Police van pulls out in front of me BIG TIME

[Kip]

Not even 3 months have passed since a young mother lost her life in a fatal car crash literally just a stone's throw away from this junction... Then some Police officer pulls this stunt!? I don't understand how they could not have seen my BRIGHT ORANGE car plus the traffic following behind me at a pretty average distance. Just as well no one was playing "Let's tailgate the driver at the front of the queue who's not speeding", could have been messy!

The crash I mentioned triggered a huge emergency response and was all over the local news. They made a big song and dance about the dangers of this particular bit of road and how many drivers use it like a race track, speeding and overtaking where they shouldn't. The other vehicle involved was carrying a family of four, who I believe either all or some were airlifted to hospital. I'd have thought the Police especially would take extra care in this area, obviously not! It will be interesting to see what they have to say when I send them the link.

 

[Rajagra]

There are various grades of police. I wouldn't expect a police van to have one of their most highly skilled drivers at the wheel. Often police vans are carrying traffic wardens, and they have little regard for practicing what they preach (i.e. adherence to the law.) Would be nice if they would at least make some effort to set a good example on safety though.
I've seen a few ambulance drivers do some pretty dangerous things too (without lights or sirens on.)
At least the fire engine drivers I see are keeping their standards up.

 

[Nigel]

He/she is a professional driver - send the video to their employers...

 

[SawMaster]

He/she is a professional driver - send the video to their employers...

YES THIS!

At least over there it seems that they do care what their people do. Here in the US little or nothing would happen save for the supervisor telling the driver to be more careful before forgetting the incident happened at all from that point on

Phil

 

[Kip]

There are various grades of police. I wouldn't expect a police van to have one of their most highly skilled drivers at the wheel.

No I wouldn't either, but, I did expect the driver to be at least competent given the colours they were flying.

I drive this road regularly, the junction is rarely busy but often has a car or two waiting to turn in or out of it. The road itself is a busy major road into Carlisle and I've seen first hand what happens when it gets closed (I was heading to work on the day of that crash I mentioned earlier and had to take a long detour, I was only maybe 30 minutes late from being a witness to it). Only twice in my memory have I seen someone pull this level of stupid, this being one of those times. The junction is open, has very good visibility all the way down the road and very wide. When I first spotted the van, I couldn't even tell it was a police van due to how far away it was. That's how good the visibility is.

He/she is a professional driver - send the video to their employers...

Done and awaiting response. Could take up to 10 days apparently so we'll see.

I have a lot in common with that crash actually, besides the location. The woman who died was driving a Peugeot 208, the other family a Peugeot 207SW (which I also own, see my avatar) and yesterday I was in my wife's Peugeot 207 hatchback. The mother who died was 26 I think, I'm fairly close to that, married and we have a young daughter. Too much in common for my liking at least.

 

[Nigel]

Let us know what happens. Clearly it wasn't an acceptable driving standard for anyone, especially a professional driver, so they should do something, but it probably depends on which police force it was, some are a lot better than others.

We all make mistakes, but that does look a highly dangerous place to be making a mistake.

 

[kamkar]

O that was poor judgment on behalf of the copper.

 

[Rajagra]

When reporting it I would have mentioned recent events and asked how they would expect the media to react if you sent them the footage.

I wouldn't want them to lose their job over it, but it should go on their permanent record so their behaviour can properly be tracked and assessed over the long term.

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[Kip]

Yeah I'm not wanting to put someone out of a job. You don't necessarily need a vehicle to be a police officer though so they could simply put them back on the street for a while and put them on a driving refresher course or something until their superiors are satisfied they will not do this again. As Kamkar said it is really poor judgement to have seen me and pulled out anyway given how long the driver had to assess the speed of the traffic, even worse if they hadn't seen me at all. Not sure if a course can fix that though, judgement of speed is something you learn over time with experience, not something you learn in a classroom or a single driving lesson. For all we know this may not be the first time the driver has done something like this. Time will tell.

 

[Nigel]

For all we know this may not be the first time the driver has done something like this.

That is why it should be reported, if they get reports once a week then he/she needs a driving ban, if it's the first time then an eye test and simple warning will do.

 

[sludgeguts]

It's not down to you if this idiot loses his/her job, it's down to their superiors & the rules/regs in place.
Pretty sure if that were me pulling out like that with a bus full of people, I'd be looking at a fair chunk of unpaid leave whilst I attend a refresher course or two.

You post this on social media & there's always the few bleeding hearts side with the ****ty driver "what if they lose their job?" "their family might starve" blah blah blah. Well, only one person to blame if that scenario plays out.
You drive a liveried vehicle, you are the face of that company. Something a lot of professional drivers don't seem to understand. You **** up & your boss will hear about it long before you get back to base.
In my case, my passengers come first. I cannot simply stop on a sixpence and nor will I and that's where the camera comes into its own.

 

[Rajagra]

Pretty sure if that were me pulling out like that with a bus full of people, I'd be looking at a fair chunk of unpaid leave whilst I attend a refresher course or two.

