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Are policemen allowed to use their sirens to...
get through intersections?
I was almost in a really bad wreck on the way home today. A police car was stopped at an intersection with cross traffic, including me, moving in both directions. He turned on his siren, I glanced over to see what was going on and when I turned back the car in front of me was stopped dead in the road to allow him through and I came this close to slamming into the back of the car. Meanwhile, the police car turns out into the road and then proceeds to turn his siren off.
It all happened very fast, and yes I should have been more alert to the guy in front of me, but I'm a little peeved w/ police using their sirens when there's a lot of traffic b/c they don't feel like sitting through redlights. I've seen this happen a couple of times recently. I thought sirens were for emergency use- are they supposed to be doing that??
Re: Are policemen allowed to use their sirens to...
From what I understand, they can't do it "just because". However, they can use it to proceed faster to a necessary location. The situation may not allow them to run "lights and sirens" for the entire trip but they will flick their lights on when they encounter something that will hold them up. Ambulances can do the same thing.
If he did it so he wouldn't miss the cut-off for the Sonic Happy Hour, thumbs down. When you see it, you can write down their car or license number and call their PD department to report it. Their superiors will know if they were using their lights properly or dickingaround.
TTC #1 since February 2011
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If he turned it on and kept going, I would assume there was an emergency and wouldn't have any issue, but he turned it on, went thru the redlight and then turned it off after he got through the light.
Thanks, I believe I will do that tomorrow. He was in front of me on the road after this all happened and didn't appear to be in any big hurry to get anywhere- that's when I started to question it...and jotted down the car #.
I see cops do this all the time and it annoys the crap out of me. I think that most of them take advantage of the fact that they have a siren so they don't have to sit at lights. I'd definately take down the car number and call the department next time this happens.
Mind you, these aren't the technical terms, just my rephrasing from what my dad and one cousin have talked about:
There are different "levels" of the calls that they respond to, and only the highest priority allows them to speed/use sirens and lights, etc. However, for other levels there are different rules. Most likely he was on a call and needed to respond (get on site) quickly, but it wasn't a life or death situation and it only called for a certain measures - like lights through an intersection. Take 360 for example
If I hit every light, it takes me about 25 minutes to drive up 360. If I hit no lights, it takes me less than 10 minutes. If I had made a 911 call ... I'd really appreciate that extra 15 minutes!
However, I did have an office pull up next to me at a light, turn on his lights and go through the intersection. A few minutes later, I saw him parked and walking into a 7-11. From his leisurely pace, I don't think he was responding to an emergency.