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Originally Posted by martyh
That's the problem though ,acting irresponsibly can be very subjective and leave emergency drivers wondering if they speed to a heart attack or a bomb threat will they get prosecuted if a pedestrian gets in the way .That's what happened to PC Dougal ,he responded to a ANPR event hit a girl and got sent to prison .Turned out that the ANPR was at fault but he still got sent to prison for basically doing his job
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He got dent to prison for hitting her at 94 mph with no prior warning from his blue lights and siren which is he had thought to have switched them on may well have prevented him killing her.
Remember the was no valid reason for him to drive with such scant regard for the rules of the road simply for a ANPR hit which could have been simply an out of date tax disc, he was justifiably jailed for this offence and should have received longer as to act as a warning to other officers as to the consequences of driving in such a dangerous and lethal manner.
---------- Post added at 20:27 ---------- Previous post was at 20:26 ----------
Quote:
Originally Posted by martyh
He reacted to information given and followed accepted protocol .The decision, was his to make ,he made what he thought was the right decision given his local knowledge and got punished for it and because of cases like this many drivers are scared to pursue criminals or drive fast to emergencies and given that emergency drivers have a specific response time they are stuck between a rock and a hard place
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Protocol does not tell him to drive at 94 mph without his blues and twos being on.
---------- Post added at 20:30 ---------- Previous post was at 20:27 ----------
Quote:
Originally Posted by martyh
The problem faced by the driver is who and how the decision is made that the risk was unacceptable.Had the car being chased by PC Dougal been full of drugs would that then have been acceptable?
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Still unacceptable to drive with such disregard for other peoples safety and the control room will tell a driver to back off if the is a danger to the public, but on this occasion he was the danger to the public and was rightly jailed.
Remember he still has a life to live unlike his victim who never stood a chance being hit at 94 mph.