Sirens Mean Pull to the Right not the Left....

[GNBRETT]

Guy was hauling ass and really shouldnt ASSumes someone hears or sees you but his emergency lights/sirens were definately on. probably text messaging....

Responding Oregon Officer Crashes Into Home - Officer

 

[twotonevert]

I would be mad if I was that officer. And while we are on the subject, if you do get lit up, pull off the road way and do not stop in the travel lane.

 

[dadofthree]

I couldn't tell if they had their signal on in the vid. In SC the officer is ultimately responsible for any accidents during an emergency response. Like they say if you don't get there you're no good to anyone.

 

[GNBRETT]

I couldn't tell if they had their signal on in the vid. In SC the officer is ultimately responsible for any accidents during an emergency response. Like they say if you don't get there you're no good to anyone.

not so. the cop has to use due care and caution while using his lights and sirens. meaning, he just cant blow thru a red light without ensuring that the intersection is clear first and the use of lights and sirens does not releive him from using caution. this cop had his lights and siren on for a good mile before the person turned left in front of him vs. pulling to the right like the statute requires you to.

dont know what if any injuries the officer sustained but if it was a minor injury its a Misd. if its serious injury its a Felony.



"Section 56-5-2360. (a)(A) Upon the immediate approach of an authorized emergency vehicle or police vehicle making use of an audible signal meeting the requirements of Section 56-5-4970 and visual signals meeting the requirements of Section 56-5-4700, or of a police vehicle properly and lawfully making use of an audible signal or visual signal, the driver of every other vehicle traveling along a two-lane roadway shall yield the right-of-way right of way and shall immediately drive to a position parallel to, and as close as possible, to the right hand edge or curb of the roadway clear of any intersection and shall stop and remain in that position until the authorized emergency vehicle or police vehicle has passed, except when otherwise directed by a police officer. A driver of a vehicle traveling along a multilane roadway shall yield the right-of-way right of way and shall remain in, or move to a location that allows the emergency vehicle or police vehicle to pass safely, except as otherwise directed by a police officer.

(b)(B) This section shall not operate to relieve the driver of an authorized emergency vehicle or police vehicle from the duty to drive with due regard for the safety of all persons using the highway.

(C) When an authorized emergency vehicle or police vehicle is parked or standing within twelve feet of a roadway and is giving a warning signal by appropriate visual signal, the driver of every other approaching vehicle, as soon as it is safe and when not otherwise directed by a police officer, shall do one of the following:

(1) move the vehicle into a lane that is not the lane nearest to the parked or standing authorized emergency vehicle or police vehicle and continue traveling in that lane until safely clear of the authorized emergency vehicle or police vehicle. This item applies only if the roadway has at least two lanes for traffic proceeding in the direction of the approaching vehicles and if the approaching vehicle may change lanes safely and without interfering with any vehicular traffic; or

(2) slow the vehicle, maintaining a safe speed for traffic conditions, operate the vehicle at a reduced speed and be prepared to stop until completely past the authorized emergency vehicle or police vehicle. This paragraph applies only if the roadway has only one lane for traffic proceeding in the direction of the approaching vehicle or if the approaching vehicle may not change lanes safely and without interfering with any vehicular traffic.

(D) A person who violates this section, but does not cause serious bodily injury or death to a law enforcement officer, firefighter, emergency vehicle operator, or any other emergency response person in the immediate area of the authorized emergency vehicle or police vehicle is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be fined not less than two hundred dollars or imprisoned not less than forty-eight hours nor more than thirty days. However, in lieu of the forty-eight hour minimum imprisonment, the court may provide for forty-eight hours of public service employment. The minimum forty-eight hour imprisonment or public service employment must be served at a time when it does not interfere with the offender's regular employment under terms and conditions as the court considers proper. However, the court may not compel an offender to perform public service employment instead of the minimum sentence.

