WA Radio Scanner Users' Group

donks wrote: my oppinion is that if you cant see an emergency vehicle when its lights are operated, regardless if the boot is open or closed.. you are NOT paying enough attention and should not be driving on the road?!

Not always the case, emergency vehicles may not always be seen easily in traffic, specially when they come from behind, newer cars have better sound proofing, people are listing to music, for this reason that emergency vehicle drivers are taught to negotiate traffic as if they haven't been seen, also undercover cop cars responding are really really bad for visibility.

what i was refering to is that when the boot is open (car is stopped, not driving) the boot does in fact cover the light bar. Particularly at crashes when officers are in and out of the boot getting cones, paint etc, it can become a hazard. A few LEDs installed in the boot could fix this. Sometimes it's left open for convenience etc. As for the markings the hwp markings were far better for traffic cars, not only as a visual deterent but for general visibility...

You should be doing a mirror check every 3 to 7 seconds... sound proofing is NO excuse!!!

singkenten wrote:You should be doing a mirror check every 3 to 7 seconds... sound proofing is NO excuse!!!

my words EXACTLY!... a good driver is always aware of their surroundings...

diggity wrote:what i was refering to is that when the boot is open (car is stopped, not driving) the boot does in fact cover the light bar. Particularly at crashes when officers are in and out of the boot getting cones, paint etc, it can become a hazard. A few LEDs installed in the boot could fix this. Sometimes it's left open for convenience etc. As for the markings the hwp markings were far better for traffic cars, not only as a visual deterent but for general visibility...

try telling that to the government mate.. they TOOK AWAY all the fancy signage due to budget cuts, cant see them spending money on more lights that arent really neccessary...

donks wrote:

singkenten wrote:You should be doing a mirror check every 3 to 7 seconds... sound proofing is NO excuse!!!

my words EXACTLY!... a good driver is always aware of their surroundings...

This is WA...a place where the big red Octagonal signs at the end of the road are optional...or at least so I found out when I got knocked off my bike from behind by a car...If the driver was aware of their surroundings they'd have seen the big red sign and known that i needed to stop and then they needed to stop.
Same goes with the give way sign and the driver thinking she had right of way when I was turning under direction of lights and she was at a give way. I know it's not true of all people but I think sometimes the safest person behind a wheel is a motorcyclist.

Tyranus wrote:I know it's not true of all people but I think sometimes the safest person behind a wheel is a motorcyclist.

I'd say the ratio of idiots to safe drivers is pretty much the same for motorcycles, cars and trucks. I'd rate bus drivers as the safest on the road. Mind you I almost got wiped out by a TP bus running a giveway sign once.

singkenten wrote:You should be doing a mirror check every 3 to 7 seconds... sound proofing is NO excuse!!!

True but how often do you do this??

In any case we are talking about the visibility of vehicles at a scene like a MVA where the officer may have his boot raised for getting cones out or other devices.

Tyranus wrote:I know it's not true of all people but I think sometimes the safest person behind a wheel is a motorcyclist.

I would disagree the amount of bikers that put them self in danger by:

Weaving in and out of traffic with out indicating
Doing excessive speeds

AO11912 wrote:

Tyranus wrote:I know it's not true of all people but I think sometimes the safest person behind a wheel is a motorcyclist.

I would disagree the amount of bikers that put them self in danger by:

Weaving in and out of traffic with out indicating
Doing excessive speeds

I disagree. Not all bikers become traffic dangers on the roads, it's the cars/trucks that cause mayhem for them. It's only the majority that put themselves and others in danger. The rest of the bikers are actually responsible.

Talk to a SJA Team Leader to get the real statistics on Car v Motorbike - and you'll hear how many times cars have actually cut off a motorbikes at various incidents.

G

I think we've got a bit offtopic for this thread