Prat !
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Derek
You witnessed an episode of dangerous driving that would not look out of place on 'Police, Camera, Action' that would no doubt have resulted in the car being stopped and the book thrown at the driver.
You were correct to make the call in my opinion.
It's not as if you were reporting a driver using a mobile, a damaged tail-light or a car with defective tints on the glass.
I know the section of road you mentioned - one car getting clipped and going across three lanes could easily result in a double digit vehicle pile-up. If your actions led to a traffic car being alerted further up the road and intercepting this vehicle then you may have saved a whole load of trouble.
Well done !
You witnessed an episode of dangerous driving that would not look out of place on 'Police, Camera, Action' that would no doubt have resulted in the car being stopped and the book thrown at the driver.
You were correct to make the call in my opinion.
It's not as if you were reporting a driver using a mobile, a damaged tail-light or a car with defective tints on the glass.
I know the section of road you mentioned - one car getting clipped and going across three lanes could easily result in a double digit vehicle pile-up. If your actions led to a traffic car being alerted further up the road and intercepting this vehicle then you may have saved a whole load of trouble.
Well done !
Those were my thoughts exactly , and I did think earlier in this thread of comparing it to some of the stuff seen on that programme - it was as bad as some of the worst examples of dangerous driving shown there - and exactly why I called it in .
Further to the above , I just had a look at the recent incidents on our website , and near the top of the list , from the 25th of this month , was the following which would have come in via the 999 system -
"Shortly after 8am, Operations Control Centre received a call advising that there were 4 cows loose on an East Kilbride road. Firefighters located the cows on Stewartfield Way and managed to successfully herd two of them into a field before handing the incident over to Strathclyde Police."
Same source , from Monday 24th , following the gales
"Another hectic day and night for our firefighters due to the excessively high winds.
Overall we answered 218 calls with only 16 of them relating to fires. Weather conditions caused a lot of alarms to actuate unnecessarily accounting for 84 of the calls however the majority of the calls received were for special services. 116 special services calls in all, made up of road traffic collisions, dangerous structures and fallen trees. There were also several calls about runaway trampolines. "
And , from Tuesday 26th
"Another varied day for our firefighters with 106 incidents in total which were made up of 31 fires, 57 false alarms and 17 special services. Again there were some unusual incidents ranging from stranded swans, dogs stuck in a river to people jammed in lifts."
All in a day's work for the emergency services , but perhaps some would regard this as 'not an emergency' .
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nick mercedes
MB Enthusiast
A child getting caught in railings surely *is* life threatening?
I suppose if breathing was restricted , but in the usual way of just having head through them and ears trapping him , would normally be none the worse even if left for an hour or two .
nick mercedes
MB Enthusiast
Would there not be letters to the paper if the firemen turned up to a trapped child and said "he'll be allright for a few hours, it's just his head that's stuck"?
They would normally attend very quickly - my point was that merely getting your head stuck between railings is not normally life threatening in itself .
The usual method of release , without needing help from emergency services , if the head went in forwards through the rails , is to simply turn said person upside down and the head will come back out as easily as it went in .
The usual method of release , without needing help from emergency services , if the head went in forwards through the rails , is to simply turn said person upside down and the head will come back out as easily as it went in .
Gucci
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On reflection, we can only comment on an individual's decision to call the emergency service based on our instinct at the time (usually in the heat of the moment). Adrenalin, anxiety, fear and judgement are all in the mix and we're comfortably sat at the computer in our rational minds (usually 
) judging others.
Sometimes, the pro's don't get it right either. Here's my example:
3:am one sultry July night (proper stuffy it was too). I was woken to see a lad walking down the road with WOOLLY gloves putting stuff in a car..then walking back up the road again out of sight. Then back to the car. And again. Knowing what pond life are capable of, I'd rather not draw attention to my house - the last thing I want is a brick through a window. I wanted to confront him, but a) see comment about brick and b) I was only in undercrackers.
I rang 999 and said I suspect a crime is in progress. They said, what can you see..I described the scenario. She replied, so you can't actually see a crime happening? I said, woolly gloves in July, back and forth to a car not parked wherever he needed it and it's 3:am - not iffy enough for you? They did nothing. The following morning, I pulled up to the top of the road to see a ford stripped of bonnet, headlights, etc etc. with distressed owner scratching her head and crying. Nice. Glad I bothered.