Then you clearly don't drive a bus in London. Pulling out dangerously from bus stops is standard procedure here. Amazing how many bus drivers think that THAT highway code rule means they can pull out whenever, however they like. If they took disciplinary action against all drivers doing that they would end up very short staffed.

PS I recently bought a cheap Baofeng radio that lets me listen in on their iBus communications. Their only concern is timekeeping. Managers may pay lip service to responsible driving, but over the radio controllers are constantly harassing drivers to adjust their speed to minimise waiting times. (Usually by making them lose 3 minutes at the next stop. If anyone is on a bus and wondering why the journey is taking forever, there's your explanation.)

It's the usual management crud. They demand many things of you, but only the priorities matter. As long as you deliver what they really need, and they have plausible deniability about anything bad, they will let it slide.

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[SawMaster]

PS I recently bought a cheap Baofeng radio that lets me listen in on their iBus communications.

IIRC in the UK it is illegal to listen to radio broadcasts which are not intended to be publicly heard. I know for certain listening in on Police and aircraft over there is not allowed, even in private, although some people do it discretely anyway. I wouldn't want you to get into trouble so I thought I'd mention this

While everyone makes mistakes, I expect a higher standard of good judgement and attentiveness from Law Enforcement as that is imperative if they are to do their job well. Anyone who could make a mistake of this nature when there is this much time, space and visibility in their hand is most likely equally poor in their other judgement skills too. If making this mistake costs them their job then it should be that way

Phil

 

[Rajagra]

It's legal to listen to iBus channels. Transmitting on the other hand would be bad for a variety of reasons.

The one time I heard a driver having his driving criticised it went something like "I watched you doing that on camera, it's illegal. Don't do that. If anyone saw you doing that you'd be in serious trouble."

So he was at least told not to do it again, but it was a case of "I saw you, but it's a good job you weren't seen."

Most emergency and other public services have switched to digital radio, so can't be listened to easily (if at all.)


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[Nigel]

It's legal to listen to iBus channels. Transmitting on the other hand would be bad for a variety of reasons.

The one time I heard a driver having his driving criticised it went something like "I watched you doing that on camera, it's illegal. Don't do that. If anyone saw you doing that you'd be in serious trouble."

So he was at least told not to do it again, but it was a case of "I saw you, but it's a good job you weren't seen."

Most emergency and other public services have switched to digital radio, so can't be listened to easily (if at all.)


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section 46 of the Wireless Telegraphy act, states that it is an offence to use:

wireless telegraphy apparatus with intent to obtain information as to the contents, sender or addressee of any message whether sent by means of wireless telegraphy or not, of which neither the person using the apparatus nor a person on whose behalf he is acting is an intended recipient

I don't recall anyone being prosecuted for doing so though!

 

[SawMaster]

I have heard some 3rd hand reports of aircraft-band receivers being confiscated but no other actions were taken against the owners AFAIK. Just be discreet and you should be OK as knowledge of this law isn't widespread, and if they don't catch you then there can't be a problem

Phil

 

[Nigel]

I have heard some 3rd hand reports of aircraft-band receivers being confiscated but no other actions were taken against the owners AFAIK. Just be discreet and you should be OK as knowledge of this law isn't widespread, and if they don't catch you then there can't be a problem

Phil

The police used to not like bank robbers listening in to the police radios, but these days the police radios are digital so not easy to listen to and the bank robbers aren't interested anyway because they break in via the web and no longer need get away cars! I don't think air traffic control has ever minded people listening in to their broadcasts.

So that just leaves the outdated taxis, how come they don't use mobile phones and the internet these days?

 

[SawMaster]

In the UK, reception is strictly regulated and is (or was) taxed- thus the famous "Young Ones" episode where Vyvyn eats their unlicensed TV set Over here you can listen to anything except cell-phones free and legally, though what goes on in cars can be restricted locally and you can't use any radio to assist in committing a crime Many small P.D.'s and F.D.'s here still use analog radio for budgetary reasons and there are (expensive!) scanners which can handle the rest.

Radio used to be a blast, but nowadays it's not much exciting at all. I was really born 20 years too late, but I got to enjoy it at it's zenith for a little while anyway

Phil

 

[Rajagra]

Well a quick Google showed someone asking Transport For London for the frequencies to listen in on, under the freedom of information act, and they gave them out willingly, so I don't think it's a problem.

The reasons I tuned into them are (a) I wanted to test the radio and usually everything is quiet except for the bus transmissions! And (b) they sometimes send out useful information about local traffic problems.

Sadly it's only useful near my home as my radio's scanning feature is only fast enough if you program in channels in advance. So when I'm travelling the frequencies are different and not picked up.

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[Nigel]

In the UK, reception is strictly regulated and is (or was) taxed- thus the famous "Young Ones" episode where Vyvyn eats their unlicensed TV set

It's not the receiving of the radio waves that you need your TV licence for, you still need the licence if you receive your TV broadcast via the internet over cable.

As for a police radio scanner, they use a system more like the mobile phone network than the old VHF analogue, if you want a scanner, well this is a good guide: http://www.ebay.co.uk/gds/DIGITAL-TETRA-POLICE-RADIO-SCANNERS-/10000000009951291/g.html