Here's a couple of videos showing how response driving should be done.

The first one features the London Metropolitan Police and their brilliant Rover SD1 V8 powered units doing a liver run from Stansted Airport to a hospital located just off Cromwell road in Kensington, right though the heart of London, some of the busiest roads in Europe.

NOTE, this is the entire television episode (Police, Camera, Action!) which is 22 minutes long, only cutting a short amount of the actual run.

Edit: I just noticed that the coppers used their ProViDa system to measure their average speed of the run, gotta love coppers.

Secondly there's this, the FRU, Forward Response Unit with the London Fire Brigade, it shows some stellar driving right though the centre of London, going the wrong way down the road multiple times:

Driving like that is sadly a thing of the past in the UK, where the Health & Safety people would die if they saw such driving, I've seen similar driving here though.

Happy new year to everyone.

Edited December 31, 201114 yr by NicolaiB

Driving like that is sadly a thing of the past in the UK, where the Health & Safety people would die if they saw such driving, I've seen similar driving here though.

Sadly, Driving Like this has seized to exist here in U.S.A too....

Anymore PDs Cheifs are Freaking out when it comes to saftey, In my state, Some PDs arent even allowed to get into prusuits.

Meh, Its understandeble, Officer saftey is Pri #1, JAM.

PS: Listening to PHX PD Scanner last night: http://www.radioreference.com/apps/audio/?action=wp&feedId=9860

They get nothing but hot tones anymore, And last night, I heard a 998! (Deputy involved in a shooting), Scary stuff man....

Driving like that is sadly a thing of the past in the UK, where the Health & Safety people would die if they saw such driving, I've seen similar driving here though.

Happy new year to everyone.

Yeah your basic officer would never be allowed to take such risks these days but there are units still that can be seen now and then giving some :)

It's ridiculous, I've often seen ambulances resorting to using bike lanes (elevated like the pavement here) to bypass heavy traffic, and units going completely the wrong way down roads.

We still have some common sense left, and we do things accordingly, if there's one or two emergency vehicles coming towards you with flashing lights and screaming sirens, you don't keep on going, you bloody stop or pull over, it's like that in a number of ways, it's up to the people to get out of their way when they take it to the pavement, or footpaths, they do have legs after all, and those who don't, well they have a wheel chair.

I myself would be extremely frustrated if I were a paramedic, and had to sit in traffic en route to someone who's stroking, or in other ways dying because I couldn't take it down the opposite lanes in my ambulance.

Just a few real life examples:

Moped pursuit in central Copenhagen, many "interesting" manoeuvres by the officer

Unmarked car in pursuit of a moped though pathways in a residential area (skip to 9:21)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=_7EL4e9TV0c#t=561s

Two fire units resorting to the opposite lane en route to a AFA:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9I-dFwLsmg

A pedestrian only plaza, not when someone's getting robbed:

Edited December 31, 201114 yr by NicolaiB

That was some great driving. The emergency services down here in Australia often drive like this. I have seen Ambulances going completely the wrong direction down a highway to get past traffic jams many times. However the Aussie police in most states have banned officer's from driving V8's since they crash them to much. Now we've just got V6's. Lol.

Edited January 1, 201214 yr by SharpCommand

In India(I have seen only in Mumbai and Chennai) the Emergency Services and Police use a system call the Green Channel, in which patrol units block traffic in roads and intersections providing a greenway with the signals in the vicinity of the Emergency Vehicle turning green immediately...!!!

I know this because of a heart transplant operation that took place in Chennai, where the "live heart" was moved from the airport to the Appollo Hospital(A very famous MRD centre here) in under 14minutes where as it would take a normal person an hour and 45 minutes...!!!

During pursuits though(which never happens much) there is no such thing...!!!

Some places (Read: USA) uses systems like the "opticom", which detects (using transmitters on EMS & Fire vehicles) within a range of half a mile, and changes the light to green, allowing a much smoother flow of traffic.

If two vehicles approach at the same time, only the vehicle first detected will be given a green light.

It sounds like the system, or something similar they're using.

That second Vid you posted. On youtube no one mentions it in the comments. But the still image that shows of that vid shows them driving down Park lane area Near Mayfair. When the Vid gets to that point, (you can see all the very expensive car showrooms on the left as they pass and if you know the building they pass the London Park lane hotel) anyway they turn at Marble arch and then a minute or two later they come around the back of buckingham palace by the royal mews and then go down the Mall.

What I am getting at is they seem to double back on themselves at one point. Could be to get around traffic but seems a very odd route :)

Also bit of trivia for the keen eyed. For much of the 2nd vid they are taking the same route as the first vid but in the other direction.

They make it look easy which is a hallmark of a good driver. Most people think they could do it but there is more to it than just fast driving.

Edited January 1, 201214 yr by Molten

Around 3:50, the passenger said something like "that ain't Charing Cross, innit. Where are you goin'?"

It did seem like an odd route, even though I mostly know London from the video games "The Getaway", and three visits to the city, the only metropolitan city I've liked so far.

Police Camera Action! was a show of my childhood and I can remember that episode clearly.

I think they said they could smell something burning by the end of the journey? turns out the brakes were red hot.

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The Getaway was a great game, Black Monday was even better.. its such a shame the third one was cancelled, it was coming to current gen consoles too.