Speeding LEO's

[CSDGuy]

I'm quite familiar with "emergency vehicles" like that... and emergency operations. Once that light is turned on, that vehicle is exempt from LARGE portions of the speed & traffic laws... with one HUGE exception: the driver must ALWAYS drive with due regard for the safety of others.

That's what the VC says. Reality is a bit different.

[oddjob]

Years ago I caught myself running a red light in the patrol car!! I was just on patrol....not responding to a call. There were cars stopped and thankfully no cars were going through the green light. I reached over, threw on the rear blinking ambers, made a few quick turns and got lost for a few minutes.

Never heard a word about it. I did give myself a warning though!!!

[Calm Down]

We have dash cameras with audio. They are occasionally reviewed by the Lt. Though I have'nt been talked to; I'm sure the Lt has reviewed the video and heard me yell: "To the right, G-DMN it; move to the f-ing right!!!!" Sometimes moving people in vehicles is like herding cattle.

[Notorious]

Herding cattle? Try herding wild cats.

When you run lights and siren, be prepared to get taken out by total idiots who have their own interpretation of the law. I see people pull to the right, slow down and stay in their own lane, pull over slowly over the length of 2 city blocks, stop right then and there no matter what lane they are in even if it is in the middle of the intersection, move to the left(!) and stop in the turn-in lane, and whatever else you can imagine.

There are also other situations such as you already got 3 units in pursuit which is the maximum number by policy and they are all lights and sirens, you are moving along with them, but not going code because you are not in the pursuit, and you are not looking to do any noise washout by having your sirens on while driving on parallel streets which might turn into a perpendicular street... cops know what I am talking about... so you expedite so you can be there without having the lightshow go on.

You can also expedite code 2 response where maybe an officer has asked for backup, but it hasn't escalated into a code 3 situation, but you can tell he needs someone then and there... like he's got a car pulled over, there's multiple people in there, and they are not cooperative. Nothing that bad yet, but he needs someone there to back him up... SOON! Having been in those situations, every second feels like a minute when you are waiting for another officer to be there to back you up. So, if someone calls for a back, I am going there asap.

How about a burglary alarm call? First unit is there, rolling silent because that's how you do it. Sees an open door or window, hears noises. He holds position, asks for backup. You gotta get there and help him asap. He can stand there forever, or the burglars can come out the next second and force his hand, you don't know. You get there as fast and as silently as you can so you don't alert the burglars.

There are tons of reasons why cops might roll hot but stealthy. I agree, if you are not doing anything and you just like speeding in a marked unit to burn up more free government gas, it is inappropriate and it is dangerous, but without knowing everything, I prefer to give cops the benefit of the doubt that they are not out there ****ing around for no reason.

[Jack L]

Been there , seen it, done it. But here is what we had pounded into our heads regarding liability for LE, Fire, Ambulance in CA.

You are either code 3 or not. Code 3 allows you do drive without following the 'normal' vehicle code laws. You either have been toned out code 3 or code 2 to the call. There are silent approaches but those are usually lower speed and you would be in world of poop if you caused an accident running a hot code 2 (assuming your victims had a savvy lawyer).

The bottom line is if you are rolling hot on a code 2 call (lights and sirens off), and you cause an accident, you are LIABLE for it. There is no such thing as a legal hot code 2 call. There are silent approaches.

Even if you are running Code 3 and you cause an accident during your call with regards to driving you can be liable. The courts have gone over this and LEOs, fire and ambulances have been held liable with major litigated payouts to their victims.

You can Google some of the safety personnel caused accidents online which caused morbidity or mortality and read what went down. A lot of these are intersection and alleyway accidents. I remember a number of 'hot code 2' incidents were LE went thru an intersection only to t-bone a vehicle and kill the occupants.

With all that said, in our county we knew each other and often drove faster than posted speed limits.

Are you feeling lucky today?

[yzErnie]

The example I have used for years is simply this...

If someone was breaking into your home, would you want us to get there as quickly as possible? Of course you would and we want to get there as quickly as possible as well. Unfortunately, that type of call does not authorize a Code 3 response. So, what do we do?...yep, drive a few miles an hours above the speed limit as we safely can to get there.

