Police driving

[jarvis]

So I was in the right hand lane of a 70mph a-road yesterday. Nearside lane was full. Police car comes up behind me with blue lights on. I indicated to the nearside but no-one would yield so I pulled to the right of the right hand lane (indicating) onto the rumble strips (still going 60ish) for him to pass through the middle (huge space). He wouldn’t. So he then had to wait for someone to make space, me to signal and then for me to come across. He then goes past me shaking his head.

This annoyed me as I pride myself as a decent driver and he could easily have passed down the middle (I maintained my right indicator to signal I wasn’t coming across).

I guess I do have a question, which is, are the police not allowed to pass down the middle at speed even if a driver is safely letting them do so? I do get that, but I had nowhere to go and him coming through the middle would have got him past a lot quicker.

 

[Wighty]

Not all Police drivers are advanced drivers , some are standard . It appears you may have met one who is sub standard , but to give him the benefit of the doubt maybe he was shaking his head because he recognised your attempts to help , and the head shake was because of the chumps in the inside lane

 

[rf065]

(still going 60ish) .............He then goes past me shaking his head.
but I had nowhere to go and him coming through the middle would have got him past a lot quicker.

I would have accelerated to 70'ish & got out of his road at the first opportunity into the lane to the left. I would have shaken my head too at the manouvre you were suggesting to him!

Russ

 

[Naraic]

The problem is you slowed down to 60...some people actually stop.

I'd have kept going at the speed limit all the time indicating left and seeking the first opportunity to move over. Or actually moved left a little and have a motorist in the left lane slow down to facilitate a move.

 

[M80]

The issue is numpties not using mirrors.
I've pulled over for emergency services, and usually with my hazards flashing, to be overtaken.

Even though the highway code says we should pull in to the left, in heavy traffic I've driven onto the central reservation of a dual carriageway to clear the outer lane.

 

[jarvis]

The problem is you slowed down to 60...some people actually stop.

I'd have kept going at the speed limit all the time indicating left and seeking the first opportunity to move over. Or actually moved left a little and have a motorist in the left lane slow down to facilitate a move.

I think you're right. It felt wrong though as it felt like *me* holding him up.

 

[jarvis]

I would have accelerated to 70'ish & got out of his road at the first opportunity into the lane to the left. I would have shaken my head too at the manouvre you were suggesting to him!

Russ

I’m not going to just defend my manoeuvre as I am open to learning, but will say that speeding up would have made no difference as the nearside lane was full. I would have most enjoyed a kickdown in front of a police car to make room for him!

 

[Alex M Grieve]

Police drivers are only human. They are presumably very sensitive to criticism as there are a number of fatalities every year in the process of police pursuits. There was a fatality in the last few days involving a police car proceeding to attend an incident.

 

[umblecumbuz]

When you first signalled left and manoeuvred a little to the left also, did you sound your horn to alert the car alongside you in the next lane, or give any other indication by gestures that you needed to pull across?
Was the traffic in the nearside lane at a standstill or crawling nose to tail?

Personally, I would have matched my pace to the cars on my left, pulled closer to them, and used whatever means at my disposal to let them know (horn, gestures, et al) that the police wanted me to pull over. Maybe you tried that?

 

[Xtractorfan]

Indeed here they knocked down the person they were looking for....Amazingly also this was only newsworthy because it was PWs last shift as an emergency pilot.
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/...ient-dies-in-cambridge-hospital-a3599521.html

 

[Wighty]

It probably wasn't an emergency anyway ...maybe someone had put the kettle on back at base

 

[rf065]

I’m not going to just defend my manoeuvre as I am open to learning,

Well that differentiates you from the majority who couldn't care less, we can all still learn no matter how long we've driven.

Russ

 

[kid-jensen]

Wighty wrote "It probably wasn't an emergency anyway ...maybe someone had put the kettle on back at base"..

Certainly possible, but much more likely is that Krispy Kreme were doing buy-one-get-one-free......

 

[LostKiwi]

In your situation I will usually accelerate a little with left indicator on until I find somewhere I can squeeze in.
I'd rather hold them up at a speed that isn't hindering them excessively and clearly indicate I'm aware of their presence and doing what I can to clear their path.

 

[L John]

... so I pulled to the right of the right hand lane (indicating) onto the rumble strips (still going 60ish) for him to pass through the middle (huge space). He wouldn’t.

If the gap was huge in the middle, surely there was room for you to keep towards the left as you looked for an opportunity to move to the left lane and he would have had the opportunity of passing to the right in the huge space if he felt it was safe for everyone around. If it wasn't safe for you to keep to the left then it wasn't safe for him either.

Keeping to standard rules of the road is safer than making it up as we go along, it must be a nightmare for them when cars do random things as they make their way through traffic.

 

[DREAMER NO2]

May be looking down the row of cars in the central lane, then you should have stoped in the central lane also But the police man would have had no problem to pass through on the left hand side hard shoulder. Thinking about it ,its a funny one .

 

[Wighty]

Sometimes there just isn't an ideal option , the sound of sirens does increase adrenaline especially when you can't get out the way .

 

[Wighty]

Wighty wrote "It probably wasn't an emergency anyway ...maybe someone had put the kettle on back at base"..

Certainly possible, but much more likely is that Krispy Kreme were doing buy-one-get-one-free......

Like it buddy , I feel that the traditional doughnut is more likely , krispys would leave more powder marks on their uniforms so would be avoided

 

[peterws1957]

I don't know what it's like anywhere else but in the overcrowded North West I have noticed a marked increase in what amounts to very dangerous driving on the part of Police (and Ambulance) drivers. Trained or not does not seem to make any difference. Only last week on the M6 bh was driving when a marked Police car overtook us and pulled directly in front of us- so close in fact that I thought he was doing one of those side swiping manoeuvers. Bh had to slam the brakes on. Only then did he put his lights and sirens on. This was at 70mph. Christ I yelled what have you done? Turned out that he was stopping the car in front of us- perhaps it is just as well that we don't have a dash cam because I would have been tempted to complain. This year I have witnessed Police cars flying through red lights without hesitating even when their sight line must have been blocked by wagons etc. I wonder whether targets for their response / attendance time have been shortened. I can't think of another explanation.

 

[Wighty]

I don't know what it's like anywhere else but in the overcrowded North West I have noticed a marked increase in what amounts to very dangerous driving on the part of Police (and Ambulance) drivers. Trained or not does not seem to make any difference. Only last week on the M6 bh was driving when a marked Police car overtook us and pulled directly in front of us- so close in fact that I thought he was doing one of those side swiping manoeuvers. Bh had to slam the brakes on. Only then did he put his lights and sirens on. This was at 70mph. Christ I yelled what have you done? Turned out that he was stopping the car in front of us- perhaps it is just as well that we don't have a dash cam because I would have been tempted to complain. This year I have witnessed Police cars flying through red lights without hesitating even when their sight line must have been blocked by wagons etc. I wonder whether targets for their response / attendance time have been shortened. I can't think of another explanation.

In the emergency services arrival time is now everything , you need to make the computers happy to meet government target/stats . Having said this I never witnessed colleagues driving faster/dangerously in order to meet these targets .