Disgusted and fumin

[nautifish]

Okay i am sure there are probably some OPP in here somewhere..

 

I have a question .

 

Last night i was heading down st andrews towards tim hortons. Now when you get to the end of st andrews st which by the way at the end sits at the bottom of the hill that then takes you onto Highway 6. Which may i add is a very busy road. This section of the road if you take a left curves to the right as you head over the lift bridge.

 

Now last night it was foggy as hell in town absolutley pouring down with rain and i mean pouring with rain. You could hardly see a thing so as i pull out to take a right turn A cop comes flying around the bend off of main over takes other cars on the other side of the road and procceds to tear ass over taking other vheicles on a curved road over a lift bridge with no lights on or sirens.

 

My question is

 

Is this even legal>?

 

I could not beleive what my eyes saw last night and i was amazed he never killed anyone by causing a head on collision.....Seriously this cop was driving like an absolute lunatic. With out any emergency lights or sirens ON to warn other drivers. And this was also in a 40KM Zone.

 

 

I was mad as hell after seeing this.

Edited December 19, 2007 by nautifish

[bigbuck]

He might have been going to a call nearby like a burglary or something where pulling up with the sirens and lights going might chase off the bad guys and not give the cops a chance to nab them. Otherwise, the guy is a jerk, I've seen Metro (T.O.) hit the lights and shut them right off again just to cross a red light. It's not right, it's an abuse of power but who am I to say anything??

[misfish]

Maybe it was STOLEN ???????????????

[irishfield]

HAHA Brian ! I hear yah Nauti... we get tickets for everything and they do what they want. It's like my Dad always said " do as I say... not as I do". I followed an OPP around town for awhile the other day when I was coming back from CTC in Midland, was gonna flag him down and citizen arrest him for failure to signal a couple of lane changes while he was doing 120 K on 93 between Midland and Penetang, then failure to signal about 15 turns, ..... failure to stop at a dozen stop signs thru Penetang (including 2 in front of a public school during school hours), but decided I didn't need the recourse and besides... I was right on his ass and I did exactly what he was doing to see if he would pull me over!

Edited December 3, 2007 by irishfield

[bigfish1965]

I had an officer once go through a red light with lights but no sirens and I nearly t-boned him as we both came to screeching stops. we exchanged words.

My view of him entering the intersection was blocked by a truck turning left. he yelled at me "Do you know what would have happened had you hit me?'

I said "Yeah..your sargeant and the SIU would have been pissed at you for running a red light with no $%#^ sirens and not making sure there were no cars coming through from behind the big truck"

He left after that.

Emergency vehicles do not have a supreme right of way. They do have to ensure they are not endangering anyone else, no matter what.

[nautifish]

Well i am sure had it been stolen, i would have heard it on the local radio station last night or this morning but nothing.

 

 

 

He might have been going to a call nearby like a burglary or something where pulling up with the sirens and lights going might chase off the bad guys and not give the cops a chance to nab them.

 

Even if it meant causing the death of an innocent person? I understand what ur saying but seriously i assume everyone pretty much had the same weather conditions we did last night. Its was like pea soup out there pouring with rain and very very poor visabiltiy.

 

I'm not knocking the OPP........

 

I am just gobsmacked and still gobsmacked today from witnessing what i did last night.

Edited December 3, 2007 by nautifish

[Terry]

it was coffee time and he was late...

one must set ones priorities ...

[cranks bait]

As sad as it is, yes it is legal.

 

I almost had one slam into me as I was making a left hand turn in the city. At the bottom of a hill in a fifty zone this cop comes flying over it with no light or siren doing about 80-100. Luckily I look before I turn or else there would have been some serious damage.

I was ticked. I called the police station and told them. They said it was legal, he was probably on a call for buglary so they didn't want to spook the perp. My response was, so they want to kill someone instead?

 

Now I had my ambulance licence (expired now). When I took the course it was made very clear that we did not have special powers. We have to obide by the law just like everyone else. We do not have the right of way even if our lights and sirens are going. It is just a warning that we are coming, to alert others and hope we are given the right of way. As an ambulance driver if you are in an accident at an intersection that you went through on a red light, even if your siren and lights are going, you are at fault and can be charged.

 

I do not know about the police, but I guess they do get granted special powers?

[Gerritt]

power corrupts....just ask the mods of OFC LOL!

 

Gerritt.

I love all the mods here...they are wonderful people.

