The speeding policeman

[MrMoves]

If your're trapped in your car and your legs are on fire then it hardly matters what speed the attending officer's able to travel at. This ain't the movies!

True, it's not the movies, but there are lots of examples of a need to get out of a car or get basic medical attention quickly. 

[Rooky9]

It's interesting to read the points of view on this and the reasoning behind them.  Thanks for all replies.

I like a healthy debate.

yep...

[MrMoves]

If i'm on the motorway and a speeding policeman shoots past me and surprises someone further up the road who then loses control and forces a pile up which involves me, i would be pretty pissed off with the copper.

Surely you don't need to practice to do 160mph. You just turn on your siren and push your foot down.

I think he said it was the new car he was trying to get used to at high speeds.  Rather than just the high speed itself.

Yes you need the practice which is why they do practice.  This guy just got caught doing it off duty, which suggests he was just "giving it the beans" to get home for supper.  Perhaps so.  I think a lot of people would do the same if they could get away with it.

Especially if it was king prawns in chilli sauce, yum!

On duty officers dont do it on the roads....
another thing, why the hell did he have access to a police car while off duty, poor controls

On duty officers do use very high speeds.  Especially when they are 10 mins from clocking off and 20 miles from base

dont have as much of an issue with 120 mph....

Now that is interesting.  Care to elaborate?  120mph crash or 160mph.  It's not going to be pretty and both are very illegal to you and I.

Perhaps more control is retained at 120, I wouldn't know, honest guv!

What if, as the paramedics say, "every second counts" and the cops aren't going quite as fast as they could to attend a crash?

[Rooky9]

If i'm on the motorway and a speeding policeman shoots past me and surprises someone further up the road who then loses control and forces a pile up which involves me, i would be pretty pissed off with the copper.

Surely you don't need to practice to do 160mph. You just turn on your siren and push your foot down.

I think he said it was the new car he was trying to get used to at high speeds.  Rather than just the high speed itself.

Yes you need the practice which is why they do practice.  This guy just got caught doing it off duty, which suggests he was just "giving it the beans" to get home for supper.  Perhaps so.  I think a lot of people would do the same if they could get away with it.

Especially if it was king prawns in chilli sauce, yum!

On duty officers dont do it on the roads....
another thing, why the hell did he have access to a police car while off duty, poor controls

On duty officers do use very high speeds.  Especially when they are 10 mins from clocking off and 20 miles from base

dont have as much of an issue with 120 mph....

Now that is interesting.  Care to elaborate?  120mph crash or 160mph.  It's not going to be pretty and both are very illegal to you and I.

Perhaps more control is retained at 120, I wouldn't know, honest guv!

What if, as the paramedics say, "every second counts" and the cops aren't going quite as fast as they could to attend a crash?

Firstly it would have to be on duty and in reponse to a call. 

120 is 53 metres/sec, 160 is 71, that is a lot quickert in % terms. (using a mile as being 1600 metres, always not sure between 1500 or 1600!!)

[Rooky9]

Didnt really answer your question thou... the problem is the chance of injury to others not in the accident. Its harsh but it is not worth risking serious injury to many people, for the 'chance' of increasing the chance of saving another... spot the theme?!! Chances not worth taking imho

[BrumBilly]

Sorry MrMoves. I was being flippant. The serious point I was making was that there'd have to be someone at the scene (not racing to the scene) to be of any use to you should you find yourself trapped in your car with your legs on fire. I REALLY appreciate the fact that I can come on here and have a difference of opinion with a total stranger/fellow poster without getting verbally abused as would happen on most other forums.

Cheers,

Will

[Dingdell]

There is absolutely no chance of them being able to do 160mph when trying to get to a major incident....

Exactly my point - never needs to drive at that speed in the Uk - ever.

Apart from June time by a small village near Northampton?!

Sorry - haven't had my dinner yet - whooshed over me completely!! Need it explained in words of one syllabul! 

was my poor attempt at humour... the F1 Grand Prix.... (but I suppose he wouldnt be in that anyway!)

Doh - it confused me because I live in a small village near Northampton and just got done for speeding.......and I was wondering how you knew!! 

