UK Police Chases Blamed for Death Increase
Discussion
fadeaway said:
Directional sirens? Better to let the bad guys know what direction you are coming from 
Mmmm,cunning plan to herd criminals? Get a bib to walk towards where the crims are while holding a directional siren ... mean time all his mates wait the other side with a big net
Clever, never thought of that! Maybe they could pay a bonus to the cops for every bad guy they bag.....then they could tax it!!...sorry
jimbeaux said:
Perhaps the Police need to go to stunt driving school.
Just re-instate the Class 1 driving that has largely been abandoned. 5 years ago I wrote to West Mids police when they dropped that standard; they got quite upset and refused to answer my e-mails. And now they've got their reward.
The directional sirens thing is a good idea. You need a good proportion of non-harmonically-related frequencies to tell which direction a sound is coming from. Electronic sirens fall down badly on this point compared to the old airhorns, just as bleepy phone ringers are harder to pinpoint than bells so you think your phone's ringing when it's really the TV.
Mind you, the reaction of the average numpty to the sound of a siren leaves a lot to be desired...
Mind you, the reaction of the average numpty to the sound of a siren leaves a lot to be desired...
Pigeon said:
The directional sirens thing is a good idea.
I always thought the old nee-nah type were pretty good in that respect. As for getting through the ears of the dozing motorist, an aeroplane-style stall warning alarm would wake them up.
I was baffled for a few seconds last year as I was approaching a roundabout and noticed that the big roadsign on the left was flashing slightly. I kept looking at the sign trying to work out why it was flashing. The flashing got gradually brighter, then a paramedic car went hooning past at about +40mph. The sign was being illuminated by his flashing headlights, but they lit up the sign from so far away I was distracted and didn't notice the car until it went past!
There is also a problem with the average motorist. They sit cocooned in their cars listening to Terry Wogan or some mindless music so loud they cannot hear a siren when it is three feet away. Any loss is sad but lets get real here, bad guys must be laughing at us now, Mary and her type will suceed in persuading the powers that be that we should have no chases, better to let a scally off than loose a life. I see the american type of chase is always ended forcfully because they know the longer the chase goes on the more desperate the driver becomes. I have nothing but admiration for the class one drivers but the training of others is not good enough in some areas. But lets not loose the plot, bad guys and gals need catching by the police.
I think they do hear them but just don't have a clue. Classic instance yesterday when I was a passenger in a mate's car. We were on a section of road which is widened for a junction on the left and then narrows and has an island, in crawling traffic. Ambulance wails up to the back of the queue, so mate pulls in to the side in the widened bit, far enough forward for as many cars as possible to pull in behind but far enough back to give the ambulance plenty of room to negotiate the island. Two or three cars do pull in behind, then numpty with brain off decides to come trundling past everyone. We are both gesticulating and pointing back at the ambulance, numpty returns a look of prize-winning open-mouthed gormlessness, then suddenly realises what we're pointing at and pulls in - at an angle of 45 degrees, and not all the way, giving the ambulance its most awkward obstacle in passing the entire queue.
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