collease Posted May 24, 2006 Report Share Posted May 24, 2006 I was on my way home from dereham last night 11pm when i came across the tell tale sign of a police car aproaching. (I slowed like a good boy incase it had to overtake somone coming the other way but fortunatly it didnt. Now the bit of road i was on is a 60 limit and i know that with the lights and siren on they can within reason do what they want (speed wise) but this guy was in a serious hurry. Im not complaining at all so dont take this the wrong way but he must have been doing at least 100mph as he was out of view befor i even looked in my mirrors. Now considering the A47 is one of the most dangerous roads in Norfolk he is a very very brave officer as if he came upon somone pulling out of one of the side roads he and the innocent driver of the other car would be in serious trouble. The reason i mention this is are there constrants put on officers for speed in emergency situations? And if so what are they? I'm just wondering because if the officer had crashed (and i hope he hasnt) i think the police force would have trouble condoning his speed on a dangerous stretch of road. Now like i said i am not complaining as i would rather he drive that fast to get to the emergency than toodle along at 60mph just to be safe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theduisbergkid Posted May 24, 2006 Report Share Posted May 24, 2006 Was he in a Ford Ka ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
collease Posted May 24, 2006 Author Report Share Posted May 24, 2006 Na it was a Volvo Estate. like i said i did not see him for long he was shifting some. and stop being cheeky Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djcool Posted May 24, 2006 Report Share Posted May 24, 2006 [ QUOTE ] Na it was a Volvo Estate. like i said i did not see him for long he was shifting some. and stop being cheeky [/ QUOTE ] If it was a T5 it'll be traffic, so they're fully trained and not your beat bobby in a Focus type. I'd imagine if he could prove he needed to get somewhere quickly and had the blues and twos on then fair play to him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drpellypo Posted May 24, 2006 Report Share Posted May 24, 2006 They don't need to have blues and twos on. As long as they have a reason to use their excemption to traffic law, then they can do just so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djcool Posted May 24, 2006 Report Share Posted May 24, 2006 [ QUOTE ] They don't need to have blues and twos on. As long as they have a reason to use their excemption to traffic law, then they can do just so. [/ QUOTE ] Didn't realise that! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garcon magnifique Posted May 24, 2006 Report Share Posted May 24, 2006 As far as I know, there aren't any hard and fast "maximum speeds" - though some forces may have guidelines. Apart from that, it's down to the driver's discretion - as you say collease, he's potentially in no end of deep smelly stuff if he has an accident. Several years ago I had the chance to see some police in-car video of one or two situations around Manchester, including a few examples of how not to do it that'll never reach Police, Camera, Action! In some cases it's pretty amazing how fast they can go (especially on roads you know) without taking any undue risks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparky Posted May 24, 2006 Report Share Posted May 24, 2006 Maybe the call had gone out to say the Doughnuts had landed back at the Station. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
collease Posted May 24, 2006 Author Report Share Posted May 24, 2006 i did wonder if he was late for shift change. BUt seriously i not having ago at him or of course her was just interested to see if they have guidlines for certain roads. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drpellypo Posted May 24, 2006 Report Share Posted May 24, 2006 [ QUOTE ] [ QUOTE ] They don't need to have blues and twos on. As long as they have a reason to use their excemption to traffic law, then they can do just so. [/ QUOTE ] Didn't realise that! [/ QUOTE ] There could be several reasons. If they are racing to catch a crim in the act, the last thing they want is sirens blaring that can be heard a mile up the road, and the jonny car-thieves etc running off. Also could be the same for domestic situations etc. I know the fire brigade certainly, if there's a potential suicide (bridge jumper etc) are instructed to 'silent approach' so as not to panic the person. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theduisbergkid Posted May 24, 2006 Report Share Posted May 24, 2006 If it was Leics copper, he would have been rushing back to watch soft pron, and/or pay hide and seek ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
collease Posted May 24, 2006 Author Report Share Posted May 24, 2006 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theduisbergkid Posted May 24, 2006 Report Share Posted May 24, 2006 [ QUOTE ] [/ QUOTE ] (couple of mates are Leics coppers, and TBH, they a pretty good bunch) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparkzz Posted May 24, 2006 Report Share Posted May 24, 2006 The Police, especially Traffic Police are very highly skilled, and much more aware/alert/able to drive to our roads today than the public. Every shift,they will gain a little more skill, as they are always having to judge traffic and road conditions. Depending on the type of emgergency will determine the urgency to attend an incident. It is similar in the Fire service, when we were called to an "AFA" you tend to drive very different as to being tipped to a house fire - person reported. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevie_d Posted May 24, 2006 Report Share Posted May 24, 2006 [ QUOTE ] The Police, especially Traffic Police are very highly skilled, and much more aware/alert/able to drive to our roads today than the public. Every shift,they will gain a little more skill, as they are always having to judge traffic and road conditions. Depending on the type of emgergency will determine the urgency to attend an incident. It is similar in the Fire service, when we were called to an "AFA" you tend to drive very different as to being tipped to a house fire - person reported. [/ QUOTE ] Exactly. The general panda car drivers receive very little training, but the big bad traffic cops get put on an intensive course. I've been in the car with one whilst doing about 140mph on a motorway, his skills were incredible "you see that car about a mile away?" "yes" "well, it's gaining on that lorry and is likely to pull out in front of us" And it did As previously said, the emergency services are not required to use their blues n twos, it's upto their discretion. Another scenario is a traffic car following a speeding motorist, if they need to catch up and gather evidence they can hardly put their sirens on... They don't generally have guidelines like, stabbing is 150mph top, but a mugging is