Car wars last night.
Discussion
Did you watch cars wars last night, I live in the Granada area, it was on BBC but sometimes BBC progs can be regional.
I could'nt help but notice the pursuit drivers rarely, no I'll rephrase that, very rarely looked in their mirrors, they are trying to catch criminals and are obviously driving fast but if you have recorded it watch it again and notice the dash mounted cameras, you would see if the driver looked in his door mirror or his interior mirror.
Still what do I know.
I could'nt help but notice the pursuit drivers rarely, no I'll rephrase that, very rarely looked in their mirrors, they are trying to catch criminals and are obviously driving fast but if you have recorded it watch it again and notice the dash mounted cameras, you would see if the driver looked in his door mirror or his interior mirror.
Still what do I know.
Edited by slowly slowly on Friday 3rd November 12:12
I don't think the Jag overtake was THAT bad - too close, but not as dodgy as (in my opinion) some of the overtakes by the green impreza! I stress this is from fixed video footage so it doesn't give a good picture at all, but from what I saw I'd have questioned those moves!
Otherwise a very good standard of driving though and I find these programs REALLY interesting to see!
Otherwise a very good standard of driving though and I find these programs REALLY interesting to see!
Don't get me wrong I have alot of respect for the BiB, all of them, but I have always thought that if a police driver is going to be trained up to the max so that he is the very best at his job, that driver should be concentrating on driving, a bit like Bill in the Sweeney, he was Regans driver, thats all he did, get the right man for the job, he should'nt be looking for a Red Mazda or a Black Saab leave that to the passenger
Old racing drivers should be employed as police drivers(or even young ones), if they get caught speeding give them community service orders, 200 hours driving a police car. The other passengers in the police car would( apart from sh1tt1ng themselves)then be able to concentrate on the job in hand.
Old racing drivers should be employed as police drivers(or even young ones), if they get caught speeding give them community service orders, 200 hours driving a police car. The other passengers in the police car would( apart from sh1tt1ng themselves)then be able to concentrate on the job in hand.
slowly slowly said:
Don't get me wrong I have alot of respect for the BiB, all of them, but I have always thought that if a police driver is going to be trained up to the max so that he is the very best at his job, that driver should be concentrating on driving, a bit like Bill in the Sweeney, he was Regans driver, thats all he did, get the right man for the job, he should'nt be looking for a Red Mazda or a Black Saab leave that to the passenger
Old racing drivers should be employed as police drivers(or even young ones), if they get caught speeding give them community service orders, 200 hours driving a police car. The other passengers in the police car would( apart from sh1tt1ng themselves)then be able to concentrate on the job in hand.
Old racing drivers should be employed as police drivers(or even young ones), if they get caught speeding give them community service orders, 200 hours driving a police car. The other passengers in the police car would( apart from sh1tt1ng themselves)then be able to concentrate on the job in hand.
Most (not all) race drivers make sh1t road drivers - just look at the long list of famous names who met their maker on the road!
I believe that the Police driver needs to be looking for the car as he gets that vital few seconds edge by following it himself rather than being told what to do - that way the driving is subconcious rather than following orders. The passenger can be a great help of course.
I think the majority of Police persuit drivers are first class. Overtakes whether safe, tight or not are difficult to judge from anywhere else but the drivers seat so you can't really comment here.
Cheers
Paul
pgm said:
slowly slowly said:
Old racing drivers should be employed as police drivers(or even young ones), if they get caught speeding give them community service orders, 200 hours driving a police car. The other passengers in the police car would( apart from sh1tt1ng themselves)then be able to concentrate on the job in hand.
Most (not all) race drivers make sh1t road drivers - just look at the long list of famous names who met their maker on the road!
I think the majority of Police persuit drivers are first class. Overtakes whether safe, tight or not are difficult to judge from anywhere else but the drivers seat so you can't really comment here.
Cheers
Paul
The comment about racing drivers was only said in jest, can you imagine the number of fatal accidents, it would be a blood bath.
I agree with the "most racing drivers make sh1t road drivers" comment.
Under normal circumstances I would not have been looking for how many times the pursuit driver looked in his mirror but from memory it was only once or twice in a 2 or 3 minute clip, and at that point they were'nt chasing anyone. When he was after the Jag whilst being tested I did'nt notice whether he used his mirrors at all, I only made the comment because I would expect to be told by an examiner to look in your mirrors every x seconds but in the real world when you are doing 110mph it does'nt quite work out that way and that programme showed it.
I just wish I had recorded it.