(E) A person who violates this section and causes serious injury or death to a law enforcement officer, firefighter, emergency vehicle operator, or any other emergency response person in the immediate area of the authorized emergency vehicle or police vehicle is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, must be fined not more than ten thousand dollars and imprisoned not more than ten years."

 

[Seno]

Too many what if's... Intent of the driver is important, and can move it to a grey area which would avoid prosecution. The driver could have been trying to turn to get out of the cops way, even though that would not be the correct thing to do.... Stupid people are everywhere unfortunately...

 

[dadofthree]

not so.

SECTION 56-5-760. Operation of authorized emergency vehicles.

(A) The driver of an authorized emergency vehicle, when responding to an emergency call or when in the pursuit of an actual or suspected violator of the law or when responding to but not upon returning from a fire alarm, may exercise the privileges set forth in this section, but subject to the conditions of this section.

(B) The driver of an authorized emergency vehicle may:

(1) park or stand, notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter;

(2) proceed past a red or stop signal or stop sign but only after slowing down as may be necessary for safe operation;

(3) exceed the maximum speed limit if he does not endanger life or property;

(4) disregard regulations governing direction of movement or turning in specified directions.

(C) The exemptions in this section granted to an authorized emergency vehicle apply only when the vehicle is making use of an audible signal meeting the requirements of Section 56-5-4970 and visual signals meeting the requirements of Section 56-5-4700 of this chapter, except that an authorized emergency vehicle operated as a police vehicle need not use an audible signal nor display a visual signal when the vehicle is being used to:

(1) obtain evidence of a speeding violation;

(2) respond to a suspected crime in progress when use of an audible or visual signal, or both, could reasonably result in the destruction of evidence or escape of a suspect; or

(3) surveil another vehicle or its occupants who are suspected of involvement in a crime.

(D) The provisions of this section do not relieve the driver of an authorized emergency vehicle from the duty to drive with due regard for the safety of all persons.

(E) The Criminal Justice Academy shall promulgate regulations pursuant to the Administrative Procedures Act so as to provide uniform guidelines and training programs for law enforcement agencies which use emergency vehicles. Law enforcement agencies authorized to use emergency vehicles shall use the regulations developed by the Criminal Justice Academy to provide written guidelines and to provide training programs for its officers and employees regarding the operation of emergency vehicles.

SC recently did a major rewrite of the criminal codes, the language use to be clearer to the layman, and I did a poor job of stating that cops are responsible when responding. I'll go back and review the video again but from watching it once through more caution could have been used. Everyone in law enforcement understands that their lights and sirens mean little to people today except , here comes popo

Also cutting and pasting the law is one thing, actually understanding the law and especially case law is a totally different animal. Then the officer is subject to his own departments policies and SOPs.

After reviewing the video a second time the driver of the car should have known he was coming. Hope no one was seriously injured.

 

[m_ridgeway]

seems like thats just a true accident to the word. officer trying to respond and someone trying to get home, wrong place wrong time type of deal. i hope that wouldnt be a felony unless intent, using cell phone, or dui. couldve been elderly, hearing impaired, or just inexperienced and target fixation.

they both shouldve seen each other and been able to react.

 

[Kildore]

Happens all the time. Big red truck with a 75' ladder on top. Lights blazing, siren blasting... pull to the right. Do not stop where you are. Don't pull to the left. LoL... it's a shock to alot of motorists i think. Around here.. many are texting while driving. Drinking while driving, or are consentrating on keeping on the road/streets. Age is a factor while driving. Have many Sr. living centers and they think they are fine to drive. When you are death grip on the wheel and peeking between the bottom of the steering wheel and the top of the dash and drive 15-30 mph below the speed limit... bad things happen. Pedestrian vs. happen very often. Just an observation. I'm not talking down to people.. im by no means perfect

 

[Strife]

Car was making a left. the blinker was on. Was two lane road. Cop choose to pass the braking car in an intersection. Bad judgment for the cop.

