I was driving along in a built up area probably doing about 30 mph and glanced up at my rear view mirror to see a police car (Astra) belting up the road with sirens and all lights going. I was positioned on a bend and knowing it would be bad for all if I froze to let it pass on that particular point I kept up my speed until it was safe for him to pass. He/she hammered right up to me and swerved violently to pass me....then slowed down to 30mph because there was a speed camera there. Once past he hurtled off into the distance causing due panic ahead.
Surely police cars are immune from speed cameras aren't they? Especially when on an emergency call. Maybe he just late for his tea break or something and if that's the case he's an idiot.
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Surely police cars are immune from speed cameras aren't they? Especially when on an emergency call. Maybe he just late for his tea break or something and if that's the case he's an idiot.
I think you have it in one.
My wife is a police officer and if she was going to a real grade 1, she would not be worrying about speed cameras.
However, if she was going for a cup of tea she wouldn't be silly enough to use the blues and twos anyway.
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I wonder what would happen if an accident was caused due to the actions of a police car in these circumstances. If you were caught up in a collision or even kerb bash due to a police vehicle on an emergency call it might be worthwhile enquiring about the actual emergency call he was going to attend.
On that note are there grades to such calls? If a grade 1 was for example a robbery in process what's a grade 4? Someone looking slightly dodgy? Grade 8 is cakes back in the station?
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Plod is often very young, and at one point anyway was only getting 6 weeks of training before entering the Met. So it's hardly surprising they use blues and twos to prevent the kebabs from getting cold on the way back to the station. Everyone knows they do it.
If they cause an accident for no good reason they had better have very good relations with the Commander.
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I used to work in an office which overlooked a main "A" road.Just up the road was a police garage and we would frequently see vehicles with "blues and twos" just at the time for elevenses or lunch-they couldn't all have been on an emergency run.Also near where I live there are several junctions with "no right turn" and I would frequently see these being ignored by police vehicles-however just across from my house was a small close of police houses and you would see the same vehicles parked outside.
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Just playing devils advocate, when is a police(wo)mans lunch? Seeing as they do all manner of shift work do they still have lunch at 12-2pm when they started their shift at 11am? ;-)
Maybe the admin department is tired of shifting through incident logs to cancel speeding/traffic light camera tickets and told everyone to slow down!
Or they could be very naughty and not be authorised to use blues and twos i.e. PCSO, Specials and a camera picture would catch them out.
Sure there are all number of reasons!
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the most likely reason is that they really cannot be bothered with receiving an NIP, looking through vehicle log books to locate who was driving, the driver on the day/time then typing out a report,attaching a copy of their pocket note book and a print out of the incident log ....
its easier just to slow down through the camera and save all of that work..
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You got it in one! (Do people still get meal breaks..can't remember what one of them is) It's easier to slow down than to spend an hour filling in paperwork when the inevitable NIP comes through. I know some of you like to slag us off at every opportunity, but with data recorders and cctv everywhere, I'm afraid nobody puts on blues and twos to pick up kebabs. In fact they never have in my thirteen years in the job. But why let facts get in the way of a good character assasination.
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I seem to remember 1 or 2 well documented cases of such.
It only takes 1 or 2 to do it for all of the rest to be accused of doing it though !
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mlc, of course no one thinks they always turn on alarms while collecting the kebabs, but everyone thinks they do it sometimes.
To me this is a sign of humanity, not a serious fault, and to mention it is not slagging off the police or assassinating their character.
The reason people tease the police is that the police are in authority over them on some level. It's a relationship that has an abrasive side, and that is how it is expressed by civilians.
I did once meet a person who believed the police were responsible for all crime, but that person was completely half-witted and unpleasant to boot. Don't take offence.
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I'm afraid nobody puts on blues and twos to pick up kebabs.
Seen with my own eyes mate, followed a police car at 60mph on a 70 DC, we both took the sliproad off, in no hurry, up he comes to some lights on red and he flicks on the lights and goes through rather than have to bother himself by stopping. Turns them off once he's cleared the lights. Still in no hurry. Lights change a couple of seconds later and I follow him again, all the way to the sandwich shop where I pass him.
There's no way he was on a call when he turned his lights on and jumped the lights. I know and I saw what happened. "He might have got a call for those 2 seconds that he had the lights on, and then the call was cancelled" won't wash with me. He was just driving leisurely at a nice speed and couldn't be bothered to stop.
Don't say it never happens because everyone knows it does.
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