only 100mph top, but they do take the seriousness of the call into consideration. i.e. a house break in process is likely to get a slower repsonse than officer in need of assistance. I'm not sure if the police officer could be prosecuted in the event of an accident, as it's hard to guage what speed they "should" be doing on a call out. Slight OT, but the red police cars you see in central London protect the embassies and such, they have a response time of 3 minutes to anywhere in central London So if you see one of them in a hurry get the feck out of the way Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrisg Posted May 24, 2006 Report Share Posted May 24, 2006 [ QUOTE ] The Police, especially Traffic Police are very highly skilled, and much more aware/alert/able to drive to our roads today than the public. Every shift,they will gain a little more skill, as they are always having to judge traffic and road conditions. . [/ QUOTE ] but don't we all ?? Well I guess most people on here take some pride in their driving. I'm not having a go either but IIRC every three weeks last year somebody was killed by a police car on a call out..... trouble is it can be so much more dangerous doing 40 in a 30 town limit than 100+ on the A47 It's back to this 'appropriateness' Never been out in the road but did once get to ride in a car on the skid pan.........wow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevie_d Posted May 24, 2006 Report Share Posted May 24, 2006 [ QUOTE ] [ QUOTE ] The Police, especially Traffic Police are very highly skilled, and much more aware/alert/able to drive to our roads today than the public. Every shift,they will gain a little more skill, as they are always having to judge traffic and road conditions. . [/ QUOTE ] but don't we all ?? Well I guess most people on here take some pride in their driving. I'm not having a go either but IIRC every three weeks last year somebody was killed by a police car on a call out..... trouble is it can be so much more dangerous doing 40 in a 30 town limit than 100+ on the A47 It's back to this 'appropriateness' [/ QUOTE ] Yes, of course everyone gains experience and skill as they drive, but the police traffic officers are very highly trained. Honestly, try and get a passenger ride in a traffic car, it's amazing what they spot and what they predict! Most drivers look 10m in front of their car, good drivers look about 100m in front of their car, police drivers will look as far ahead as they can. Spotting dangers very early. The best way I find to improve my own driving ability is to give a running commentary. Everytime I make a mistake, which is daily for everyone (including police drivers), I force myself to do a commentary for 5 minutes. It's amazing how much detail you spot when you say it out loud. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garcon magnifique Posted May 24, 2006 Report Share Posted May 24, 2006 Dead right Stevie. Learning to do a running commentary is arguably the best part of the IAM training. One killed every three weeks? So that's 17 in a year. Obviously it's 17 too many, but given the number of police response calls a year it's not bad. Especially when you consider some of those 17 were TWOCers being followed who'd have had a fair chance of killing themselves (or someone else) anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drpellypo Posted May 24, 2006 Report Share Posted May 24, 2006 And remember kids, it's the crims who kill people - not the police. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teebags Posted May 24, 2006 Report Share Posted May 24, 2006 [ QUOTE ] i.e. a house break in process is likely to get a slower repsonse... [/ QUOTE ] No kidding, took them 6 days to get to my house after it was broken into. Although in their defence it was around Christmas time so the roads were probably wet... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevie_d Posted May 24, 2006 Report Share Posted May 24, 2006 [ QUOTE ] [ QUOTE ] i.e. a house break in process is likely to get a slower repsonse... [/ QUOTE ] No kidding, took them 6 days to get to my house after it was broken into. Although in their defence it was around Christmas time so the roads were probably wet... [/ QUOTE ] hehe, it took them 4 hours to get to us and we had suspects on scene when we rang! We weren't too bothered until the panda car arrived with blues n twos on However, speaking to coppers, apparently the control room doesn't always tell them when the call came in and so they were probably told "break in at Stevie's, suspects still on scene, go, go, go" Although six days is a fair while Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drpellypo Posted May 24, 2006 Report Share Posted May 24, 2006 Well that's cos you live on an island mate. Water to cross n that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rugbyfiend Posted May 24, 2006 Report Share Posted May 24, 2006 [ QUOTE ] However, speaking to coppers, apparently the control room doesn't always tell them when the call came in and so they were probably told "break in at Stevie's, suspects still on scene, go, go, go" [/ QUOTE ] Ain't that the truth, the number of times they exaggerate things, just so they get a response and then act all stroppy when you ask why you were deployed so quickly for a nothing job. As opposed to other times when you turn up 3 hours late and have to apologise for the first 10 minutes when it becomes apparent that there is something quite big in front of you. Grr On a side note in my force just to be allowed to get into a panda it's a 2 week course and that's not for blues and twos. That's just being able to drive to jobs. Blues course is 6 weeks with an exam half way through, which if you fail that's you done for the next year or so until you can try again. It's certainly not easy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AvantSE Posted May 24, 2006 Report Share Posted May 24, 2006 [ QUOTE ] Exactly. The general panda car drivers receive very little training, but the big bad traffic cops get put on an intensive course. [/ QUOTE ] It's also worth pointing out that the officer you see in a general panda car may well be trained to this level; at our local station, I can think of 2 guys who are there now - one is ex-vehicle crime unit (used to drive Imprezas, Escort Cosworth police cars as well as usual T5s), and one is ex-ARV, yet they quite often go about their business in Protons, Fronteras, Transits, or X-Trails. It's just that they are no longer in their respective departments. There was also a Sgt there who was also ex-ARV. So when you see a panda flying past, it will *probably* be a response-trained driver, though there are occasions when these officers have a high level of training. HTH. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevie_d Posted May 24, 2006 Report Share Posted May 24, 2006 Good point, my instructor mate quite often gets into a panda car Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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