Cheers Dave
thought it might have been in jest, but you never know 
the mirrors thing is a difficult one as an advanced driver will be able to keep an eye on the mirrors during general driving without making it obvious - looking out of the corner of his eye, moving just the eyes to quickly scan or taking a look whilst looking in that direction out of the screen or the side window.
the mirrors thing is a difficult one as an advanced driver will be able to keep an eye on the mirrors during general driving without making it obvious - looking out of the corner of his eye, moving just the eyes to quickly scan or taking a look whilst looking in that direction out of the screen or the side window.
pgm said:
thought it might have been in jest, but you never know
the mirrors thing is a difficult one as an advanced driver will be able to keep an eye on the mirrors during general driving without making it obvious - looking out of the corner of his eye, moving just the eyes to quickly scan or taking a look whilst looking in that direction out of the screen or the side window.
the mirrors thing is a difficult one as an advanced driver will be able to keep an eye on the mirrors during general driving without making it obvious - looking out of the corner of his eye, moving just the eyes to quickly scan or taking a look whilst looking in that direction out of the screen or the side window.
Obviously the first guy was'nt on test and I may have missed something but if you got chance to watch it again and you looked out for his eyes flicking to his mirrors then I stand to be corrected.
IMO I don't think there is anyone better trained than those guys plus they know if they ba11s it up everybody will know about it(on board video).
Stick at it lads(and ladies)you do a great job.
It's quite suprising just how quickly you can actually look at a mirror, I mean real split-second eye movement stuff. It's very easy on a pursuit to forget, but often something will show up in a correctly adjusted mirror without actaully looking at it, if that makes sense? I was pretty impressed by what I saw of the show, the boys were showing off some nice controlled driving there....
That's an interesting observation HW. I had always thought that one of the tell-tales of good v poor observation was how much the head moved. You see many poor observers who have their heads set looking forward and never move. The opposite is where you see well articulated heads looking from over r shoulder to over l shoulder using centre and door mirrors along the way.
Have I got the wrong end of the stick, or are pursuit drivers perhaps sacrificing some observation for concentration in front?
Graham
Have I got the wrong end of the stick, or are pursuit drivers perhaps sacrificing some observation for concentration in front?
Graham
vonhosen said:
gridgway said:
Have I got the wrong end of the stick, or are pursuit drivers perhaps sacrificing some observation for concentration in front?
Graham
Shouldn't be.
They should be traveling at a speed that they can do all that is necessary safely & systematically.
"Shouldn't be".
But it was and now we are back where we started, next time a programme like this comes on, record it and watch it over again, the cops are looking for someone in a dark coloured Saab, they aren't going to see him in the mirror so they don't bother looking.
Do what I say not what I do.
slowly slowly said:
vonhosen said:
gridgway said:
Have I got the wrong end of the stick, or are pursuit drivers perhaps sacrificing some observation for concentration in front?
Graham
Shouldn't be.
They should be traveling at a speed that they can do all that is necessary safely & systematically.
"Shouldn't be".
But it was and now we are back where we started, next time a programme like this comes on, record it and watch it over again, the cops are looking for someone in a dark coloured Saab, they aren't going to see him in the mirror so they don't bother looking.
Do what I say not what I do.
It's not just Mr Saab they have to concern themselves with though.
I (think) fully understand the difficulty they have but I had recently spent many a happy hour discussing Advanced Driving with some very knowledgeable people on here so when I watched the programme I couldn't help but notice that they hardly ever looked in the mirror.
On a side issue, when I was about 21 they had a IAM day in Bolton and people could go and have a test run with an examiner, I thought I'll go and show them how good I am.
I went in the firms new Toyoto Pick up truck, we set off and everything was going fine until she said "what was the last road sign we passed", I had a think and said"Zebra crossing" "No" she said, then I said "30mph" "you only get one go" she said.
If I had known she was going to ask me that I would have been paying more attention, I know, I know,that was the point of it.
On my way home feeling a little deflated I stopped at the traffic lights, a car stopped opposite(going towards the place were they were doing the tests), the driver said "do you know where xxxx car park is", I said "yes it's up there on the right. keep your eyes open for the signs , they are dead keen on um", "It's ok I'm an examiner"..............Oh bo11ocks.
It was just not my day.
On a side issue, when I was about 21 they had a IAM day in Bolton and people could go and have a test run with an examiner, I thought I'll go and show them how good I am.
I went in the firms new Toyoto Pick up truck, we set off and everything was going fine until she said "what was the last road sign we passed", I had a think and said"Zebra crossing" "No" she said, then I said "30mph" "you only get one go" she said.
If I had known she was going to ask me that I would have been paying more attention, I know, I know,that was the point of it.
On my way home feeling a little deflated I stopped at the traffic lights, a car stopped opposite(going towards the place were they were doing the tests), the driver said "do you know where xxxx car park is", I said "yes it's up there on the right. keep your eyes open for the signs , they are dead keen on um", "It's ok I'm an examiner"..............Oh bo11ocks.
It was just not my day.
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