won't get any support from me.

As the the poster who stated they will wear it even if its banned, get a grip you too are not above the law and there are many other high viz items out there.
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Can I say that as horse riders the last thing we need to be doing is to P!ss off the police; and I think we not only need to act responsibly but be seen to act responsibility.

IF there is any issue of "impersonating a police officer" - and we now have had the issue brought to our attention; then I think we need to be sensible and responsible enough to say OK so if this has the potential to cause any issue, then lets look at how we can minimise it.

I've got the whole range of "Polite" gear - which I've probably only worn on a number of occasions, so I'm as p!ssed off as anyone over this; as I'd actually believed that the company had consulted with the police prior to putting the brand on the market and that it was perfectly OK and the police had given nodding approval to it.

But I'll be getting a laundry pen and/or ducting tape and covering up the relevant bits; and/or mixing and matching with other colours such as orange and pink. IMO that whilst we've all been thoroughly "had" over this; that it isn't in our interests to thoroughly alienate and annoy the police over this - we need what little support we DO get from them on occasions where road safety is concerned.
 
wallykissmas said:
I have to question why the other company have removed their items from sale.

I fully understand until a law has been introduced the items are not banned, what I'm stating is IF they are banned people stating they will continue wearing them will then be flouting the law.
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They won't be. There is no reason to ban them. There is more reason to ban the production and wearing of hoodies, which have caused justifiable concern for several years. Concerns far more worrying than a rider wearing a brand of Hi-Viz intending to prevent incidents, rather than yobs wearing hoodies with the sole intention of not being identified while committing offences. If the powers that be aren't doing anything about those, I think Polite riders are pretty safe. The respective marketing/PR strategies of the companies involved are totally irrelevant. That cannot change the law. Only parliament and a very long process can do that.
 
I still can't work out why anyone would want to wear them :confused:

Nothing to do with the current debate, but police horses are renowned for being highly trained, and good in traffic. To make drivers think you are a mounted police officer, is to make whoever is behind the wheel think that you are riding a police horse. An exceptionally well trained beast that can handle a lot of tricky situations that most 'standard' horses cannot.

Why would anyone riding on the roads benefit from drivers thinking that your horse is better in traffic than it actually is? :confused:
 
I have the Polite Waistcoat, and in no way am I ever going to or try to impersonate a Police Officer. I bought it because it is a "Polite" notice to other road users, it's not me being high and mighty, thinking I own the road as horses were there since dinosaurs roamed the world etc etc, and not me sticking a finger up at those that choose to burn the Earths natural resources (oil) while tearing up the countryside (yes I own a car too), and I don't want to make myself a target for a driver who thinks I have an axe to grind by wearing it, they probably hate horses on the road anyway, and only hate someone on a horse wearing the Polite range slightly more... Polite, i.e. not me telling them "Slow Down, Pass Wide"

It is simply a "Please slow down and be careful as I don't want your car, lorry or bike to be damaged, and I don't want me, you, your passengers, other road users or the horse to be hurt".

Somehow I don't think that would fit on the waistcoat or be read quickly enough before some idiot had actually run us over. And that's hoping they had an A* in English GSCE - at todays level might take them a while with the long words in that sentence.

If the range is banned (unlikely) I'll cover up the word "Polite" or change it to "Please", as it's the best thing I've ever worn to be seen and be safe.

The company are a bit odd - granted, and don't do themselves any favours. But the waistcoat works for me, so I'm sticking with it.
 
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If the public/driver/passer by think they look like a copper then its considered impersonation simply by the careful design that has mimicked the Police's hi-viz uniform.

They don't need to pass a law for the Equisafety tabards only. The law is already in place and the wording is clear.

Frankly if they removed the word 'POLITE' from their clothing/rugs which is in the same colouring and font as the police then it maybe wouldn't be so bad and change from the police blue/white checker reflectant to plain or another colour then theres no deception.

Frankly using the word POLITE on a tabard is quite patronising without the connotations if whether it looks like the word/font for the police or not.
 
I coloured in the word Polite on my tabard with a black marker after a couple of uses. I bought it because it was the only tabard with pockets in the local tack shop and was adjustable. I noticed that people did slow down with it but I hadn't worn one before so couldn't compare if it was better than a plain hi viz. what I did notice was that a few people slowed down initially but sped off before they had passed me and one person shouted at me, didn't hear what. I have two horses over 16.2 both dark bay and could easily be mistaken for police horses. I then read on the car forums the attitude that some people have towards being fooled into thinking you are the police. It honestly isn't worth irritating people who are likely to speed past you anyway. If people want to give horses a wide berth hi viz will help them see you earlier giving them time to pass. If they are stupid enough to actually want to scare your horse tricking them into thinking you are the police will only make it worse.
Since I blacked out the word polite on my tabard people still slow down and pass carefully and I haven't had anyone speed off half way past or shout abuse.
 
