REVscene Automotive Forum - DriveSmartBC - Watch Out For Number Two!

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DriveSmartBC - Watch Out For Number Two!

I am guessing that most people see the code 3 operation of an emergency vehicle as something that would be exciting or thrilling. From my own experience I can say that this feeling quickly wears off and a sense of responsibility settles in. The lights and siren provide no protection for you or anyone else on the highways and the speeds involved expose us all to danger.

Two of my close colleagues have had serious crashes while operating police vehicles in this fashion. One was chasing a speeder and had another vehicle change lanes in front of him so closely that he could not avoid rear ending it. The other was responding to an incident involving firearms. He was vehicle two in a convoy where a driver pulled over for the first police vehicle and then either failed to look or failed to see and moved back onto the highway at the instant he tried to pass by.

The latter was the case here on Vancouver Island this past week. The driver of the car that pulled out in front of the second police vehicle was not as fortunate as the two incidents I describe. She has since succumbed to the injuries that she suffered in the crash.

The moral of my story is you should always anticipate that emergency vehicles tend to travel in packs when something serious is happening. If you pull over and stop for the first one, take great care when you move back onto the highway that there are not more following along behind. Simply put, it url] save your life.

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I saw an ambulance hit a mini van once. It was following behind a fire truck and everyone saw the big red truck with flashing lights but some lady decided it was safe to move into the intersection and make a left turn after it passed and didn't see the speeding ambulance behind it.

An ambulance is, in my opinion after seeing the result of that accident, essesntially a tank. It pretty much tore the front end of the van off. The ambulance? It had some scrapes and scratches but nothing serious (though one of the attendents I remember was bleeding badly from something or other having been tossed around in the accident, I believe he was in the back when it happened). It drove away on it's own power with the woman in the mini van in it.

Emergancy vehicals are heavily re enforced. Your car is not. That was my take home from the whole stomach turning incident.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheNewGirl (Post 7003755)

I saw an ambulance hit a mini van once. It was following behind a fire truck and everyone saw the big red truck with flashing lights but some lady decided it was safe to move into the intersection and make a left turn after it passed and didn't see the speeding ambulance behind it.

An ambulance is, in my opinion after seeing the result of that accident, essesntially a tank. It pretty much tore the front end of the van off. The ambulance? It had some scrapes and scratches but nothing serious (though one of the attendents I remember was bleeding badly from something or other having been tossed around in the accident, I believe he was in the back when it happened). It drove away on it's own power with the woman in the mini van in it.

Emergancy vehicals are heavily re enforced. Your car is not. That was my take home from the whole stomach turning incident.

i know its mean but i literally laughed out loud reading that LOL

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheNewGirl (Post 7003755)

Emergancy vehicals are heavily re enforced.

Correction: Our Crown Vics/Impalas/etc aren't heavily reinforced. Fire trucks and ambulances are really big and heavy, and carry a lot of momentum. Them hitting you would be like you hitting a brick wall having a bad day.

Is there a protocol as to how fast emergency vehicles can go based on the situation they're responding to? Or is it just up to the police/ambulance driver's discretion?

Sometimes I see fire trucks driving terribly slowly, for example, and other times I see them booking it and weaving through traffic. Same with ambulance/police. Are they headed to an emergency that's more severe or is not likely a "false alarm"... or are some police/emergency drivers just faster and more aggressive?

We are accountable for our speeds both on routine patrol and when responding to a call. If we're driving like a bat out of hell and someone reports the driving, our GPS will be pulled for that time/date as well as the call we were attending (or not attending.....). We will have to justify our speeds and if you weren't attending a call, or the call you were attending didn't necessitate any sort of expedited response, you can bet we'll be getting in trouble.

It was brought up by PACER in our morning briefing just yesterday - Whats the public to think if we're not following the rules we enforce? We must lead by example.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sho_bc (Post 7004961)

Whats the public to think if we're not following the rules we enforce? We must lead by example.

I'd like to say that to the officer in the unmarked SUV who sped up to make a yellow arrow in a left turn lane - at an intersection known to be the most dangerous in town - that was heavily enforced by 6 officers in a safety blitz just a few weeks ago.

Stop bitching on here and complain to the people who can do something about it.
Posted via RS Mobile

Quote:

Originally Posted by skidmark (Post 7003708)

The moral of my story is you should always anticipate that emergency vehicles tend to travel in packs when something serious is happening. If you pull over and stop for the first one, take great care when you move back onto the highway that there are not more following along behind.

I notice that other drivers are usually quite impatient when it comes to waiting for a moment to pull back into traffic.

I was waiting at a red light in the left lane one day, two vehicles behind me and an ambulance approaching from behind. The right lane was clear. The two cars behind me started pulling into the right lane to "move out of the way" for the ambulance.

Enough said.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sho_bc (Post 7005484)

Stop bitching on here and complain to the people who can do something about it.
Posted via RS Mobile

I don't know what dept it was, he was hiding behind the anonymity of an unmarked car.

Phone the local detachment of the area you were in, give them the plate of the vehicle, and lodge your complaint.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sho_bc (Post 7006057)

Phone the local detachment of the area you were in, give them the plate of the vehicle, and lodge your complaint.

The last thing I care to do while moving through the most dangerous intersection in town is study and write down licence plate numbers.

And I'm not bitching, I'm simply giving an example that backs up Pacer's comments.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheNewGirl (Post 7003755)

Emergancy vehicals are heavily re enforced.

Not all the time..

Quote:

Originally Posted by RCMP (Post 7003755)

Death of RCMP Member near Stony Plain, Alberta
EDMONTON, Alberta (June 21, 2010)—On June 21, 2010, at 12:35 a.m., on-duty Constable Chelsey Robinson, aged 25, of the RCMP Stony Plain Detachment was advised of an impaired driver who had been observed traveling eastbound in the westbound lane of Highway 16. She was patrolling for the impaired driver when her marked RCMP patrol car collided with a semi-tractor trailer at Highway 16 and Range Road 15, near Stony Plain.

Cst. Robinson was seriously injured in the collision and taken to hospital in Edmonton where she later died.

It has been determined that the driver of the tractor trailer was in no way related to the reported impaired driver Cst. Robinson was looking for.

After the collision, the tractor trailer came to rest in the grassy median separating east and westbound traffic. The vehicle became engulfed in flames but the operator managed to escape the blaze. The driver of the tractor trailer unit was taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

At this point, it is believed that Cst. Robinson was struck at a 90 degree angle. Initial indications are that the RCMP patrol car was traveling north on Range Road 15 and was regulated by a stop sign at the intersection of Highway 16 and Range Road 15.

The collision is currently under investigation by the RCMP Criminal Collision Investigation Team. The RCMP is not able to provide details as to what may have contributed to the collision at this point.

The 911 call came in at 12:43 a.m. reporting that a semi-tractor trailer had been involved in a rollover collision at the intersection. At 12:46 a.m., RCMP members from Stony Plain Detachment arrived on the scene and located Cst. Robinson’s patrol car which had come to rest in a ditch.

Cst. Robinson has seven months service with the RCMP and has been performing general duties out of the Stony Plain Detachment. A photograph of Cst. Robinson is attached.

Additional details will be released when they become available.