[Dingdell]

Didnt really answer your question thou... the problem is the chance of injury to others not in the accident. Its harsh but it is not worth risking serious injury to many people, for the 'chance' of increasing the chance of saving another... spot the theme?!! Chances not worth taking imho

I agree. Unfortunately in reality by the time the call has been passed through the emergency operator, to the control room who take the details and type it into a computer, this is then sent to another computer with the dispatcher who gets the nearest available car to respond - your legs are likely to resemble a sunday afternoon barbeque.

I have worked at Luton, which at that time was the third busiest station in the country, on a saturday night with 5 officers to cover the entire area. I honestly thought at the briefing that some guys had already gone out on a job..but it's very common to have that level of manning. If you have 2 traffic cars covering the M1 and are 15 miles up the road at the service station and 2 patrol cars already committed elsewhere they're a long time coming.

However good a driver you are you have to negotiate the road traffic that resembles New Delhi on a Saturday night in some areas - stalls and people spilling out on to the road, small children playing in the street, no one would ever be able to get anywhere in that area quickly unless they ran peole over.

His excuse tha he was practising is laughable, should have got the same punishment as anyone else.

[SupaMonkey]

The thing with speed is that other people don't expect you to travel at that speed. If he's going 160 under blue light then everyone will expect him to go that fast and will get out of his way. Therefore he doesn't really need to practice driving fast in a straight line, how your car handles through corners at high speed is a different issue.

If he isn't under blue light and he is going that fast he is a serious danger to himself and others. The difference between 120 and 160 is that people may expect to see someone doing 90-100 on a motorway so an extra 20 mph means that the guy won't close on them too quickly. However, 160 means he is closing on the person 60 mph faster than they expect. They may suddenly be frightened by a car appearing behind them so quickly and they may not leave themselves/the other person enough space when changing lane.

On the road you regularly drive down you know how much space you need at xyz junction before pulling out however, if someone is speeding you are not going to leave them the right amount of space when you pull out and they may have to brake heavily and lose control. That is the problem.

I am still adamant that you do not need to practice driving fast in a straight line in a car. Getting used to driving fast in a new car means getting a feel for how the suspension/chassis moves. In a straight line you aren't really going to notice a difference.

[Dingdell]

The thing with speed is that other people don't expect you to travel at that speed. If he's going 160 under blue light then everyone will expect him to go that fast and will get out of his way.

I know this isn't the point you are really making but it just isn't true.

There are loads of drivers when faced with a blue light approaching drive very badly. On a motorway people are oblivious and continue meandering between middle and outside lane, in the towns they dither as to where to pull over and if they're on a mobile - well they often just don't see the lights, not much good when the boys are on a silent approach (burglary in progress etc)

Also - this one really annoys me - people oblivious to traffic around them don't see the lights until they are right up their arses, a good driver is continually looking in rear view mirror to see whats going on behind as well as in front.

Unfortunately, its a bit like people in the queue at sainburys, when the cashier asks them to pay its as if this is a new concept and they fiddle about in their bags looking for their purse. With drivers, when the lights come up behind them it's a complete shock and then they have to look for a place to pull in or move over.

[SupaMonkey]

ok, fair enough.

[Royal Flush]

The reason is its a higher risk, motorists driving at high speed are more likely to be involved in an accident than those driving with the speed limits.

I couldn't disagree with that more, speed limits are just the best way of handling safety, they are flawed in some cases.

If it's snowing visability is poor doing 60 on the motorway is clearly more dangerous than doing 100 on a dry empty motorway.

I can't see what he did that was dangerous. As for the Police getting a softer ride than Joe Bloggs, so they should! It's not the nicest job in the world and they are not paid nearly enough. The guy can clearly drive well it serves the general public better to have him on the road than in a prison.

[Royal Flush]

Unfortunately, its a bit like people in the queue at sainburys, when the cashier asks them to pay its as if this is a new concept and they fiddle about in their bags looking for their purse.

I thought i was the only one!

[Colchester Kev]

Unfortunately, its a bit like people in the queue at sainburys, when the cashier asks them to pay its as if this is a new concept and they fiddle about in their bags looking for their purse.

I thought i was the only one!

Note to Flushy ..... STOP USING A PURSE ... it aint helping quash the rumours

[CelticGeezeer]

If there is a law which the people agree with, then it must apply to all.

Now the speed limits in this country are a joke which are ignored by most if not all the non pedantic motorway users, but this clown doing 156ish on public roads is unacceptable and he should be punished just the same as you or me, to discourage  future breaches.