Edited December 3, 2007 by Rick OBanion

[Grimace]

1 month ago I witnessed 2 york cops ( aged 25 years about ) street racing each other in 2 cop cars, they would pass each other back and forth smiling and laughing and doing 170-200 on the 407 across the top of Toronto. Makes me sick

[graftongal]

My hat's off to them for the job they do and the crap they deal with on a daily basis. I believe that they exercise sound judgement, otherwise they wouldn't have their jobs. Sure there may be some instances where wrong judgement calls are made, but I think a lot of people forget that they are human and do make mistakes. It isn't an easy job to do when you're constantly under public watch. I am pretty certain that their intentions aren't to go out and kill or hurt someone in a traffic accident. I will never judge because you never know when that person you've criticized is the one on your side to protect you or help you out.

[Kirk]

I guess if they are slow responding...then thats another thread about why their best friends Aunt Mabel had to wait 10 minutes for the cops to show up after she heard a squeak in her house.

 

Poor cops, they never know how quickly, or quick, but not so fast, to respond to a call (and better not be too slow either!!!)

[lew]

Well said Sandy !!

[Grimace]

I guess the question is, What would they do if they saw you doing that? would they ask themselves what type of crap you had to put up with that day, wonder what was going on in your life, or would they just set out to improve there stats.

 

I think very highly of our law enforcement, but on the other hand I would like them to obey the laws as well. Again I cant stress the amount of respect I have for our law enforcement they do a bang up job and at times it is thankless. I think everyone should take a look at the police association of ontario and there many efforts in the community, like the kids and cops fishing days, this is all great stuff as long as they don't drive 220 km an hour to get there

[nautifish]

My hat's off to them for the job they do and the crap they deal with on a daily basis. I believe that they exercise sound judgement, otherwise they wouldn't have their jobs. Sure there may be some instances where wrong judgement calls are made, but I think a lot of people forget that they are human and do make mistakes. It isn't an easy job to do when you're constantly under public watch. I am pretty certain that their intentions aren't to go out and kill or hurt someone in a traffic accident. I will never judge because you never know when that person you've criticized is the one on your side to protect you or help you out.

[/quote

 

Okay

 

Firstly.

This was by far a post that was not intended to bash THE OPP......It was a simple question being asked. No where have i judged or criticized i simply asked is what i saw last night legal? Because no doubt about it that OPP officor put other innocent member's of the public in danger. This same place he had to be doing 80km or more in a 40 km zone. A pedestran was killed there walking there dog NOT LONG AGO , Its a bad erea of the major highway leading onto the lift bridge that leads out of dover ON A VISABLE DAY never mind on a night in pouring rains and not being able to see whats 3 ft infront of you.

 

After seeing what i saw last night i'm sorry to say but that officor had no regard for others at all .

Edited December 3, 2007 by nautifish

[fishing n autograph]

Okay i am sure there are probably some OPP in here somewhere..

 

I have a question .

 

Last night i was heading down st andrews towards tim hortons. Now when you get to the end of st andrews st which by the way at the end sits at the bottom of the hill that then takes you onto Highway 6. Which may i add is a very busy road. This section of the road if you take a left curves to the right as you head over the lift bridge.

 

Now last night it was foggy as hell in town absolutley pouring down with rain and i mean pouring with rain. You could hardly see a thing so as i pull out to take a right turn A cop comes flying around the bend off of main over takes other cars on the other side of the road and procceds to tear ass over taking other vheicles on a curved road over a lift bridge with no lights on or sirens.

 

My question is

 

Is this even legal>?

 

I could not beleive what my eyes saw last night and i was amazed he never killed anyone by causing a head on collision.....Seriously this cop was driving like an absolute lunatic. With out any emergency lights or sirens ON to warn other drivers. And this was also in a 40KM Zone.

I was mad as hell after seeing this.

 

To answer your question is this legal?

 

Yes it is. The Highway Traffic Act allows us to drive like that in the course of our duties. However, keep in mind that in some situations driving fast w/o lights and sirens is necessary. Nothing tells a bad guy to run faster when he hears sirens in the distance. What the HTA does say is that we have to stop at all stop signs and red lights with lights on. It doesn't say what kind of stop though hehe

 

As well, always remember that no one who drives in the GTA pays attention to whats behind them and they very rarely hear sirens. I've gone to emergency calls and was stuck behind a driver with blinders for 4-5kms with lights and the most annoying siren i had and they still wouldn't move.

 

I can't vouch for the copper that was driving like that, but there may or may not have been a reason.

 

The job's tough and everyone is a critic until they need help and then they are our best friends

[Gerritt]

power corrupts....just ask the mods of OFC LOL!

 

Gerritt.

I love all the mods here...they are wonderful people.

 

 

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!

[tapout]

Thanks to FishnNAutographs for clarifying that what the officer did was LEGAL. But does that mean he should've put other people in jeopardy? Does the apprehension of a burglar supercede the life of an innocent citizen? Now I know some will say it could've been something more serious like someone got injured or worst by someone else maliciously. If that was the case then it would seem the officer, in his course of duties, had more concern for catching the perp then helping the victim if there was one. I can't see how what this officer did, according to nautifish's description of the weather at the time, was justified.