MiJodsR2BlinkinTite said:
Can I say that as horse riders the last thing we need to be doing is to P!ss off the police; and I think we not only need to act responsibly but be seen to act responsibility.

IF there is any issue of "impersonating a police officer" - and we now have had the issue brought to our attention; then I think we need to be sensible and responsible enough to say OK so if this has the potential to cause any issue, then lets look at how we can minimise it.

I've got the whole range of "Polite" gear - which I've probably only worn on a number of occasions, so I'm as p!ssed off as anyone over this; as I'd actually believed that the company had consulted with the police prior to putting the brand on the market and that it was perfectly OK and the police had given nodding approval to it.

But I'll be getting a laundry pen and/or ducting tape and covering up the relevant bits; and/or mixing and matching with other colours such as orange and pink. IMO that whilst we've all been thoroughly "had" over this; that it isn't in our interests to thoroughly alienate and annoy the police over this - we need what little support we DO get from them on occasions where road safety is concerned.
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I don't care a jot if the police are pissed off , I am a member of the public exercising my right to ride a horse ( admittedly he does look like a police horse )
in a hi viz exercise sheet I am not stopping because at least two people have mistaken me for a mounted police officer , I say at least two because two people have stopped me to tell me but it may be more.
I exercise in a dark blue waterproof coat with silver hi viz lines and dark blue waterproof chaps and a velvet riding hat , I am not taking the exercise sheet off because a few drivers think I look like a police officer from a distance.
 
Surely the whole point of these tabards is, that from a distance, motorists might think that the rider is indeed Police. So for a short amount of time, may modify their behaviour/driving.

To me that doesn't mean the rider is impersonating a police officer. It is clear in close up that it is not police.

I can't see how, as the law currently stands, this is an offence.
Certainly these products won't get 'banned' - who has the authority to ban them? No-one.

I would suspect the vast majority of police officers / forces couldn't give two hoots about the whole thing, a waste of their time to persue it.

Now you will always (whatever the circumstance) find individuals with a bee in their bonnet.
And in this case it wouldn't be an unlikely scenario to every now and again come across an individual or perhaps even a local force, who do believe it is impersonating a police officer.
They may stop (as in pull over) the individual wearing it, but could they insist on it's removal? I suspect not. Would they prosecute, I would stongly suspect not. Would they win a prosecution ... I'd eat my hat.

I don't use these products and have no strong feelings either for or against. If I was a user and I was stopped by the police, I'd refrain from removing the product, provide my name and address and ask for them to pay me a visit at home whilst in a more suitable environment.
 
Does that mean that little POLICE car I bought my son all those years ago is illegal and impersonating them.

I actually agree that this is NOT impersonating a police officer. I have seen many cars and motorbikes kitted out with stripes etc same colours etc as police vehicles, no one stops them. The way I see it is if it means someone stops and slows takes heed then fine. I think its when you try to arrest someone and declare "stop Police" blow your whistle and get the hand cuffs out or tazer then I would be more worried.

Some jobs worth out there that I have not even bothered reading the rest.

Is my German Shepherd dog now a police dog too? Stupid people.

Stripogram impersonating too? Toys r us sell police clothes dont they??
 
I have a Polite tabbard, and will keep wearing it. If a few a*******s in cars choose to believe I'm trying to impersonate an officer that's their business, I'm not responsible for people's attitudes...
Saying that I accept that there are a handful of complete tossers who will purposely speed up because they get the hump (with themselves for being fooled!) and speed up/hurl abuse or whatever, then again there are a few who will do that no matter what. I'd like to put stingers in the road for them, sadly I'm not a polite officer... ;)
 
LynH said:
but I hadn't worn one before so couldn't compare if it was better than a plain hi viz. what I did notice was that a few people slowed down initially but sped off before they had passed me and one person shouted at me, didn't hear what. .
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Believe me they do that all the time when I wear my pink jacket. I think there a percentage of drivers (probably the same ones getting all annoyed and self righteous on the motoring forums) who don't want horses on the road because they might have to slow down for a few seconds.

I Had been looking for an orange one but am actually now considering buying a polite waistcoat now as a protest on how this has been done. Bit of luck I'll pick up one cheap on ebay.
 
I stopped wearing mine due to motorists being more angry and abusive at thinking they had been conned also a lot sped past us more probably thinking the horse was a police horse so should be perfect i seem to get more space given a respect in plain hiviz than the polite range
i do ride through the town centre, and I have more than once had cars and people chase me to report a crime or ask me to sort some bad kids out, so it must look too much like police , also most people do not read it properly they read the first letters and not the rest i have had to stand still more than once for them to read it three or four times to understand it does not say police but polite, hen they seem rather annoyed that they were wrong. in normal hi viz even with hi viz exercise sheet we rarely get mistaken for police and one of my horses is a tricoloured cob the other a black welsh,
 
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