Police car bullying its way through red light.

thelawnet

I was crossing the road here today:

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=victoria+way,+woking&hl=en&ll=51.321541,-0.55806&spn=0.003869,0.013078&sll=53.800651,-4.064941&sspn=15.006879,53.569336&t=h&z=17&layer=c&cbll=51.321576,-0.55791&panoid=W5pRzID-vEc22oDS774U3A&cbp=12,276.77,,0,10.93

I could here a police siren coming from the left towards me, I could not see it.

This junction has quite a few traffic lights:

traffic from the north can turn right or left
traffic from the west can go straight ahead or turn right
traffic from the east can go straight ahead or right

In this case the lights were red for east-west, west-east traffic and just turned green to only allow traffic from the north to turn right (heading west).

I believe the police car beeped its horn and then about six or seven cars came through the red light from west to east, just as a daft twit in a Land Rover started emerging from the north to turn right across them. The police car, which was unmarked, then followed, having bullied its way through

I felt this was quite dangerous as the toucan crossing was green for bikes (which could emerge from the north across the crossing at a fair speed) and pedestrians, and while a trained police driver would hopefully be aware to stop, I'm not sure motorists bullied through the red lights would do.

In addition, there is a traffic light camera pointing exactly at the spot the motorists went through:

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=victoria+way,+woking&hl=en&ll=51.320957,-0.557127&spn=0.003869,0.013078&sll=53.800651,-4.064941&sspn=15.006879,53.569336&t=h&layer=c&cbll=51.321576,-0.55791&panoid=W5pRzID-vEc22oDS774U3A&cbp=12,262.5,,3,0.01&z=17

While I'll try to let emergency vehicles through, particularly ambulances, risking accident and fines to let a police car on the way to who knows what, does not seem prudent to me.

bigdave196

Is there a point to this topic?

Happychappy

So should the police car just switch off it's sirens and emergency equipment for each and every junction so as not to be seen in your opinion as a bully?

In fact I have a better idea which should keep you sweet ? why not issue a free bus pass to all emergency response officers and they can make huge savings to the carbon footprint travelling by bus, stuff trying to arrive at a scene where nobody else want's to go too, and trying to get there as quickly as possible, use the bus lane, but on a bus, why didn't I think of that ; )

Browntoa

probably best to make them comply with the road traffic act and miss whatever emergency they were rushing to attend

HXDave

perhaps the OP would have thought differently if the police car was on it's way to a member of his own family who, for whatever reason, was in distress or danger.

Whilst it is true that a normal driver going through a red light to allow a blue light to pass is still an offence, i would do all i can to allow a blue light vehicle (whilst activated) past me as quickly as possible.

HXDave

spike7451

HXDave wrote: »

perhaps the OP would have thought differently if the police car was on it's way to a member of his own family who, for whatever reason, was in distress or danger.

Whilst it is true that a normal driver going through a red light to allow a blue light to pass is still an offence, i would do all i can to allow a blue light vehicle (whilst activated) past me as quickly as possible.

HXDave

Plus,what if it was an ambulance or fire engine?...Those extra seconds could be the difference between life & death. (You ever see the episode of Police Stop! where it showed a police car rushing a heart across London for a transplant patient?..They made it with minutes to spare)

thelawnet

HXDave wrote: »

perhaps the OP would have thought differently if the police car was on it's way to a member of his own family who, for whatever reason, was in distress or danger.

Not if it caused someone to hit my wife/kids crossing the road on the way there, no.

gilbert_and_sullivan

Who knows what emergency the officer is attending, it's our duty to keep an eye open when we hear sirens or notice the blue flashers to keep out their way.

They don't use blues and sirens for fun.

Alter_ego

Browntoa wrote: »

probably best to make them comply with the road traffic act and miss whatever emergency they were rushing to attend

^^I know this is tongue in cheek.^^

They were complying with the RTA which makes exceptions for emergency vehicles.

vax2002

All the cars that went through the red light camera will get 3 points and a fine.
They dont do excuses and until they do, stay put.
If thet want to get to incidents faster then they should not put up cameras or at least allow you to use the defence of making way for an emergency vehicle, at present they dont.
So you have a clear choice, take the £80 fine and three points and see your car insurance rise a hundred quid or so for the next 6 years or dont run the light.
Then what do you do next time and the time after that when you get banned and lose your job.
If I see a light camera, I stay PUT.

Paradigm

You can still be prosecuted for driving through a red light!

Motorist counting cost of good deed - Paul Whitehouse reports

A CONSCIENTIOUS motorist is counting the cost of his actions after driving through a red traffic light to allow an emergency ambulance to pass.
The junction had a traffic light camera and Mark Freeman's vehicle was filmed passing the stop sign, resulting in a fixed penalty fine from the South Yorkshire Safety Camera Partnership.

Mr Freeman protested against the fine but after three court appearances reluctantly accepted the prosecution and pleaded guilty, receiving a £60 fine and £35 in costs.

But the real bill for the episode is much higher for the 36 year old father-of-five from Intake, Doncaster, because he took three days off work for the appearances before Doncaster Magistrates, adding another £300 to his expenses.

Future insurance premiums for his Chrysler Voyager car may also be higher.

His attempt to speed up the ambulance journey have won him little sympathy, however, with outside organisations insisting drivers should always obey the law.
A Department of Transport spokesman said: "The Highway Code states that a vehicle should get out of the way of emergency vehicles but not in a way that would endanger other road users. Passing through a red light is illegal."

A spokesman for the camera partnership added: "There is a system in place for motorists who feel they have extenuating circumstances – they can opt to take their case to a court of law. If magistrates agree the circumstances are valid, the appeal would be upheld.

"If Mr Freeman decided to change his position and plead guilty to the offence, that is a matter for him."

Ambulance drivers are trained to get through heavy traffic in emergencies and the service warns motorists to stick to the Highway Code.

The exception being if you are instructed to do so by someone with the appropriate authority such as a uniformed police officer. Is a copper in an unmarked car sounding his horn being "instructed to do so"? I dunno.