The Police ARE NOT IMMUNE to prosecution!
Discussion
from my local Paper:
Crash PC on danger charge
A policeman was driving on the wrong side of the road when he crashed while answering an emergency call, a court heard.
PC Timothy Temple lost control of his patrol car after clipping a Renault.
The marked Peugeot 406 then hit the kerb, mounted the pavement, hit a wall and demolished a lamp post before coming to a halt in Lewes Road, Brighton, on August 1 last year.
Michael Warren, prosecuting, said Temple and another officer were on the way to a burglar alarm call at a shop in Lewes Road at the time.
He said police officers were able to ignore speed limits and traffic signals but only if it was safe to do so.
He alleged Temple had driven dangerously, failing to take account of vehicles waiting to turn right at a junction.
Renault driver Jason Baird said he was aware of blue flashing lights in heavy traffic behind him as he approached Southover Street.
Pedestrian Clifford Taylor said he saw blue flashing lights as the police car approached but noticed it did not have its headlights on.
He said: "It was getting dark and I felt it should have had its lights on. It was travelling at some speed."
Temple, 30, of ###########, Brighton, denies dangerous driving.
The trial at Hove Crown Court continues.
Obviously not good from a safety perspective, but I have some sympathy given that the guy was trying to do his job in a highly pressurised situation.
The public complains about response times from the police, so these (very infrequent) events will sometimes happen.
p.s. I am going to print my reply and keep it with me for the next time I get stopped by the old bill.
>> Edited by N17 TVR on Tuesday 10th December 16:38
The public complains about response times from the police, so these (very infrequent) events will sometimes happen.
p.s. I am going to print my reply and keep it with me for the next time I get stopped by the old bill.
>> Edited by N17 TVR on Tuesday 10th December 16:38
N17 TVR said: Obviously not good from a safety perspective, but I have some sympathy given that the guy was trying to do his job in a highly pressurised situation.
The public complains about response times from the police, so these (very infrequent) events will sometimes happen.
p.s. I am going to print my reply and keep it with me for the next time I get stopped by the old bill.
I wasnt trying to slate them or snigger at the policeman for being prosecuted, more like bringing to everyones attention what Madcop has often posted about that they are not a law unto themselves.
Marcos Maniac said:
I wasnt trying to slate them or snigger at the policeman for being prosecuted, more like bringing to everyones attention what Madcop has often posted about that they are not a law unto themselves.
I know you weren't and I wasn't trying to indicate you were.............
M@H said: Because every Nova these days with a klaxon horn and LED washerjets would expect you to move over
At least german (anto MaxPower) over-legislation has its uses and makes it illegal to show a blue light or to have a horn which sounds more than one note (tune players), but you DO have to get out of the way of blues and NeeeNawws or Martinshorn as they're called here..........
edited cos of dislexic fingers
>> Edited by JMGS4 on Wednesday 11th December 12:07
kevinday said: In the UK there is no legislation requiring you to move over........but I suppose you could be done for 'driving without due care and attention'.
Only we could help aid the emergency services get to the scene of a crime/accident as quickly and safely as possible by not ensuring that they HAVE to get out of the way..........
I hope he gets away with it. At the end of the day he is doing his job and trying to save lives/property. DO we really want the police to pootle along at 30mph in times of a crisis for fear of being jailed for DD? Of course some of them are going to crash, you only have to witness how f
stupid some people and get into the way of the plod mobile with blues and twos going..
stupid some people and get into the way of the plod mobile with blues and twos going..
N17 TVR said: I assume that under our legislation we have to get out of the way of blues & two's ????
p.s. I alway's dobut I'm not sure of the legal consequences if you dont..........
There is no such requirement. Emergency drivers are required to adhere to all the same regulations everyone else is. We can claim exemptions to certain regs (exceeding speed limits, treating red lights/stop signs as 'give way', parking in an area marked with chevrons, ignoring keep left/right signs) but if we cause an accident while doing so BOY does the excrement hit the aircon...as demonstrated here.
I hope he gets off as the poor sod was only doing his job...
Jason F said: I hope he gets away with it. At the end of the day he is doing his job and trying to save lives/property. DO we really want the police to pootle along at 30mph in times of a crisis for fear of being jailed for DD? Of course some of them are going to crash, you only have to witness how f
Quiet staggering sometimes when you move over because you've spotted the blues some fcukwit thinks you're pulling over to let him past
or is it they just haven't seen it yet 
. re this case I do have a certain sympathy with the guy, however, there's always a however, in responding to a shop alarm I'm not so sure the urgency of the call merits driving a panda car past the drivers and cars limit.
The right result came out in the end, a great shame that it had to end up like this though.
Question for the coppers on here, do you have a priority system for the level (and hence risks taken) in responding to call outs, just that the Hospitals have the triage system (a practice learnt from the military, I believe the fireman are now on a similar learning curve
) just wondering . Harry
PS all the above is IMHO and is not meant to inflame anyone involved in this or similar events.
HarryW said: [quote
Question for the coppers on here, do you have a priority system for the level (and hence risks taken) in responding to call outs, just that the Hospitals have the triage system (a practice learnt from the military, I believe the fireman are now on a similar learning curve
Harry
PS all the above is IMHO and is not meant to inflame anyone involved in this or similar events.
All Police calls are classified as in the triage hospital system. They are graded into immediate, priority and routine response calls by the control room. Some alarms that are notified (ABA) Automatic burglar alarms, during the day are listed as routine as the likelyhood of the premises being burgled during office hours is unlikely.
Panic alarms/personal attack alarms are a different matter. If one of these is triggered during the day or night, they are graded as immediate. Even if the attacked premises calls in to say it is a false activation ( Are they calling in under duress with a weapon held to their heads?).
Alarms which have a habbit of being activated on a regular basis and are found to be set off in error or faults are black listed and do not get a response until they have been sorted out.
Any other call for help is graded by the control room but the attending officer has the discretion to upgrade or downgrade his response if the situation changes whilst he/she is on route.
I was always taught that if you have to make progress however urgent the committment, then put on the warning equipment for self preservation. Experience has taught me that sometimes activating this equipment can be more of a hinderance than a help. Also when attending crime orientated jobs, it is a bit of a give away to the perpetrators if they can hear/see us coming from miles away!
No police officer I have ever worked with wants to become involved in an RTA. All of them want to go home at the end of a shift, not spend it in the care of the NHS.
Certainly I do not drive in such a manner where I am likely to end up spending the next few nights in hospital. I am always aware that the unexpected may occur and therefore generally, I drive at about 95% of my full capability and that of the vehicle I happen to be driving.
There are occasions that I give 100% such as when there is a call from an officer in need of urgent assistance (sort of life or death type stuff)
Thankfully the training I have had and the experience over the last 20 odd years has kept me from disaster.
I have had minor accidents (No blameworthy ones) and some deliberates but never injured anyone in the process.
I am always conscious that there is a time when his could occur if I am not giving the task in hand my full and undivided attention. That is sometimes difficult when there are two different radio channels talking about the same job (UHF and VHF)updating and redeploying units to acheive the best and most successful result, and there is the utmost urgency to get there.
For those that are curious about the occupation of loaf, I think he is an Ambulance Technician (paramedic). Not the grease monkey that looks after the servicing.
JohnL said:
loaf said: Emergency drivers ... We can claim exemptions to certain regs ...
What kind are you, just out of interest?
From Loafs profile
"I drive a Merc C-class and work as an IT installations engineer"
Maybe PC world are really the 4th emergency service and not the AA
Talking of which do you all know that Mungo used to work at PC World
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