When is a Police pursuit not a Police pursuit?
Discussion
Deep breath....
Approaching a crossroads in a busy town centre with traffic lights on green,just as I get to the middle of the junction I swerve to avoid a police car entering from the left where the lights are on red.
A split second "after" I swerve the sirens on the police car give a quick 2 second blast and he drives off in front of me leaving me feeling more than a bit shocked and surprised at how close I came to being T boned by a police car.
I then started to rationalise that they must be on an emergency call therefore it might be okay for them to drive like that in the service of the greater good.
Alas no, I followed the police car who was driving at the 30mph speed (no sirens) for about 200 yards before they parked up outside a sandwhich shop so I parked behind them and watched them go into the shop and come out with refreshments.(It was hot after all)
Am I the only one who finds this offensive behaviour and an abuse of their power to jump a red light nearly causing a major accident under the pretence of an emergency using the siren only when it was too late.
If I had done the same thing I may be looking at a hefty fine and even loss of licence.
I did take the details of the car involved and will be passing them on to the relevant people.
..and breathe!!!!
Approaching a crossroads in a busy town centre with traffic lights on green,just as I get to the middle of the junction I swerve to avoid a police car entering from the left where the lights are on red.
A split second "after" I swerve the sirens on the police car give a quick 2 second blast and he drives off in front of me leaving me feeling more than a bit shocked and surprised at how close I came to being T boned by a police car.
I then started to rationalise that they must be on an emergency call therefore it might be okay for them to drive like that in the service of the greater good.
Alas no, I followed the police car who was driving at the 30mph speed (no sirens) for about 200 yards before they parked up outside a sandwhich shop so I parked behind them and watched them go into the shop and come out with refreshments.(It was hot after all)
Am I the only one who finds this offensive behaviour and an abuse of their power to jump a red light nearly causing a major accident under the pretence of an emergency using the siren only when it was too late.
If I had done the same thing I may be looking at a hefty fine and even loss of licence.
I did take the details of the car involved and will be passing them on to the relevant people.
..and breathe!!!!
But they're police - they can do what they want (being superior beings and all that).
They can test out their new car up to 160mph and get away with it.
They can lie under oath.
They can entrap motorists into offences to bump up their "crime" figures.
Seriously, some police are perfectly reasonable, however, in my experience (Essex police), they are the minority.
Sorry to hear about the incident - hope you are ok.
They can test out their new car up to 160mph and get away with it.
They can lie under oath.
They can entrap motorists into offences to bump up their "crime" figures.
Seriously, some police are perfectly reasonable, however, in my experience (Essex police), they are the minority.
Sorry to hear about the incident - hope you are ok.
Well, if that was the case they were in the wrong.
To use emergency equipment, and indeed to 'jump' red lights you have to be on an emergency job.
This can be authenticated by the control room, and yes, you can contravene a red traffic light, but generally in first gear when the way is clear only.
There have been times when I have been cancelled from a code 1 or emergency job, and continued on my way at normal speeds as there is no justification to continue risking life and limb when there is no job to go to.
This may have been one of those particular instances. If it wasn't then simply they shouldn't have been doing it. I have been involved in more emergency runs and pursuits than I care to remember, you have always got to be aware that the public do very random things when there is a blue light behind them.
Sadly, accidents can happen, but every police driver that crashes is investigated, and can be prosecuted for the same offences as anyone.
It does happen, and most certainly "It's because they can" doesn't apply.
To use emergency equipment, and indeed to 'jump' red lights you have to be on an emergency job.
This can be authenticated by the control room, and yes, you can contravene a red traffic light, but generally in first gear when the way is clear only.
There have been times when I have been cancelled from a code 1 or emergency job, and continued on my way at normal speeds as there is no justification to continue risking life and limb when there is no job to go to.
This may have been one of those particular instances. If it wasn't then simply they shouldn't have been doing it. I have been involved in more emergency runs and pursuits than I care to remember, you have always got to be aware that the public do very random things when there is a blue light behind them.
Sadly, accidents can happen, but every police driver that crashes is investigated, and can be prosecuted for the same offences as anyone.
It does happen, and most certainly "It's because they can" doesn't apply.
trev r said:
But they're police - they can do what they want (being superior beings and all that).
They can test out their new car up to 160mph and get away with it.
They can lie under oath.
They can entrap motorists into offences to bump up their "crime" figures.
Seriously, some police are perfectly reasonable, however, in my experience (Essex police), they are the minority.
Sorry to hear about the incident - hope you are ok.
Well, I would disagree with the majority of this
I am no more superior than you.
I have never lied under oath
I have never entrapped anyone
And yes, I am a normal bloke who likes nothing better than arresting violent tw@ts, burglars, and people that want to take my head off with a bottle.
And yes, I am reasonable and have a great sense of humour - you have to in this job with people you face.
silverback mike said:
Well, I would disagree with the majority of this
I am no more superior than you.
I have never lied under oath
I have never entrapped anyone
And yes, I am a normal bloke who likes nothing better than arresting violent tw@ts, burglars, and people that want to take my head off with a bottle.
