First experience .. Vic law regarding passing emergency vehicle

[prydey]

Originally Posted by Romulus

One must wonder how the legislation has allowed the creation of a situation now demonstrated to be so dangerous. I doubt the policy makers risk assessed the situation enough for both;

• The 40km/h speed limit near emergency vehicles on high density, high speed main arterial roads
• The impounding of vehicles on such roads

There really isn't enough justification to impound a vehicle on the road side, why not ask the vehicle owner to surrender the vehicle such as what is required in rural WA where roadside vehicle impounding isn't practical.

As for Pusey allegedly being charged for destruction of evidence, that's a joke, they're his phones, he can do what he wants with them. I bet there's a lot of soul searching and internal reviews going on within VicPol as to how the deaths of the 4 officers could have been prevented and who's responsible for this occurring. It's not the truck driver or the Porsche driver who created this dangerous work environment.

where is the evidence the law played a role? that is speculation at this point.

also, if it was caused by sudden slowing, is it really the law at fault or driving standards?

I know this has been discussed ad nauseum when the laws came in to effect but the emergency services have a right to a safe work place, just like everyone else. I believe it should include all roadside workers and some states have included orange lights however that is a separate discussion.

on approach to an incident it is not possible for the traffic to be able to determine what type of 'incident' is taking place, so its impossible to create legislation that says to only slow for paramedics for eg. The only way is to create a blanket rule for all situations involving flashing blue and reds.

yes, there are 'some' situations where visibility will be compromised however this could also come back to driving standards if people are not adjusting their driving to the 'conditions'.

I'm well aware of the reality and that the driving culture has made it seem 'normal' do drive in the manner many do but why should that absolve them from the fact that they are driving irresponsibly? the 'everyone else is doing it' excuse is right out of the primary school excuse book. you can argue time constraints or other 'pressures' but these just don't stack up. The time difference between tailgating and not tailgating would be miniscule over a journey.

these comments are not aimed directly at the incident in question but the law the thread is referring to.

as for the incident, its called an 'emergency stopping lane'. you should always expect there to be a possible stopped vehicle in that lane. blaming the police for being there is just hating on the police. They were doing their job. A driver speeding and on drugs is a danger to other road users.

[Romulus]

Originally Posted by prydey

where is the evidence the law played a role? that is speculation at this point.

also, if it was caused by sudden slowing, is it really the law at fault or driving standards?

I know this has been discussed ad nauseum when the laws came in to effect but the emergency services have a right to a safe work place, just like everyone else. I believe it should include all roadside workers and some states have included orange lights however that is a separate discussion.

on approach to an incident it is not possible for the traffic to be able to determine what type of 'incident' is taking place, so its impossible to create legislation that says to only slow for paramedics for eg. The only way is to create a blanket rule for all situations involving flashing blue and reds.

yes, there are 'some' situations where visibility will be compromised however this could also come back to driving standards if people are not adjusting their driving to the 'conditions'.

I'm well aware of the reality and that the driving culture has made it seem 'normal' do drive in the manner many do but why should that absolve them from the fact that they are driving irresponsibly? the 'everyone else is doing it' excuse is right out of the primary school excuse book. you can argue time constraints or other 'pressures' but these just don't stack up. The time difference between tailgating and not tailgating would be miniscule over a journey.

these comments are not aimed directly at the incident in question but the law the thread is referring to.

as for the incident, its called an 'emergency stopping lane'. you should always expect there to be a possible stopped vehicle in that lane. blaming the police for being there is just hating on the police. They were doing their job. A driver speeding and on drugs is a danger to other road users.

It's patently clear you don't carry out risk assessments.