ADUK Archive

common sense prevails

http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/ ... nks_to_men

MEN wrote:The Driving Standards Agency said there were no official guidelines on motorists moving out of the way of emergency vehicles.

Do they not read the highway code?

Highway code section 219 wrote:Emergency and Incident support vehicles
...When one approaches do not panic. Consider the route of such a vehicle and take appropriate action to let it pass while complying with all traffic signs

Hmmm....

(I'm pretty sure we've debated this before and Von has said in such a situation the officer should not be encouraging motorists to pass the red light, including turning off sirens if necessary).

I'm sorry, but that's ridiculous. Camera partnerships need to get a serious reality check or they will lose even more support from the public who already view them as a bit of a jobsworth. Yes in a perfect world emergency service drivers would be able to drive around vehicles, but in reality traffic is often so heavy that it's impossible without some co-operation, and that frequently involves drivers moving through a red light or into a bus lane.
I know there has been some argument that it's OK to go through a red light if the police car behind is in effect telling you to, unfortunately for this to stand up the officer has to be engaged in the regulation of traffic which they are clearly not. It is this loophole that the jobsworth use to justify trying to prosecute drivers in these cases.

I thought the red-light cameras took two photos. One as you cross the line and another a couple of seconds later. From these photos it is possible to tell if the driver has merely stopped over the line or has passed through the junction. It was only in the latter case a NIP would be sent.

The advice from the Devon & Cornwall Police which was published in Driving magazine about a year ago, is not to go through a red light to facilitate the passage of an emergency vehicle. Emergency response drivers are trained to deal with these situations. They will often turn the sirens off. If you pass the stop line you risk a fine and points on your licence.

Nigel ADI
IAM trainee observer

The scenario described by MGF seems most sensible to me, but relying on the various authorities to deal with it in that way is perhaps expecting too much.

Best wishes all,
Dave.

The whole case was ridiculous!

Very rarely does creeping a few feet over a red traffic signal cause serious danger. Often the traffic with the green signal will have seen the emergency vehicle and have stopped/slowed anyway. Saying that, if Im driving on lights and coming upto a red traffic signal i know to have a camera on I will switch of the audible warnings and hold back (if there is no other way around, eg. offside). People will often still move over the junction but I wont feel guilty for having pushed them over!

Just a thought, if you are at a red light and a police vehicle comes up behind you with lights/sirens on and gestures you out of the way, would staying still be ignoring the direction of a police officer and there for commiting an offence

Toploader wrote:The whole case was ridiculous!

Very rarely does creeping a few feet over a red traffic signal cause serious danger. Often the traffic with the green signal will have seen the emergency vehicle and have stopped/slowed anyway. Saying that, if Im driving on lights and coming upto a red traffic signal i know to have a camera on I will switch of the audible warnings and hold back (if there is no other way around, eg. offside). People will often still move over the junction but I wont feel guilty for having pushed them over!

Just a thought, if you are at a red light and a police vehicle comes up behind you with lights/sirens on and gestures you out of the way, would staying still be ignoring the direction of a police officer and therefore commiting an offence

I would say not. It is my understanding that directions received from a police officer in that situation are not legally backed instructions to move. He needs to be on foot, in uniform, and clearly in charge of directing traffic movements. Well that's how I see it.

Best wishes all,
Dave.

What on earth was he doing going through a red light?

The gimp desereved his fine.

Gerald wrote:What on earth was he doing going through a red light?

The gimp desereved his fine.

Assuming you're not just trying to wind people up, it's clear from the article exactly what he was doing.