 

[GNBRETT]

Car was making a left. the blinker was on. Was two lane road. Cop choose to pass the braking car in an intersection. Bad judgment for the cop.

how do you figue that? blinker or no blinker when an emergency vehicle is behind you ur required to pull to the right side of the road. the driver did not pull to the right side of the road. they turned left.???

what does an intersection have to do with anything? the cop was driving for at least a 1/2 mile with both his lights and siren going. the road was straight and the cop was directly behind the car the whole time and it was the ONLY car in front of him.

driver would be charged with failure to grant right of way to an emergency vehicle.

 

[GNBRETT]

SECTION 56-5-760. Operation of authorized emergency vehicles.

(A) The driver of an authorized emergency vehicle, when responding to an emergency call or when in the pursuit of an actual or suspected violator of the law or when responding to but not upon returning from a fire alarm, may exercise the privileges set forth in this section, but subject to the conditions of this section.

(B) The driver of an authorized emergency vehicle may:

(1) park or stand, notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter;

(2) proceed past a red or stop signal or stop sign but only after slowing down as may be necessary for safe operation;

(3) exceed the maximum speed limit if he does not endanger life or property;

(4) disregard regulations governing direction of movement or turning in specified directions.

(C) The exemptions in this section granted to an authorized emergency vehicle apply only when the vehicle is making use of an audible signal meeting the requirements of Section 56-5-4970 and visual signals meeting the requirements of Section 56-5-4700 of this chapter, except that an authorized emergency vehicle operated as a police vehicle need not use an audible signal nor display a visual signal when the vehicle is being used to:

(1) obtain evidence of a speeding violation;

(2) respond to a suspected crime in progress when use of an audible or visual signal, or both, could reasonably result in the destruction of evidence or escape of a suspect; or

(3) surveil another vehicle or its occupants who are suspected of involvement in a crime.

(D) The provisions of this section do not relieve the driver of an authorized emergency vehicle from the duty to drive with due regard for the safety of all persons.

(E) The Criminal Justice Academy shall promulgate regulations pursuant to the Administrative Procedures Act so as to provide uniform guidelines and training programs for law enforcement agencies which use emergency vehicles. Law enforcement agencies authorized to use emergency vehicles shall use the regulations developed by the Criminal Justice Academy to provide written guidelines and to provide training programs for its officers and employees regarding the operation of emergency vehicles.

SC recently did a major rewrite of the criminal codes, the language use to be clearer to the layman, and I did a poor job of stating that cops are responsible when responding. I'll go back and review the video again but from watching it once through more caution could have been used. Everyone in law enforcement understands that their lights and sirens mean little to people today except , here comes popo

Also cutting and pasting the law is one thing, actually understanding the law and especially case law is a totally different animal. Then the officer is subject to his own departments policies and SOPs.

After reviewing the video a second time the driver of the car should have known he was coming. Hope no one was seriously injured.

agreed he is certainly not relieved of driving with due regard and safety and ive seen cops go blowing thru red lights and stop signs without even looking or slowing and had words with them about it trust me. and not good words either.

ur useless if u never get to where ur trying to get to and even tho this cop is not at fault he should have recognized that the driver wasnt paying him much mind. even know its not the right thing to do cops often pass of the right side cause people get nervous sometimes and dont know to go left or right. up on the highway if ur chasing someone ur better off just turning off ur overheads cause ull just get stuck in traffic cause some wil go left, some right and some idiots will just stop in the middle of the highway....

 

[Blanca BusaLess]

Seems like the cops fault for thinking the car saw him or trying to pass on the left?
Should have slowed a bit a confirmed which way they were going before passing. You don't need to guess whether or not people cant drive just figure on it.

