Just a whinge
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Discussion

JoolzB

Original Poster:

3,549 posts

279 months

Wednesday 24th August 2005
quotequote all
I got caught for speeding a few months back along a certain stretch of 40mph road. This morning I followed a fully marked up TrafPol that was doing (I had to stop at a far lower speed as it wasn't safe for me to travel above the stated limit) at least the speed I was caught at . And before any one says he was on a call out somewhere, he wasn't!

And people are calling for more TrafPol, whilst I totally agree with that in principle how the hell is it going to improve things if they will still just target the same group of people i.e. the easy pickings, people speeding.

volvos70t5

852 posts

259 months

Wednesday 24th August 2005
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How do you know he wasn't on a call? He is not required by law to use his B+T's when responding to an incident.

deva link

26,934 posts

275 months

Wednesday 24th August 2005
quotequote all
What's the point of being in the Police if you can't drive as fast as you feel like?

JoolzB

Original Poster:

3,549 posts

279 months

Wednesday 24th August 2005
quotequote all
volvos70t5 said:
How do you know he wasn't on a call? He is not required by law to use his B+T's when responding to an incident.

Coz the local donut store doesn't open til 10.

john57

1,869 posts

258 months

Wednesday 24th August 2005
quotequote all
I don't use blues and twos all the time responding to calls - circumstances sometimes mean you will start going to a call and it becomes slightly more urgent so you make progress..... it then becomes much more urgent and you use the blues and twos. 80% of calls I attend don't require use of the blue light yet 40% of those I may speed to if a little bit of progress would help say relieve congestion by getting there a bit quicker.

Blues and twos are reserved for calls regarded as urgent only as over use will result in people not taking as much notice.

It is up to the police driver to look at all the circumstances and respond accordingly.

JoolzB

Original Poster:

3,549 posts

279 months

Wednesday 24th August 2005
quotequote all
john57 said:
I don't use blues and twos all the time responding to calls - circumstances sometimes mean you will start going to a call and it becomes slightly more urgent so you make progress..... it then becomes much more urgent and you use the blues and twos. 80% of calls I attend don't require use of the blue light yet 40% of those I may speed to if a little bit of progress would help say relieve congestion by getting there a bit quicker.

Blues and twos are reserved for calls regarded as urgent only as over use will result in people not taking as much notice.

It is up to the police driver to look at all the circumstances and respond accordingly.


What percentage of your driving time would you say was responding to calls?

>> Edited by JoolzB on Wednesday 24th August 12:20

john57

1,869 posts

258 months

Wednesday 24th August 2005
quotequote all
JoolzB said:

john57 said:
I don't use blues and twos all the time responding to calls - circumstances sometimes mean you will start going to a call and it becomes slightly more urgent so you make progress..... it then becomes much more urgent and you use the blues and twos. 80% of calls I attend don't require use of the blue light yet 40% of those I may speed to if a little bit of progress would help say relieve congestion by getting there a bit quicker.

Blues and twos are reserved for calls regarded as urgent only as over use will result in people not taking as much notice.

It is up to the police driver to look at all the circumstances and respond accordingly.



What percentage of your driving time would you say was responding to calls?

>> Edited by JoolzB on Wednesday 24th August 12:20


90%.... as a Traffic Sergeant - at one point earlier this year I had nine calls outstanding spread over 1/4 of London.

The Wiz

5,875 posts

292 months

Wednesday 24th August 2005
quotequote all
john57 said:
I don't use blues and twos all the time responding to calls - circumstances sometimes mean you will start going to a call and it becomes slightly more urgent so you make progress..... it then becomes much more urgent and you use the blues and twos. 80% of calls I attend don't require use of the blue light yet 40% of those I may speed to if a little bit of progress would help say relieve congestion by getting there a bit quicker.

Blues and twos are reserved for calls regarded as urgent only as over use will result in people not taking as much notice.

It is up to the police driver to look at all the circumstances and respond accordingly.


You obviously ain't Dorset Police .... number of sirens etc going round here all day and all night has to be heard to be believed.

viggen114

259 posts

283 months

Wednesday 24th August 2005
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I often wonder whether the marked cars that go past my house in the early hours of the morning are doing the 'timed' internal post delivery.
Cannot remember the exact time, I did know it once, for the record time to get from South Wales HQ in Bridgend to Cardiff Central, it was somewhere in the region of 12 mins.

jasandjules

72,611 posts

259 months

Wednesday 24th August 2005
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Look, isn't it better that these boys know how to drive fast? And know that driving fast isn't necessarily lethal?!?!

Bear in mind that they are the same people who may pull you over on the M25 at 2am with no other traffic as you do 90, and tell you to just slow down a bit rather than Mr Gatso..

voyds9

8,490 posts

313 months

Wednesday 24th August 2005
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It's just a bit annoying that with some training these people are allowed to go above an arbitary limit, we are not allowed this training and still would be allowed above the limit if we could get it.

volvos70t5

852 posts

259 months

Wednesday 24th August 2005
quotequote all
voyds9 said:
It's just a bit annoying that with some training these people are allowed to go above an arbitary limit, we are not allowed this training and still would be allowed above the limit if we could get it.


Don't forget that the Police Method of driving is the same as used by the IAM, RoADA and certain other advanced driving organisations. You just don't get any blue lights or an exemption.