STOP! Police!

[englishdas]

Seriously, am I getting surrounded by muppets?

Today, I was barged out of a lane on an approach to the main Ponds Forge roundabout by a Focus Police car, he didn't have his lights on or was in a rush, he just appeared at my A Pillar, about 12 inches away, and so i had to evade my lane. He then decided to stay in the lane I vacated for half the Roundabout, then weave all the way across the RBout to stay inside and keep going round it. Totally unnecessary nutty driving.

Then about 2 hours later, I 'm coming up a hill on a B Road, with my lane clear, but the oncoming lane full of parked cars. Another Police vehicle (Riot Van this time) without Lights on, oncoming, decides that even though I'm closer to the parked vehicles on the other side of the road and am travelling uphill, he's going so wide into my lane that I have to brake as otherwise I wouldnt' make it through my (clear) lane.

Aren't the police supposed to be Paragons of responsibility in the community, setting an example of good driving behaviour?

I wasn't mad, but I did floor it a bit off the roundabout in the first incident, hoping like hell that he'd have the nuts to pull me so i could point out his total ignorance of forcing me off my lane. This never happened as I reckon he was totally oblivious to another soul on the road.

 

[219]

Police driving ought to be beyond reproach .

You would be perfectly entitled to make a complaint with as much detail about vehicle types , locations and times , and ask for an explanation .

Many Police vehicles are tracked , so that information may be enough to track them down .

Senior officers do take such complaints very seriously and will follow up on this - look for ***'s thread from a year or so back on this subject .

 

[st4]

Police driving ought to be beyond reproach .

You would be perfectly entitled to make a complaint with as much detail about vehicle types , locations and times , and ask for an explanation .

Many Police vehicles are tracked , so that information may be enough to track them down .

Senior officers do take such complaints very seriously and will follow up on this - look for ***'s thread from a year or so back on this subject .

To be fair they usually are.

I followed a BMW marked traffic car on the the A82 from the Erskine bridge merge through Dumbarton.

Every lane change, approach to roundabout was done with thought and care and consideration to the car, no harsh accleration, cruising just under speed limit. The way he took the roundabout, you could just see driving class when you saw it.

They however do not slow to go as much as I do, and he had to briefly stop at a red, but I had seen it was a red and so slowed a little sooner and more radically, so I could proceed through without stopping.

Here is when they rather got it more wrong although when i raised a complaint I had a face to face meeting with a police officer to discuss the complaint, what went wrong that day and what strathclyde police were going to do to prevent it happening again.

 

[stwat]

I regularly encounter/see Police patrol vehicles exceeding the speed limits and/or weaving in and out of traffic here in Sheffield South Yorkshire without blues or blues and twos on.

It has never bothered me as such but having said that, often makes me think, 'well if they can't be bothered to drive within the law and in a safe manner why should I?'

Not that it makes me then go on to drive like a loon but it certainly always raises an eyebrow and I'm not alone in noticing it. Whenever mentioned within my group of friends or with strangers it always brings out lots of similar stories of bad driving by patrol cars here in Sheffield.

It seems to me that more training may well be needed for the Police drivers lower down the chain. Ie, normal patrol drivers etc.

At the end of the day when members of the public like me and you see these police officers regularly flouting laws that they can enforce against you and me then it makes a mockery and diminishes the public view and respect of the officers and the law.

I do have massive respect for the police in this country but when you see them taking the urine regularly in such a way it does go some-way to diminish this respect ever so slightly. Sadly.

 

[JOB-BLACK-RAT]

Take the number of the vehicle, the reg will do if you cant get the one off the side.

Then ring the non emergency number and make a complaint.

I will give you points or words of advice if I see you driving poorly and any such poor police driving is not exceptable.

 

[219]

Stu , I agree that no emergency drivers are above the law , and it is very , very seldom you will see a traffic car being driven poorly ; pandas and vans , sadly , are not driven to anywhere near the same standard .

Sometimes , things you might see may not be what they appear .

Do bear in mind that there is no obligation to use ' blues and twos ' when responding to an emergency - there can be many reasons why they can be deliberately not used : silent approach to avoid tipping off bad guys , sometimes blue lights can be counter productive because of the way other drivers react and leads to less rather than more progress , sirens will not normally be used at night when people are sleeping , sometimes when pursuing another car at a distance and not wanting to escalate the speeds involved ..... and many more .

However , speeding to get back to the station for the end of shift or because the chip suppers are getting cold are clearly not acceptable .

 

[Mr E]

Was in lane three yesterday overtaking quite a lot of traffic at about 75 (that was where the cruise was set) when I saw a police BMW approaching rapidly with lights going. Traffic was too heavy to pull across so put the foot down a bit. Was approaching 3 figures for about 45 seconds when I see a reasonable gap up ahead - indicate and pull in.