 

[GNBRETT]

Seems like the cops fault for thinking the car saw him or trying to pass on the left?
Should have slowed a bit a confirmed which way they were going before passing. You don't need to guess whether or not people cant drive just figure on it.

the problem with that thought process and I dont totally disagree is that every time a cop responds to a call he is supposed to be passing on the left assuming the driver is seeing or hearing him cause the driver should be pulling to the right. otherwise the cop would never get to where hes trying to get to if he was going to stop and wait to see what every car in front of him was going to do. not practical.

being lawfully right which he absolutely was does not mean he couldnt have confirmed that the car wasnt going to turn. old people dont see or hear very well and accidents like this are very common in Florida actually.

but he was behind the car for quite a while and there was no other cars in front of him. that is the more common occurance when there is a line of cars in front of the cop and he begins passing cars assuming the cars up ahead dont see or hear him and turn. those cars are still responsible because with an audible siren you can be heard for at least a 1/4 mile away and should be pulling to the right when u hear that audible siren and if ur not paying attention to hear it and turn without checking then thats on u.

but no way is he at fault.

 

[dadofthree]

agreed he is certainly not relieved of driving with due regard and safety and ive seen cops go blowing thru red lights and stop signs without even looking or slowing and had words with them about it trust me. and not good words either.

ur useless if u never get to where ur trying to get to and even tho this cop is not at fault he should have recognized that the driver wasnt paying him much mind. even know its not the right thing to do cops often pass of the right side cause people get nervous sometimes and dont know to go left or right. up on the highway if ur chasing someone ur better off just turning off ur overheads cause ull just get stuck in traffic cause some wil go left, some right and some idiots will just stop in the middle of the highway....

I've never worked for a department that didn't require officers responding code 3 ( Bz to the wall ) to stop at lights and stop signs before proceeding. I haven't checked the stats lately, but a lot of officers die while responding. All my references are to SC bc I work there. I have actually had a trooper behind me on the Busa during the day and didn't know it. He pulled beside me and blew the air horn to get my attention. However unless it's changed as long as the officer signals the law says you know it regardless.

I can actually get somewhere faster without lights and sirens. Luckily I work a small city and don't have it as bad as I did working a county.

 

[GNBRETT]

I've never worked for a department that didn't require officers responding code 3 ( Bz to the wall ) to stop at lights and stop signs before proceeding. I haven't checked the stats lately, but a lot of officers die while responding. All my references are to SC bc I work there. I have actually had a trooper behind me on the Busa during the day and didn't know it. He pulled beside me and blew the air horn to get my attention. However unless it's changed as long as the officer signals the law says you know it regardless.

I can actually get somewhere faster without lights and sirens. Luckily I work a small city and don't have it as bad as I did working a county.

oh dont get me wrong im not saying they should not be slowing down for red lights or stop signs. they absolutely should. the policy here doesnt read anything different then what the statute says and its pretty dead even here in CT as to what it is in SC.

ur right a lot of cops die while responding to calls because they just assume people see or hear them. thats another good point having a helmet on makes hearing the siren difficult especially up on the highway and seeing is tough to especially when guys change their stock mirrors for smaller to look better. yea not hearing or seeing is the responsibility of the operator but being right sometimes means being dead as a cop. common sense desnt save you when grandma doesnt hear or see you.

 

[VIPER]

that officer was out of line period. He was in a residential neighborhood doing well over 60 mph. Plain stupid. The driver of the car had no time to respond or anything. The officer was driving so fast he went like 4 blocks in a few seconds. Also he didnt sound sirens till he switched lanes to the left. By then at his speed it was too late. Very poor lack of judgement on the officers part and the red car.

 

[GNBRETT]

that officer was out of line period. He was in a residential neighborhood doing well over 60 mph. Plain stupid. The driver of the car had no time to respond or anything. The officer was driving so fast he went like 4 blocks in a few seconds. Also he didnt sound sirens till he switched lanes to the left. By then at his speed it was too late. Very poor lack of judgement on the officers part and the red car.

