Flashing blue lights: should I stop?

anotherbaldrick

If you are in the right hand lane cos you want to turn right a way down the road and are not yet signalling, on seeing the blues in your mirror if you then indicate right the boys know exactly what you are about and will come through on the clear lane.
I had a situation a while back approaching a roundabout on a fast dual carriageway as I entered a police car came up fast on the left entry wanting to go the same way as me. I knew it was clear behind so took the right hand lane out but slowed as I went past the Police car, the driver did not hesitate he lifted his hand in thanks and shot off down the inside lane.

harveybobbles

gingerdad wrote: »

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btRHvQEIkcU - this is a really good video on youtube - basiclly an idiots guide to bluelight rules

Interesting comment at 2.40...!

bigjl

Lets get something out in the open straight away.

There are certain things that exemptions are allowed to be claimed for.

Overtaking up the left hand side of a single car on a two lane road isn't something you can claim an exemption for.

It really is as simple as that.

The fact that you see us do it is more through frustration, as the roads are full of drivers that have no idea what they are supposed to be doing.

The Police have a slightly different way of doing things than the Ambulance service. I don't think they call them claimed exemptions of the RTA.

But they work in a similar way.

If you were to undertake and an collision occurs then you will be deemed at fault.

Some people will risk it, personally I don't.

Though some would rather try and oush through on the right side of the road when there is a concrete divider near a junction. I would personally go against the flow of traffic with a commanding road position in order to make progress.

Every driver makes judgement calls.

But we are not exempt from dangerous driving, reckless driving or driving without due car. We also can't ignore a solid white line unless overtaking a tracked vehicle. And can't ignore a no entry sign or go up a one way street the wrong way. Though to be honest I have done so when to follow the one way system would add several minutes to the response time. But that is only late at night when the call is a true life threatening emergency, both times the Police did exactly the same.

If you go onto the spservices website you can buy the IHCD Driving manual which tells you everything that can or can't be claimed.

But the information must be taken in the context of the fact that it wouldn't be in the public interest to prosecute a Paramedic trying to save a life and the fact that the Police are unlikely to report that offence anyway, unless it was dangerous or caused a collision.

Though I sometimes don't know why I bother as I can almost guarantee that an armchair expert will try and infer I am wrong.

After all 10yrs accident free in the areas I have worked, very dense traffic and large numbers of uninsured and unlicensed drivers, is no mean feat.

And the OP will never accept they are wrong, this is already obvious to me.

I just hope that it doesn't take causing a serious collision to get them to.realise that they actually know less now than when they passed their test. Being able to recall the Highway Code pigeon fashion or from Google doesn't mean you have understood what you have learned.

And passing on the left is only allowed in slow moving traffic, otherwise it is undertaking, which is dangerous if you ask me.

But if somebody does it through frustration inorder to get to the scene of a 999 call can you really blame them.

I have been stuck behind young drivers for half a mile on the A13 when the driver has no idea what is going on behind them and when they eventually sullenly move over they have the cheek to give you a dirty look!

I am looking forward to when they fit all Ambulance and Police vehicles with front and rear mounted video.cameras for evidential purposes.

Funnily enough I have seen drivers do exactly as the OP has done, with no idea that they are in the wrong and being totally unable to accept any portion of blame for their incorrect actions.

Woody._2

bigjl wrote: »

Lets get something out in the open straight away.

There are certain things that exemptions are allowed to be claimed for.

Overtaking up the left hand side of a single car on a two lane road isn't something you can claim an exemption for.

It really is as simple as that.

The fact that you see us do it is more through frustration, as the roads are full of drivers that have no idea what they are supposed to be doing.

The Police have a slightly different way of doing things than the Ambulance service. I don't think they call them claimed exemptions of the RTA.

But they work in a similar way.

If you were to undertake and an collision occurs then you will be deemed at fault.

Some people will risk it, personally I don't.

Though some would rather try and oush through on the right side of the road when there is a concrete divider near a junction. I would personally go against the flow of traffic with a commanding road position in order to make progress.

Every driver makes judgement calls.

But we are not exempt from dangerous driving, reckless driving or driving without due car. We also can't ignore a solid white line unless overtaking a tracked vehicle. And can't ignore a no entry sign or go up a one way street the wrong way. Though to be honest I have done so when to follow the one way system would add several minutes to the response time. But that is only late at night when the call is a true life threatening emergency, both times the Police did exactly the same.

If you go onto the spservices website you can buy the IHCD Driving manual which tells you everything that can or can't be claimed.

But the information must be taken in the context of the fact that it wouldn't be in the public interest to prosecute a Paramedic trying to save a life and the fact that the Police are unlikely to report that offence anyway, unless it was dangerous or caused a collision.

Though I sometimes don't know why I bother as I can almost guarantee that an armchair expert will try and infer I am wrong.