Now, keep in mind that one person's opinion of 'safely' and the driver of the patrol car's opinion of 'safely' may be substantially different!!

[Jack L]

The example I have used for years is simply this...

If someone was breaking into your home, would you want us to get there as quickly as possible? Of course you would and we want to get there as quickly as possible as well. Unfortunately, that type of call does not authorize a Code 3 response. So, what do we do?...yep, drive a few miles an hours above the speed limit as we safely can to get there.

Now, keep in mind that one person's opinion of 'safely' and the driver of the patrol car's opinion of 'safely' may be substantially different!!

Most seasoned LE, fire and ambulance personnel are very good at not having tunnel vison and scan the roadway and intersections far ahead anticipating any problems with a civilian driver. It's just like scene 'size up', your brain and body is multi tasking at warp speed but able to take it all in.

Thousands of calls daily here in CA with few incidents because of great training.

Code 3 (fast, lights and siren), Code 2 (slower but fudging speed is normal), Code Blue (CPR in progress), Code Brown (stinky, let the nurse deal with it) Code Yellow (not as bad as Code Brown) And also a Polycode (multiple colored materials in a sea of emesis, at times projectile)

And........Code UFO (the devil made me do it, I was just was abducted by aliens, Meat Loaf or Ozzy Osborn's music made me do it, the television has people in it trying to get me, I hear them talking about me, I think it's coming from the electrodes that were implanted in my head, I'm not me, I'm a reproduction of me sent by aliens.........and the beat goes on........

[Jonathan Doe]

If my sister car needs the assistance, many times, it usually warrants code-3 run. When someone needs a back up, usually it is not a code-3. But, I don't know what he/she has. I wanted to go to the location as soon as possible. I have been around many situations when the simple back up requests turned into assiatance needed situations.

[Triad]

If I am "In Status" - meaning assigned to a call, our Brass doesn't care how fast we get there, as long as we get there safely. Not every call is a C3 run...

[oldsmoboat]

As a Caltrans worker, what's always exciting to us it when someone responds Code 3 through one of our work zones. It gets exciting running from the "wild cats" that enter our coned off lanes to get out of the way of the responding vehicle. Ambulance drivers are famous for this.

[jafount]

I understand you 100%. I also know the lights work separate from the siren. I would just think that it would be in the best interest of public safety to at a min have the lights on so people know to get out of the way.

This is usually what people who have never done the job think. Try driving code three sometime and you'll quickly realize just how stupid people are.

Does a patrol car driving over the posted limit negatively affect your life? It's funny to me that some people want the cops there immediately, but fail to realize others want them there immediately too. The politics of the job of a street cop are insane...

[oldsmoboat]

This is usually what people who have never done the job think. Try driving code three sometime and you'll quickly realize just how stupid people are.

Does a patrol car driving over the posted limit negatively affect your life? It's funny to me that some people want the cops there immediately, but fail to realize others want them there immediately too. The politics of the job of a street cop are insane...

Not to mention most people think cops are breaking the law by talking on their cell phone while driving.

[Jack L]

Not to mention most people think cops are breaking the law by talking on their cell phone while driving.

Good one......

[Can't buy anything here]

Code 3 (fast, lights and siren), Code 2 (slower but fudging speed is normal), Code Blue (CPR in progress), Code Brown (stinky, let the nurse deal with it) Code Yellow (not as bad as Code Brown) And also a Polycode (multiple colored materials in a sea of emesis, at times projectile)

You forgot one of the most used (but unauthorized) codes of them all...code 2 1/2. Driving fast, but using lights and sirens just to bust intersections, then shutting them down till the next one.

[IrishJoe3]

"To the right, G-DMN it; move to the f-ing right!!!!" Sometimes moving people in vehicles is like herding cattle.

LOL! Been there oh so many times.....

"Move right, move right, to the right, right! no no no nonono NONONONO!!! D@MNIT DON'T FREAKIN STOP IN THE FAST LANE!!! ARE YOU CRAZY?!? GO!!! YOU'RE GONNA FREAKING DIE GOGOGOGOGOGOGOGO!!! GAAAAAAAAAH!!!!"

The whole time you're thinking; "they're gonna get smoked, someone is going to die, and it might be me!"