6 August 2009

Police Prius - humph

6 August 2009 | LlamaFrog

Not saying anything but a Prius?

Lets look at the stats

Holden Commodore VN (the choice for the charnwood crowd)
V6 3.8L 3800(125 kW), 63 litres of fuel, 5 speed manual, 0-100 kms/h 7.7 seconds

Toyota Prius (the choice of people who have their heads up their own *#$)
V4 1.5L 110(82 kW), 1-speed planetary gear, 0-60 kms/h 10.5 seconds

But then again I just got a $220 fine in adelaide for doing 6km over the limit so I might be a tad biased at the moment.

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LlamaFrog2:01 pm 07 Aug 09

caf said :

But don’t come the raw prawn.

Just thought I would highlight, rudd would be proud

p111:12 am 07 Aug 09

In addition to this, police must sometimes just accidentally slip above the limit slightly, while concentrating on other things, just like normal people…

Ozi10:28 am 07 Aug 09

No probs, Al. I know there are some cops who do speed “just because they can” and they give the rest of the force a bad name. The ability to go over the speed limit should not be abused, especially by the people who enforce it: that is just blatant hypocrisy.

However, due to the unique nature of Police work, there are times where it is warranted, with or without sirens.

Gungahlin Al9:57 am 07 Aug 09

Thank you for this reasoned and non-abusive explanation Ozi. You make a good point.

Ozi9:30 am 07 Aug 09

astrojax said :

and tooks, if the are going to a job they’d have the dance party on, wouldn’t they? or else they’re obliged to travel at the posted limit, no? (i know, some very rare circumstances might necessitate approaching a scene with a little less pre-announcing, but they are rare and i’d hazard a guess these sighted were simply breaking the law)

Hmm some good posts here from both Al and vg… It is a complex issue. Often it is simply safer not to use lights and sirens, as Canberran drivers will typically slam on the brakes in front of the cop car/pull into the right hand lane/try and merge out of the way INTO a car directly next to them etc etc etc. So there are many times when it reasonable not to use lights and sirens.

Some police do exceed the speed limit when not invoking 305, but this is generally going to a job which COULD turn to shit, and where having extra Police near by is important for reasons of officer safety and urgent response. In normal patrol circumstances, however, it is completely unacceptable for a cop to drive over the speed limit “just because she/he can”. While there are no doubt some who do this, they will be caught in time, either by fixed or mobile cameras, police bosses seeing them doing this or members of the public complaining.

astrojax7:57 am 07 Aug 09

cheers al, you made the point about [role] modeling behaviour which i neglected to do.

what al said… ; )

Gungahlin Al7:46 am 07 Aug 09

Spideydog said :

astrojax said :

and tooks, if the are going to a job they’d have the dance party on, wouldn’t they? or else they’re obliged to travel at the posted limit, no? (i know, some very rare circumstances might necessitate approaching a scene with a little less pre-announcing, but they are rare and i’d hazard a guess these sighted were simply breaking the law)

No. Your hazard a guess, is simply that. A guess.

In some circumstances it actually causes more distractions/obstructions/panic to have lights and/or sirens going in traffic, it can be safer to make your way through without them on. This is just one example. If you think hard enough, I think you could come up with more common sense examples of your own.

It is not just restricted to “attending offenders on premises and frightening them off with sirens going before getting there”

Again, refer above to rule 305 “(2) Subrule (1) (b) does not apply to the driver if, in the circumstances, it is reasonable:

(a) not to display the light or sound the alarm.

And of course this is the response I was expecting, and the expected abuse from VG. Not embarrassing at all VG, because I was there and the ‘circumstances’ very much did not appear to warrant.

So let me explain this one incident, then recall that I have seen a number of very similar ones over the last few months. It is not a one-off.

Following a marked car up Northbourne all the way from the city, it pulled away from me every time, well above the 60kph limit that I was doing. I just kept catching up with it at the next lights. And immediately after the Antill St lights at Dickson, straight up to 80, even though the 80 limit starts well up the road. Caught up again near Flemington. They were behind other traffic at the speed limit until the dual lanes at Mitchell (no-one speeds with a police car in their mirrors), then immediately took off, even though its now posted 60 right through past Harrison due to roadworks. Caught up again at Wells Station Drv lights. They immediately took off well above limit again. Turned into Harrison, sped up the 60kph Nullarbor Ave. Last I saw of them was when they turned off at Katoomba.

So, if it was an emergency, they could have used lights all up Northbourne etc without “spooking the offenders at the other end”. So clearly not an emergency – a regular job. So VG where is the line on this ability to ignore the rules? Any and every time they are called out?

Thing is mate, when you jump straight to the defence of this driver, you fail to recognise that unnecessary breaking of such basic laws helps in little ways to undermine people’s faith in and respect for the force, and encourages other people to “do as they do”. You should be trying to stamp it out rather than immediately diving in to defend them.

All of this said, I was following a paddy wagon a couple of weeks ago up the same road. Speed limit all the way. Then in the 60 zone at Mitchell with the cars in front pulling away from it (it was dark), they blipped the lights and everyone slowed down. The wagon then pulled off towards Bimberi – a prisoner transport perhaps. That was a very cool action from that driver.

caf7:30 am 07 Aug 09

You’re all undoubtedly correct about rule 305, and they may well have been “going to a job” in this case.

But don’t come the raw prawn.

It’s an undoubted truth that being able to get away with a bit of minor speeding is a perk of the job. I’ve heard cops say this quite candidly, and it also only needs a tiny amount of nous to see that this is an obvious state of affairs.

I don’t particularly have a problem with it, though. I also don’t think the disingenous denials are very becoming.

vg11:33 pm 06 Aug 09

astrojax said :

TP 3000 said :

The Police have a wide range over unmarked vechiles. They have a new new Toyota Camry’s & a flash Holden SS Ute. The ute is dual exhaust & the flashing lights are along the metal bar behind the cab.

The Prius is just there to catch speeding Grannies

oi, lay off – leave poor granny out of this… ; )

and tooks, if the are going to a job they’d have the dance party on, wouldn’t they? or else they’re obliged to travel at the posted limit, no? (i know, some very rare circumstances might necessitate approaching a scene with a little less pre-announcing, but they are rare and i’d hazard a guess these sighted were simply breaking the law)

Again quite naive. Having the lights/sirens on can sometimes cause more trouble than what it is worth. As Spidey says, a million examples of why can be found if you put your mind to it

Spideydog11:21 pm 06 Aug 09

astrojax said :

and tooks, if the are going to a job they’d have the dance party on, wouldn’t they? or else they’re obliged to travel at the posted limit, no? (i know, some very rare circumstances might necessitate approaching a scene with a little less pre-announcing, but they are rare and i’d hazard a guess these sighted were simply breaking the law)

No. Your hazard a guess, is simply that. A guess.

In some circumstances it actually causes more distractions/obstructions/panic to have lights and/or sirens going in traffic, it can be safer to make your way through without them on. This is just one example. If you think hard enough, I think you could come up with more common sense examples of your own.

It is not just restricted to “attending offenders on premises and frightening them off with sirens going before getting there”

Again, refer above to rule 305 “(2) Subrule (1) (b) does not apply to the driver if, in the circumstances, it is reasonable:

(a) not to display the light or sound the alarm.

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