After all 10yrs accident free in the areas I have worked, very dense traffic and large numbers of uninsured and unlicensed drivers, is no mean feat.

And the OP will never accept they are wrong, this is already obvious to me.

I just hope that it doesn't take causing a serious collision to get them to.realise that they actually know less now than when they passed their test. Being able to recall the Highway Code pigeon fashion or from Google doesn't mean you have understood what you have learned.

And passing on the left is only allowed in slow moving traffic, otherwise it is undertaking, which is dangerous if you ask me.

But if somebody does it through frustration inorder to get to the scene of a 999 call can you really blame them.

I have been stuck behind young drivers for half a mile on the A13 when the driver has no idea what is going on behind them and when they eventually sullenly move over they have the cheek to give you a dirty look!

I am looking forward to when they fit all Ambulance and Police vehicles with front and rear mounted video.cameras for evidential purposes.

Funnily enough I have seen drivers do exactly as the OP has done, with no idea that they are in the wrong and being totally unable to accept any portion of blame for their incorrect actions.

Any one is allowed to pass on the nearside under certain circumstances.

Police vehicles running the hard shoulder. If a car in lane 1 was to move to the nearside is that the polices fault?

red_eye

bigjl wrote: »

Are you sure you sat a driving test?

yeah at legoland

kizkiz

From a police drivers point of view I can say that we are trained not to undertake unless absolutely neccessary, and even then we slow right down and go carefully.
It's just plain dangerous as the normal reaction of a driver is to pull left when they see or hear sirens/lights.
If a vehicle gives no indication that they have seen me, then I assume they haven't. We are trained to look for reactions and base our route partly on that. The op may have thought it was obvious that undertaking was fine as the lane was clear, but with no evidence to show he had seen me, i would be worried about a last second reaction of swerving left and taking me out (It happens very regularly as drivers panic when they suddenly notice the police car)

A simple pull over to the left and either stop or slow right down would have been ideal (It was late at night and no other traffic so perfectly safe)
Perhaps hazard lights and some brakes while staying in the middle or signalling right and also a bit of brake would help signal that you have seen the police car.

Basically, some indication that we have been seen and a reduction in speed are very very useful if you aren't going to pull over and stop.

victor2

kizkiz wrote: »

From a police drivers point of view I can say that we are trained not to undertake unless absolutely neccessary, and even then we slow right down and go carefully.
It's just plain dangerous as the normal reaction of a driver is to pull left when they see or hear sirens/lights.
If a vehicle gives no indication that they have seen me, then I assume they haven't. We are trained to look for reactions and base our route partly on that. The op may have thought it was obvious that undertaking was fine as the lane was clear, but with no evidence to show he had seen me, i would be worried about a last second reaction of swerving left and taking me out (It happens very regularly as drivers panic when they suddenly notice the police car)

A simple pull over to the left and either stop or slow right down would have been ideal (It was late at night and no other traffic so perfectly safe)
Perhaps hazard lights and some brakes while staying in the middle or signalling right and also a bit of brake would help signal that you have seen the police car.

Basically, some indication that we have been seen and a reduction in speed are very very useful if you aren't going to pull over and stop.

Makes a lot of sense, but is obviously not something that is taught for the driving test. The OP acknowledged he made a mistake in his first post and as a relatively new driver is unlikey to have any experience dealing with such situations.
When you hear sirens, especially in built up areas, it is difficult to tell what direction they might be coming from. Fortunately, I have never been at a red light with an emergency vehicle attending a call behind me. It would be difficult not to go past the red light - if it was clear, which it probably would be with sirens going - in such circumstances.
Having been on the receiving end of emergency vehicle responses, in a remarkable time too, I will always do whatever I sensibly can to not impede their progress.

cyclonebri1

6am wrote: »

Are you sure that emergency vehicle is not allowed to undertake? I see they are allowed to drive much faster in 30mph zone, go through red lights but it seems to me you are saying that there is something special about undertaking which is not allowed under any circumstances.

I already admitted that I made a mistake. I just was not sure what the mistake was. My current understanding is that I did not indicate properly my intentions to let them pass.

The only mistake I can see is that you posted your experience on here and put yourself at the mercy and the imagination of the "holier than thou" brigade.

leosayer

In that situation the OP described I would over have moved over to the left lane missing my turn if necessary to let the police pass.

One time I didn't do this I was driving in lane 2 on a dual carriageway when an ambulance with blue lights flasing came up behind at a much greater speed than me. I would have already been in lane 1 if there wasn't a solid double white line between lane 1 and lane 2.

Instead of 'undertaking' me in lane 1 the ambulance driver decided to sit 2 cars lengths behind me until the solid white lines ended and I pulled over and he went past with a hand signal for good measure.

JimmyTheWig

bigjl wrote: »

And the OP will never accept they are wrong, this is already obvious to me.

I don't know why people keep saying this.
The OP has admitted they were wrong, on many occaisions.