"Section 56-5-2360. (a)(A) Upon the immediate approach of an authorized emergency vehicle or police vehicle making use of an audible signal meeting the requirements of Section 56-5-4970 and visual signals meeting the requirements of Section 56-5-4700, or of a police vehicle properly and lawfully making use of an audible signal or visual signal, the driver of every other vehicle traveling along a two-lane roadway shall yield the right-of-way right of way and shall immediately drive to a position parallel to, and as close as possible, to the right hand edge or curb of the roadway clear of any intersection and shall stop and remain in that position until the authorized emergency vehicle or police vehicle has passed....

the driver had plenty of time to respond if he or she was paying attention to their surroundings. statute says sirens or lights. lights were active the whole time.

but I would agree he was probably driving too fast and if he was going slower he may have had a chance to avoid contact.

I have no idea where he was going but speed would be dictated by what type of call he was going to. if ur wife is home alone with ur kids and she called to report a burglary in progress I hardly think you would think 60 mph is too fast for cop to be responding to ur house. if it was a petty crime then yes his speeds were likely excessive.

 

[VIPER]

"Section 56-5-2360. (a)(A) Upon the immediate approach of an authorized emergency vehicle or police vehicle making use of an audible signal meeting the requirements of Section 56-5-4970 and visual signals meeting the requirements of Section 56-5-4700, or of a police vehicle properly and lawfully making use of an audible signal or visual signal, the driver of every other vehicle traveling along a two-lane roadway shall yield the right-of-way right of way and shall immediately drive to a position parallel to, and as close as possible, to the right hand edge or curb of the roadway clear of any intersection and shall stop and remain in that position until the authorized emergency vehicle or police vehicle has passed....

the driver had plenty of time to respond if he or she was paying attention to their surroundings. statute says sirens or lights. lights were active the whole time.

but I would agree he was probably driving too fast and if he was going slower he may have had a chance to avoid contact.

I have no idea where he was going but speed would be dictated by what type of call he was going to. if ur wife is home alone with ur kids and she called to report a burglary in progress I hardly think you would think 60 mph is too fast for cop to be responding to ur house. if it was a petty crime then yes his speeds were likely excessive.

As was stated earlier though...you have to get there to be useful. What good did that officer due rolling 60+ in a neighborhood slamming into someone due to his high rate of speed. Now my wife and kids are in deep trouble cause there will be no response for a while as the boys in blue have their buddy to worry about now.

 

[Strife]

Let me put it this way. Just about all of us would be dead or close to dead if we assUmed everyone did what they were suppose to do on the road according to the law. No need for that sixth sense that keep most of us alive. Not everything is Black and White. Living in the Grey has saved a lot of lives.



The officer rounded the corner at 07s. Punched it till 17s. That's 10 seconds of accelerating from a rolling start. Impact was at 21s. That was a lot of distance closed on the car ahead of the officer and at a very high rate of speed. It wasn't quite dark yet. They sky actually had a lot of light left in it. The reflection of the lights on the background didn't engulf the car making the left until the officer was upon him. As we all know, that's usually the most dangerous part of the day to drive. Reason is how our eyes adjust to the lighting of dusk. Not to mention the SIREN that was on before he made the turn on to that road was no longer blasting away until a split second before impact. Driver had the drivers side window down.

The car made no acknowledgment it was aware the officer was there. We all know sliding to the right(if possible) is what we suppose to do. However the car from the officers point of view decided to stop "IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD" to allow the officer by? That alone should of put up a red flag that something wasn't right. Left turn blinker would of been the other Red Flag. Being at an intersection would be another Red Flag. So the officer didn't notice all this that was in front of him we crucify the car cause He didn't notice what was behind him?

So Again... Regardless of the Law, it was a Bad Call on the officer.

 

[dadofthree]

As was stated earlier though...you have to get there to be useful. What good did that officer due rolling 60+ in a neighborhood slamming into someone due to his high rate of speed. Now my wife and kids are in deep trouble cause there will be no response for a while as the boys in blue have their buddy to worry about now.

That's funny, the call is the priority