) judging others.Sometimes, the pro's don't get it right either. Here's my example:
3:am one sultry July night (proper stuffy it was too). I was woken to see a lad walking down the road with WOOLLY gloves putting stuff in a car..then walking back up the road again out of sight. Then back to the car. And again. Knowing what pond life are capable of, I'd rather not draw attention to my house - the last thing I want is a brick through a window. I wanted to confront him, but a) see comment about brick and b) I was only in undercrackers.
I rang 999 and said I suspect a crime is in progress. They said, what can you see..I described the scenario. She replied, so you can't actually see a crime happening? I said, woolly gloves in July, back and forth to a car not parked wherever he needed it and it's 3:am - not iffy enough for you? They did nothing. The following morning, I pulled up to the top of the road to see a ford stripped of bonnet, headlights, etc etc. with distressed owner scratching her head and crying. Nice. Glad I bothered.
From the observations noted by Derek , my response would have been exactly the same. Judging by the extended recklessness of the Rover driver , it would be fair to assume that he was either under the influence , or had stolen the car. If left unreported , chances are the vehicle would be dumped , cause a serious RTA , or driver have a chance to sober up , and repeat the same scenario at a later date. The control room that accepted the 999 call would know if there were Police vehicles available to respond accordingly. I have reported dangerous driving on several occassions , and been thanked for doing so. Would have no hesitation in reporting a similar incident in the future.
nick mercedes
MB Enthusiast
Or just a crap driver in a hurry.
Oh , thats okay then , crap drivers in a hurry exempt from the law in your part of the country ?
I agree with most of the pro-Pontoneer sentiments. The truth is that the sort of driving that he has described is not just bad/crap in terms of ability, it is reckless and dangerous and worse, calculated to be so by the perpetrator. We can all make mistakes and misjudgments in driving but no-one has the right to choose to drive dangerously because that is an assault on everyone else on the road - and that means the risk of you and me and our loved ones being seriously injured or killed. That to me puts the situation firmly in the emergency category. It's a sad indictment that we don't any longer have the policing capacity to hound these people off the roads.
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BTW...
That's a picture of a senior Israeli police officer in one of Israel's southern towns taking cover from incoming missile attack during the recent clashes between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas.
That's a picture of a senior Israeli police officer in one of Israel's southern towns taking cover from incoming missile attack during the recent clashes between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas.
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Without wanting to start another thread but the penalties are not strong enough to deter these actions.
Dangerous driving like that should be an immediate ban.
You'd be likely to get a 12 month ban for 100mph+ on an empty stretch of motorway even though your car is capable of nearly double that so there is a clear disparity in justice.
Speed cameras cannot catch wreckless or dangerous drivers or those under the influence of drugs or alcohol so it is up to the patrols to monitor the situations and act on them.
Derek only tried to make their job easier by pointing out an accident-in-waiting.
The driver of the Rover had clearly crossed the line between a single error of judgement , even act of stupidity and a criminal act .
999 is for reporting crime in progress , which in my mind this doubtless was .
999 is for reporting crime in progress , which in my mind this doubtless was .
You could spend another year debating when and when not to contact the emergency services.
The bottom line is it is down to individual judgement as to a what point you should do it.
There are clear either ends of the spectrum, but the concensus here is that most would have done something similar, but not all.
If anyone believes they have done something with the best intent, and would not change their actions in hindsight, then you've done the right thing.
That's the end of the matter really isn't it?
The bottom line is it is down to individual judgement as to a what point you should do it.
There are clear either ends of the spectrum, but the concensus here is that most would have done something similar, but not all.
If anyone believes they have done something with the best intent, and would not change their actions in hindsight, then you've done the right thing.
That's the end of the matter really isn't it?
nick mercedes
MB Enthusiast
I don't think anyone is debating if bad driving should be reported to the authorities or not, it's just the manner of doing it.
Best advise might be to do as the police ask and not to use 999, but rather use the non emergency number or report it at a local police station.
trapperjohn
MB Enthusiast
Nothing wrong with your enthusiam for pushing your point Nick.
Sounds like you work in an Emergency Services control room?
Sounds like you work in an Emergency Services control room?