And yes, I am reasonable and have a great sense of humour - you have to in this job with people you face.
It's good to know there are some of you around
They might have been on a 'i' call but may just have been cancelled shortly after your incident. This does happen quite often, esp in the Met. It doesnt look good when you go through red lights, down the road then turn everything off. But on the other hand, you cant really leave them on and keep going because of the risk involved.
There is no excuse for nearly crashing into you. Police drivers are taught to expect the unexpected and drive for the untrained others.
Regards.
There is no excuse for nearly crashing into you. Police drivers are taught to expect the unexpected and drive for the untrained others.
Regards.
Custardtart does not say that the police car was or was not displaying blue lights, the implication being that the car was not. It is not a legal requirement that lights and sirens are used in an emergency, although any subseqent court case after an accident would certainly wish to know why they were not used to warn other road users.
To clarify the law and legal exemptions:
The ability to excercise legal exemption applies myself as an ambulance driver as it does to other emergency vehicle drivers at a red traffic lighr.
A red traffic light may be treated as a "Give Way" rather than a stop sign when it would hinder the use of the vehicle for it's OFFICIAL purpose. Legai exemptions only apply when they can be justified by the official use of the vehicle at the time.
(Note that this exemption does NOT apply at pedestrian crossing lights or temporary roadwork lights. Even though it is an emergency, I must still treat these as a "Stop" sign)
If an accident happens while I am crossing a red light it is almost certainly my fault, and would be prosecuted for failing to comply with a "Give Way" sign, not for failing to comply with a "Stop" sign.
In the incident described described by Custardtart, I would guess one of two possibilities, if no emergency lights were displayed: the police driver was inattentive and did not see the red light or deliberatly drove through, seeking to justify it with a blast of the siren after the near miss.
pen9
To clarify the law and legal exemptions:
The ability to excercise legal exemption applies myself as an ambulance driver as it does to other emergency vehicle drivers at a red traffic lighr.
A red traffic light may be treated as a "Give Way" rather than a stop sign when it would hinder the use of the vehicle for it's OFFICIAL purpose. Legai exemptions only apply when they can be justified by the official use of the vehicle at the time.
(Note that this exemption does NOT apply at pedestrian crossing lights or temporary roadwork lights. Even though it is an emergency, I must still treat these as a "Stop" sign)
If an accident happens while I am crossing a red light it is almost certainly my fault, and would be prosecuted for failing to comply with a "Give Way" sign, not for failing to comply with a "Stop" sign.
In the incident described described by Custardtart, I would guess one of two possibilities, if no emergency lights were displayed: the police driver was inattentive and did not see the red light or deliberatly drove through, seeking to justify it with a blast of the siren after the near miss.
pen9
Sounds a bit cheeky to me, but unless we know the reasons we can't really comment. The initial post is perfectly valid and non offensive, but the subsequent silliness of "They're the Police and can do what they like" is not called for on an intelligent forum. Trust me, i AM policed, and if i
up i will be thrown to the wolves!! 
Beat cars are always doing this pulling out of the police station on my way to work.
There is always a queue in both directions in rush hour so instead of waiting to get out, they stick sirens + lights on to get onto the road then immediately cancel them and go on their way. Maybe they're genuinely in a hurry to get somewhere but don't want to be too obvious when they get there, but it seems to happen incredibly often.
Saw one try to take a shortcut down a bus lane by the bus depot once too, but that was just funny. Its one of those bus lanes that's actually completely separate from the main carriageway and it just bypasses a roundabout and takes you to the bus depot entrance. What the plod car didn't realise was that the bus company use it almost exclusively for parking buses in (so its really useful then...) so he nips down there, gets stuck behind a parked bus and has to reverse back up the bus lane. Sirens and lights come on so he can reverse onto the dual carriageway he just left, then go off again once he gets back and has to queue for the roundabout just like everyone else.
There is always a queue in both directions in rush hour so instead of waiting to get out, they stick sirens + lights on to get onto the road then immediately cancel them and go on their way. Maybe they're genuinely in a hurry to get somewhere but don't want to be too obvious when they get there, but it seems to happen incredibly often.
Saw one try to take a shortcut down a bus lane by the bus depot once too, but that was just funny. Its one of those bus lanes that's actually completely separate from the main carriageway and it just bypasses a roundabout and takes you to the bus depot entrance. What the plod car didn't realise was that the bus company use it almost exclusively for parking buses in (so its really useful then...) so he nips down there, gets stuck behind a parked bus and has to reverse back up the bus lane. Sirens and lights come on so he can reverse onto the dual carriageway he just left, then go off again once he gets back and has to queue for the roundabout just like everyone else.
police van jumped red light right in front of me this morning. absolutely no defence. we were both waiting on red which was taking AGES, he got bored and just went for it. 10 secs later got green and caught up with him stopped at the next set on red. irritated in the extreme as he was clearly from the same station that loves ts10ing people (including me) on a confusing junction just outside nick. grrrr
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