Blue surf in Enfield!

[keef]

So there was I quite happily driving on blue lights with sirens on in a hi-vis yellow and green ambulance car in Baker street Enfield(15.30Hrs) when a blue SURF decided to pull out from a turning on the opposite side of the road and then pull over to the kerb causing me to lose speed and have to steer round it unnecessarily.I won't post the registration of the Surf as they should remember this event( hopefully!)
Points to note are.... 1)By delaying an Ambulance response car you are endangering life.2) It may be someone YOU care about.3)Causing me to use the oncoming lane is putting myself and other road users in danger.4)You can be nicked!
If you either chose to ignore me or didn't see me until the last minute,(I'm not sure whats worse?) what chance would I have on a motorbike?
Nuff said.
Keef

[qube3]

well said!!!!

[AndyLala]

I am sorry, I know we are all guilty of doing silly things on the road (and off)....


But... an emergency vehicle lit up....

Name and shame...


Whoever did it should be shocked into never doing it again.


If it was one of my loved ones waiting for that repsonse... I would surely hunt them down.

AndyL

[firefly]

at least you were driving a car, its worse when your driving a 10 ton fire engine, once you loose your momentum its a bugger to get going and if i hit you in mine it'll hurt more

[Chillitt]

never mind name em.... NICK EM!

[keef]

at least you were driving a car, its worse when your driving a 10 ton fire engine, once you loose your momentum its a bugger to get going and if i hit you in mine it'll hurt more

True,but the upside of a 10 tonner is that it's a fair bet even the most stupid driver will keep out of your way, survival is a strong instinct. Recently a police officer had to accompany a crew to hospital and was amazed at how many people carve up ambulance's.The officer radioed 2 registrations to TD with view to a pull! Hopefully they had there history and future explained to them!

[Bogus]

is all this not a bit judgemental? Not the smartest thing old Blue Surf has done in his life Im sure, but are we not going a bit OTT here in our condemnation, Kangaroo Court anyone ? Who exactly did he kill, maim, torture or starve to death?

[Chillitt]

bogus, if he cant see flashing blue lights or hear sirens going hes got no place on the road. what chance for motorbikes, cyclists or even cars without big flashing lights? the phrase is driving without due care and attention. or does that only apply sometimes?

[marky]

We all make mistakes sometimes. And no it wasnt me!

[firefly]

Keef honestly ive been efad driving now for 10 years and you wouldnt believe what people do when they see blue lights and flashing head lights and siren, and this applies to police cars too. on a RTA shout and driving down the hard shoulder, as per brigade orders driving at a reduced speed all audibal and visual warnings used and a police car swept infront of us, the driver took avoiding action and just managed to stop the machine from sliding down an embankment, fortunatly we have cab video cameras and got the plonker on screen and, after the near miss report a senior officer watched the video and did no more went to police station and lodged a complaint. me and the another lads on the machine went to local laundrette to clean our trousers, one of many incidents

[keef]

is all this not a bit judgemental? Not the smartest thing old Blue Surf has done in his life Im sure, but are we not going a bit OTT here in our condemnation, Kangaroo Court anyone ? Who exactly did he kill, maim, torture or starve to death?

Nope, not the worst crime ever but we seldom get the chance to air a view as stopping to remonstrate with an errent driver while responding isn't an option!
Hopefully Ive managed to attach a picture of a transit van that pulled out on a responding ambulance, Fortunately no one was injured, but the crew didn't get to the call and the ambulance wasn't able to help anyone else for quite a while!
Keef.

[Richard Creighton]

I'm with Bogus, yeah of course it was a stupid thing to do and any amount of mitigating circumstances does not excuse his (or her ) behaviour, but how many of you can put your hands up and say you have led totally blameless driving careers ? i would be suprised if the driver hadn't learnt a lesson from the incident that will make him a more attentive driver. so in short let he hath never sinned cast the first stone.

Richard.

[Guest]

One thing I learnt, after returning from living in the Middle East is that there is a price to be paid for all this carefull driving that we supposedly have in this country. People get blase and inattentive because we expect everyone to drive safely and not do stupid things, however people are Human and we make mistakes - albeit pulling out in front of an Ambulance with blues and twos going does take the biscuit a bit, however s**t happens as they say.

When I started driving in the Middle East I was scared by the really bad driving however it's amazing how you adapt and in fact it made me a far more attentive driver. When I got on the road I expected every other road user to drive like they were asleep and I was rarely dissapointed, however by allowing for it I stayed alert.

When I came back to the UK, I was even more frightened by the traffic, people drive along half asleep and do the most stupid things imaginable even though they initially seem to be driving OK up to that point.

I now know the reason that the Police have to do comentaries during their Police Driving test and why it was a standard thing (although not compulsary) on the IAM test, it forces you to think and stay alert.

I guess that Surf driver will probably be a better driver since the near accident certainly for a while.

And No it wasn't me either - only driven the Surf locally lately since I got the Cruiser.

Cheers

[Snoop]

My dad was a copper and my uncle is a paramedic and they both say the number one thing that causes problems when attending is that people panic when they see the lights. Something about the siren and lights causes people to react immediately in panic and pull over or do something which often hinders their progress, they probably even realise it afterwards.

I've experienced this myself when driving along a road where I could not get out of the way of an ambulance on blues and twos behind me without hindering it (oncoming traffic etc) so I sped up to allow it to continue at a good pace. This was fine until we came up to a junction and the car waiting at it pulled out and then immediately slammed on his brakes and stopped, meaning we had to (I was aiming to stop in a layby further up). At this point I tucked up behind the stupid car so when the ambulance could pass it could get round us both. He probably cost the ambulance around 2 minutes which in a life or death situation can be critical.

[TonyN]

is all this not a bit judgemental? Not the smartest thing old Blue Surf has done in his life Im sure, but are we not going a bit OTT here in our condemnation, Kangaroo Court anyone ? Who exactly did he kill, maim, torture or starve to death?

hehe, true, but if the owner of the surf reads this, prap's they'll take a little more care next time. No need to name then, but worth mentioning it happened.

If the ambulance drive had any anti-4x4 leanings, this will swing them all the way, irrational maybe, but its only human nature.

Who can honestly say they've made no errors while driving, but we all have a good go at lorry drivers, M/C's, car drivers who drive bad, so why are surf owners exempt?