spotted a white t5 saloon today...well it shot past me doing at least a ton with LIFEBOAT CREW plasted across the back...i belive lifeboat crews are volunteers. and as such not classed as a emergency service (which is wrong and im not bitching about them doing those speeds) was just wondering what would happen if they went throgh a speed camera?
[QUOTE=markt4]spotted a white t5 saloon today...well it shot past me doing at least a ton with LIFEBOAT CREW plasted across the back...i belive lifeboat crews are volunteers. and as such not classed as a emergency service (which is wrong and im not bitching about them doing those speeds) was just wondering what would happen if they went throgh a speed camera?[/QUOTE] They can be done just like everyone else.
[QUOTE=Andrew]They can be done just like everyone else.[/QUOTE] But surely if responding to a life saving situation the offence will be wiped like any ambulance/ fire brigrade that runs a speed camera..
[QUOTE=The Flying Banana]But surely if responding to a life saving situation the offence will be wiped like any ambulance/ fire brigrade that runs a speed camera..[/QUOTE] but i think ambulance/fire/police are professional drivers who i take will have done advanced driving? i may be wrong.. but i belive it should be wiped if they were responding in an emergency
They are probably in the same position as i was when i ran my own business, I used to run Human organs to hospitals around the country and before i left on a run the Police would be notified of my position and vehicle and was not to stop me, If i was to be held up in traffic then i would phone up for a Police escort,
Its a bit of a grey area though isnt it after all that bloke got done last year for jumping a red light moving out of the way for an ambulance and they wouldnt let him off.
plods, ambulances, fire, etc *can* get prosecuted even if using lights and sirens! and it's happened recently where an ambulance driver got done. iirc they squashed it eventually. they have to be able to offer a good reason for it and the penalties are the same as for joe citizen except they may also suffer disciplinary action - makes 'em think twice about thrashing around for fun or to get the sarnies. i should add it seems rightly that they rarely do get done though.
sec 87 Road traffic regulation applies. Basically Fire, Amb, Police vehicles are exempt on the occasion it is being used if sticking to the limit would hinder that use. So if emergency vehicle is responding to an emergency then it is exempt. There is a seperate one for bomb disposal and Coastguard. Lifeboat and retained Firefighters are not as not full time emergency and not in emergency vehicles but their own private cars whilst on route to their respective places.
So basically Nanny says no then? There's some bloody stupid legislation about IMHO. :(
if we go through a speed trap in the pump we have to write a letter, explaining what we were going to. i think if you have the royal crest on a vehicle it is exempt if on an emergency call. the way things are going the fire service is gonna end up like the nhs. its nearly bolloxed.
If responding on blues in the police you just have to inform control who will update the database saying that a police vehicle tripped a certain speed camera at a certain time.
WHAT?? !! That's daft isn't it? I take it that "responding on blues" means you're in a hurry. Surely you want the guy sitting next to you to be helping you. Looking for stuff comming at you from the left, telling you where to go, dealing with the radio etc, not blathering on to control about some speed camera you've just tripped over! IMHO anyone driving an emergency vehicle should be able to just forget about the bloody cameras. They have enough to worry about and look out for, especially in urban areas. Cameras are a pain for normal drivers, emergency drivers having to worry about then is just ludicrous. It was never like this when we had an empire, you know!
Dont think we have an empire any more.
well its about time we got it back!!! lets start a revolution
Your right in some ways racer, the person next to you does do comms if say I was driving, however your not always double crewed. If your a good enough driver you will plan way ahead, your trained to notice the minor things like speed cameras so it doesn't become a worry.
> If your a good enough driver you will plan way ahead, your trained to notice the minor things like speed cameras so it doesn't become a worry. Fair enough, and you guys have been trained, I just think you should be able to ignore them. You want to worry about things that move (pedestrians, cars, the black dog etc), not cameras which are in the street furniture catagory.
[QUOTE=racer]> If your a good enough driver you will plan way ahead, your trained to notice the minor things like speed cameras so it doesn't become a worry. Fair enough, and you guys have been trained, I just think you should be able to ignore them. You want to worry about things that move (pedestrians, cars, the black dog etc), not cameras which are in the street furniture catagory.[/QUOTE] I totally agree with what your saying mate. To be quite honest in this day and age there is a hell of alot of risks when driving at high speed on an emergency call. Sometimes you can get to jobs quicker driving at the speed limit without blues and without disturbing the traffic, strange but true.
And just to bring us back on topic slightly, I agree with splatt, that lifeboat crew are not exempt from breaking the speed limit.
Tis true They can`t break the speed limit but perhaps the plods turn a blind eye knowing who they are I used to be a retained fireman and i to had to respect the speed limits when responding to a call out only had 5 minutes to get to the fire station and i lived 5 minutes away At the station i was based at the station commander had signs made up for us stating "Retained firefighter Responding to alarm call" and our reg numbers and car makes where forwarded to the plods so they knew who we were and what we were doing and they generally left us alone Although i was once followed from my house all the way to the station by a motorcycle cop who saw me get on the engine and was still there 2 hours later when i returned from the shout and then requested to see me and my sub officer and attempted to give me a bollocking for failing to indiacate when turning into the station carpark my sub flew off the handle and this copper left with his tail between his legs Needless to say i wasn`t troubled by any plods after that Oh hum happydays they were Cheers stuart
> Sometimes you can get to jobs quicker driving at the speed limit without blues and without disturbing the traffic, strange but true. You lot need more helicopters!!! ;)
[QUOTE=racer]> Sometimes you can get to jobs quicker driving at the speed limit without blues and without disturbing the traffic, strange but true. You lot need more helicopters!!! ;)[/QUOTE] 2 not enough like?? :P
Ha !! Actually, I'm a fan of police helicopters. Round my way they chase car thieves with them!