Blue lights and the correct action to take

[HK phooey]

Last night, at about 9.30 I was driving home along a long stretch or road, going just under the speed limit of 50mph, when blue flashing lights appeared in my rearview mirror. I reduced my speed and indicated left, there was a turning just up ahead that I intended to take if the vehicle didn't pass me. Despite the road being completely clear of traffic coming in the other direction, the vehicle didn't pass me but started laying on the horn too. I turned left, the only other way I'd be able to move over was to mount a grass verge, and the vehicle followed me, pulled up alongside, still laying on the horn. I wound down the window to see a furious police officer, the passenger in the van. He shouted 'What are you doing? When you see blue lights behind you, you stop IMMEDIATELY! You nearly caused a crash. He repeated himself, then off they went, blue lights still flashing. I have always believed that the correct procedure was to pull over when it was safe to do so, not stamp on the brakes. What would you have done?

[david63]

Not having been in such a situation I really don't know but I thought that these days police vehicles had an illuminated "stop" sign for when they wanted you to stop. How are you supposed to know that they want you to stop? - they could be attending an emergency call.

[HK phooey]

David, they were attending an emergency call. Paul asked them and they said 'yes'. When he asked them just how much of a hurry they were in, they drove off.

[Holiday Planner]

I think you were right - check out this video

http://www.bluelightaware.org.uk/

[Onelife]

Hi HK,

The police officer was a “d**k Head”... you took the appropriate action.

Whenever I see a flashing blue light I survey the road in front of me and then if needs be put my foot down a little to find a suitable place to pull over... safely.

Regards

Keith

[Delboy]

Helen

You did exactly what you should do, slow down or even keep your speed, find a suitable safe place to pull over, indicate and pull over, certainly not just stop.

The police will only show a stop sign, when they overtake you and ask you to stop, again using the same procedure as described above.

[AngieT]

Helen,

Delboy is quite correct. I think you got an officer whose adrenalin was running high! Either that or he is young in service & doesn't know the correct way to attend an emergency call - that's probably why he was the passenger & not the driver!

[royalprincess]

On hearing a siren look to see where it is coming from and if necessary will pull over so that they can pass. Would never just stop - I don't know what the idiot in front of me or behind me is going to do. That's what I was taught. Since when have sirens meant stop?

[jay-ell71]

I think your situation was somewhat unique. It was unfortunate that the left turn came up quickly and both you and the police were turning left. There is no way you knew that was where they wanted to go.. Having said that, I do try to stop as soon as possible, but these incidents have usually happened to me in town, and all the cars on both sides of the road, pull as close to, or up on, the kerb to let the emergency vehicle get by. On a country road, I am not sure what I would do, probably squeezed up to the verge and stopped.

I can't quite understand why they didn't drive past you when you got round the corner, instead of delaying themselves. Bit perverse.

It is always unsettleing when you think you are doing the correct thing and find that somehow you arn't. Put it down to experience.

[HK phooey]

Thanks all, I thought it was the officer being a p***ock Jay, he only turned left to shout at me. I followed him as he did 2 right turns and got back on the road we had been on.

[Crooze]

Thanks all, I thought it was the officer being a p***ock Jay, he only turned left to shout at me. I followed him as he did 2 right turns and got back on the road we had been on.

It can't of been that much of an emergency if he had time to turn off just to give you grief.

What a nob***d copper.

[oldbluefox]

How were you to know which way he was going? I always thought if you saw a blue light you moved over to a place where it would be safe for them to pass. If he was in such a hurry why waste time pulling in to give you a rollicking? Sounds like you were just unlucky and came across a p***ock.

[Meg 50]

I'd be tempted to contact the police stn and show them documentary evidence of the what should be the correct way to behave ( which you did) and then describe what happened to you (the wrong way) and suggest they get their act together.

Since Paul used to be an emergency man what's he say?

[HK phooey]

Meg, Paul was furious! He said I did nothing wrong. I was tempted to do as you've suggested but wonder if I would then be stopped every time I'm out.

[Meg 50]

highway code 219:
https://www.gov.uk/road-users-requiring ... 219-to-225

[gilly88]

in my opinion you did nothing wrong, the policeman was a fool (I had to tone down what I really wanted to say).

[Stephen]

I always indicate and stop at the earliest and safest moment.

Why he felt he couldn't pass you on the clear road ahead I don't know. He certainly should not have treated you that way. A shame you didn't get his number to report the little Hitler.

As Del Boy would say, "WHAT AAAAA PLONKER"

It's people like him that give the force a bad name.

[oldbluefox]

Bearing in mind 'Plodgate' some of them don't do themselves any favours do they?

[Mervyn and Trish]

For a while I worked in the health service and I know ambulance crews got well pissed off if drivers simply stopped without thinking about, often completely blocking their path. They advocated the "keep going and look for a safe place to pull over/pull off strategy".

[Boris+]

From my point of view, if this had happened to me: if something came up behind me with blue flashing lights then I would slow down a little to let it go past - assuming I had done nothing wrong.

If the vehicle with the blue lights turned out to be a police car and if after overtaking me it then stopped me, then the first thing is that I would neither unlock the doors nor would I wind down a window without a blasted good explanation.

It appears that the vehicle in question didn't have a valid reason for expecting you to stop - it merely wished to get in front of you, and your responsibility it to drive safely and look after your own safety too (as in not getting out of the car or winding down the window).

Quite a long time ago I was driving along the road in a big fast car, doing absolutely nothing wrong. The car behind me was the same make of big fast car. The car behind me had two people in it - in fact one of them was the President of the Golf Club. Anyway, when we started driving through a village I was flagged down by a policeman. Now, I absolutely knew that I had done nothing wrong - especially with friends in the car behind, I wouldn't dare misbehave!
I was embarrassed to have been stopped by this plod - and I asked (the window was just a smidgen open) why I had been stopped - he replied that it was because it was a big fast car. I commented that the car which had been behind me was also a big fast car; the male chauvinist plod replied that the car behind didn't matter because it had been driven by a man!

So no, if I see blue lights I slow down or manoeuvre a vehicle to allow an emergency vehicle to go ahead, but if I have done nothing wrong, I most certainly do not stop immediately.


Enough said.


Em

[HK phooey]

This idiot really needs reporting doesn't he?

[david63]

But Em - just because you don't think that you have not done anything wrong does not mean that you haven't. I doubt that if any of us are stopped by plod that we would think that we had done anything wrong.

[Onelife]

Helen,

Delboy is quite correct. I think you got an officer whose adrenalin was running high! Either that or he is young in service & doesn't know the correct way to attend an emergency call - that's probably why he was the passenger & not the driver!

Hi AngieT

If the truth be known your post probably holds the reason as to why HK found herself in this unfortunate position.

Regards

Keith

[Wobgoescruising]

Tricky one without being there. I tend to indicate and pull over and stop if this happens to me so that they can pass. Just because they were in a police car it doesn't mean they'd ever driven that road before and could have been relying purely on a sat nav. Presumably by indicating to go left they might have thought you were actually pulling over to let them pass but by then just slowing down and turning could have been frustrating for them. It's not a criticism because I wasn't there of course, just another view of how it may have seemed to them.

[HK phooey]

Wob, had I suddenly stopped on this fast road, when there was no need to do so as the police van had ample space to overtake me, I would have put my family and the vehicles behind the police van in danger. I live on the Isle of Wight, there are 3 main roads and this was one of them, unlikely that they didn't know the road I think. They were on an emergency call, hence the need to hassle me, yet they still had time to divert, stop and shout at me. I'm going to report the idiot.