Was pleased to see officer in the passenger seat give a thumbs-up as they passed - quite amusing as I'm sure most persons I passed probably thought I was being chased!

We're quite lucky - don't see examples of bad driving by the police very often, even when driving in London where there seem to be a certain amount of drivers who seem to go out of their way to make life difficult for them.

 

[Carrotchomper]

Was in lane three yesterday overtaking quite a lot of traffic at about 75 (that was where the cruise was set) when I saw a police BMW approaching rapidly with lights going. Traffic was too heavy to pull across so put the foot down a bit. Was approaching 3 figures for about 45 seconds when I see a reasonable gap up ahead - indicate and pull in.

Was pleased to see officer in the passenger seat give a thumbs-up as they passed - quite amusing as I'm sure most persons I passed probably thought I was being chased!

It's so rare to see decent, anticipatory driving from members of the public that it's massively appreciated by professional drivers of all varieties. I take pride in my driving and it's nice to "get it right", reading situations correctly. Like spotting an artic approaching the junction and hanging well back, or spotting the emergency vehicle and making progress to a suitable place.

The standard response would have been slamming anchors on and nosing into Lane 2- No problem with booting it. Of course, if they were looking to stop you it might raise the blood pressure momentarily

 

[davidjpowell]

I came across (or rather it came across me) a plain BMW 5 series car on the M1 a couple of weeks ago. He was making good progress until reaching a transit who was not observing.

He was all over the guys rear end, swerving from left to right and back again, violently. Given that he was still doing 70 + I was astonished that he did not lose it, and not quite sure of the point of it. The most likely mirror would surely be the drivers that he would be seen in, and yet over half the time he was not in it.

It worked eventually.

 

[fred_raven]

I drive through london daily and generally the police drivers i notice do a fine job, but bearing in mind you can be fined for wiping your nose while driving , I was suprised to say the least the other day to be see 2 patrol BMW's heading towards me lights and sirens on doing around 60 or more , in a normal high street type road ! nothing unusual , obviously going to a very serious incident . So of course I pull over , slow to a crawl , let them go , and get a good view of the lead driver , one hand on the steering wheel , the other firmly on ..... A CAN OF RED BULL !! wtf...

 

[Dieselman]

let them go , and get a good view of the lead driver , one hand on the steering wheel , the other firmly on ..... A CAN OF RED BULL !! wtf...

Maybe he was trying to get airborne to save time.

 

[BillyW124]

motorway cops and your 'usual focus/vito fed patrol'..... i reckon big difference in driving skills.

agree though local bobbies aint got a bean.

nearly had to curb my new AMG's the other day, but no chance, i made sure i left plenty of space for them to pass...so what if fred in his Daewoo Lanos in front put his two wheels on the curb?

everyone to follow ship? space awarenes is what most drivers are crap on, that really bugs me.

 

[Horrgakx]

Police vehicles should only be showing the blue lights and sounding the siren when responding to an IR (Instant Response).
However, it is common they are responding to a 'situation' that is not an IR but it required quick response - therefore the driver will be using his training* in order to 'make progress'.
Just because they don't have the lights on doesn't mean they can not exceed the speed limit etc.

*The training which regular cops get is very comprehensive and is a full 3 week course. The actual difference between regular cop driving and 'fast road' training is actually not that much. Everyone is trained to the Roadcraft system.
The differences are the various 'levels' of training that they undergo (and there are a lot!). Fast Road training is what the Traffic cops do and isn't necessary for a standard PC.

 

[JOB-BLACK-RAT]

Police driver training differs from service to service.


A really brief guide to the the MET's the main three standards are:


1)Basic driver: Drive marked Vauxhall in non response mode (non blue light)


2)Incident Response Vehicle driver: Astra, station vans and unmarked Mondeo with 'co-jack' roof light, with initial pursuit management.
not available to respond to motorway calls (2 week course)


3) Advanced driver: Pretty much anything the job have as long as it is on your private DL, some types need a conversion course, eg 4x4. Full phase pursuit management
limited availability to respond to motorway calls with risk assessment unless fast road trained. (4 week course) + (1week fast road training)


Then two separate rider classes:


Standard Solo rider: Any marked or unmarked machine of any capacity that is not deemed advanced only. (2 week course)


Advanced Solo rider: Any machine the job owns (2 week course)

 

[englishdas]

Very informative stuff, JBR, thanks for that. I think it was such an odd occurence, both incidents being within hours of each other, that I immediately thought, "well that will never happen again" but I suppose it might be a good idea to note their registration if it (hopefully never) happens again.

 

[Shude]

'co-jack' roof light

kojak surely?

 

[JOB-BLACK-RAT]

Oh Shude, you must have seen enough of my post by now to know I cant spell for toffy (sic)

 

[MOCAŠ]

kojak surely?

I've a feeling the term "co-jack" means something else entirely to J-B-R...

 

[JOB-BLACK-RAT]

PMSL!