Safe Speed Forums

Or lone plod could stop drunk driver and get a good kicking or worse? I accept having more officers in a car would not always prevent this ( as recent events show ).

From a Traffic point of view i feel two Officers would be safer for the police, immediate backup, during a pursuit the driver wouldn't have to worry about street names etc, that can be left to passenger to radio in so driver can concentrate on driving. At scene of an accident for example, one officer can check if any one needs help while the other can warn other traffic if needed. The list is endless.

I accept that budgets rule, but personally i would rather see more police, properly trained for their roles, and less over reliance on cctv/speed cameras/pcso ( though these can have a contribution to make ).

Not saying that should have 1 car with 2 officers instead of 2 cars with 1 officer, i feel we should have more properly manned Traffic cars.

From a road safety point of view it used to work very well.

Thats quite interesting. So if they are having to keep up communications with other officers perhaps involved in a chase, they have to keep their left hand on the gearstick rather than on the steering wheel in the correct 10 to 2 position.

Thats clearly a better idea than having another officer to help with observation and handle the R/T...

I personally think not - I submit that the driver should be concentrating on driving and they should provide the resources to allow the police driver to perform to the highest ability without such distractions.

What do the trafpols think about this - old way or the new way?

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with the new tetra system the control room can utilise an open channel facility, this could be used if the pursuing driver is relaying directions the car that is being pursued has taken

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now retired

OK, thats fair enough and clarifies some of my comments.

What it doesn't respond to is whether its better to have 2 sets of eyes observing or 1. If personally would prefer a helper in the sorts of situations trafpols have to deal with. Additionally, how can a single crewed vehicle deal with the possibility of a drive off after a stop if the police driver has to get out to talk to the driver which has been pulled over. As I understand, the passenger in the police car always used to get out, leaving the driver in place for this sort of eventuality.

More comments invited CO

_________________
"Are you sh**ing me?"
"John Spartan, you are fined one credit for a violation of the verbal morality statute."

Police crashes up?

In the sensible Country that we used to live in, this would have resulted in a call for better Police driver training.

Now, all they'll do is force them to drive slower, thinking that this will magically solve the problem.

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“For every complex problem, there is a solution that is simple, neat, and wrong.” - H. L. Mencken