 

I am by no means bashing the force, but this officer in my opinion had put the public in danger and not lived up to the " To Serve and Protect" motto...the "Protect" part being cited here.

 

Yes we all make mistakes, even police officers. But when we, as civilians make mistakes we have to pay for them. I believe if an officer made a bad judgement call, such as the topic and situation of nautifish's rant, then I believe he should be accountable and be punished the same as all of us, if something serious had happened. Obviously he can't be charged with dangerous driving because the Law permits him to do so in the "line of his duties" .

 

We live in a country that purports itself as a land where ALL people are equal.Last time I checked a police officer was a person.

 

One more thing , the stop sign comment from FishnNAutographs stating the HTA doesn't specify what kind of stop? I assume you are refering to a "rolling stop" where you don't actually stop. I know someone who had gotten a ticket for doing that so to me that also shows that the police recognize a "rolling stop" as a dangerous and ticketable offense. Even though its legal doesn't make it right.

 

 

Thats my opinion and probably not even worth 2cents.

 

Tony.

Edited December 3, 2007 by tapout

[fishing n autograph]

"I believe he should be accountable and be punished the same as all of us, if something serious had happened. Obviously he can't be charged with dangerous driving because the Law permits him to do so in the "line of his duties" .

 

 

yes he would be if something serious had happened, and it was his fault on top of that, he would be charged under the Police Services Act and would probably lose a rank and up to as much as 150 hours of pay all of his vacation, not including his sick time......and in some cases where a life was lost in a collision there have been times were the officer had been so grief striken and guilty and committed suicide

Edited December 3, 2007 by FishnNAutographs

[fishing n autograph]

One more thing , the stop sign comment from FishnNAutographs stating the HTA doesn't specify what kind of stop? I assume you are refering to a "rolling stop" where you don't actually stop. I know someone who had gotten a ticket for doing that so to me that also shows that the police recognize a "rolling stop" as a dangerous and ticketable offense. Even though its legal doesn't make it right.

Thats my opinion and probably not even worth 2cents.

 

Tony.

 

i was kidding, we have to stop

[tapout]

I agree FishnNAutographs,

 

lets stop. lol. I haven't given much of an opinion on anything these days.

 

In my opinion we should all have a G2G sometime in January up on simcoe/cooks bay?

 

What do you think? Someone interested in starting that thread?

 

Tony.

[Weeds]

You can't blame the police officers. It's part of the police package that they disconnect the signals at the factory. Saves money on bulbs.

[lew]

Police cars, ambulances and fire trucks are allowed certain leeways when responding to emergency calls, but must still basically adhere to the rules of the road. Their permitted to go thru red lights & stop signs but must 1st come to a full stop and then proceed with caution once they've determined that all traffic has stopped for them. If there is an accident caused by the emergency vehicle hitting a car coming thru a green light, the driver of the emergency vehicle can be charged.

 

It's the same as speeding, it's permitted, but only when the traffic conditions warrant it.

 

Back in the day, people respected emergency vehicles and what they represented, and would ALWAYS clear a path to allow them thru, but times have changed drastically over the years and now sirens and red lights are basically ignored by many drivers.

 

I saw a huge change in drivers attitude over 3 + decades of driving emergency vehicles thru city streets, but that's another story.....

 

Nautifish, if you have a complaint against the officer driving that car, your most certainly allowed to lodge a complaint with the Police Dept. and I'm sure you'll get the answer your looking for.

 

Trouble is though, when people see a police car speeding, they complain he's going too fast, but if they find someone breaking into their own home and call police for help, they complain cause it took too long for the police to arrive.

 

When folks get caught in a speed trap, they complain that the coppers are picking on them, but when they get hit by a speeding car, they ask why aren't the police cracking down on speeders.

 

Every one of us has coffee breaks at work, but when the police stop at Timmies for a break, everone calls them lazy bums and asks why aren't they out catching the bad guys.

 

Coppers are damned if they do.........and then their damned if they don't.

 

Just my dimes worth.

[Headhunter]

Yup, just as Lew said it! I find myself having to restrain myself when I see the flashing lights in the background and people RACING to get AHEAD OF THEM! It's usually at that time that I hope it's their family member they are putting in jeopary vs some poor sap who needs emergency help!

We live in a very me me me world and unfortunately it's only getting worse!

HH

[pikehunter]

always remember that no one who drives in the GTA pays attention to whats behind them and they very rarely hear sirens.

 

I beg to differ. I have seen it a couple of times when a driver was slow pulling over to give right of way but here in Hamilton and Burlington drivers could perhaps be a little more conscientious?