WA Radio Scanner Users' Group

Went shopping in the City this arvo and had my camera with me.

Spotted this VY parked out the front on Kings Hotel, which caught my eye.

Some loser has gone out and bought a deck-blaster mounted it on the front of his windscreen and fitted 2 aerials on the read window to make it look like a Delta car.



I know deck-blaster can obviously be bought over the internet, but is this a bit dodgy?

I think the real boys in blue might need to have a chat in someones ear..

Any thoughts fellas??

Could be lots of legit reasons to have a car set up like this - just 'coz it looks like a Police unmarked car, doesn't mean that was the intention (or even that it isnt??)

As an example, alot of FESA's staff and even some volunteers have unmarked vehicles and do have authority to display red/blue lights.

Could you tell what colour the deck blaster is? They do come in other colours besides red & blue y'know!

Being just up the road from both FESA House and the Central Law Courts, I probably wouldn't have thought too much of it, certainly wouldn't have called the owner/driver a loser unless they said "I'm just trying to make my car look like a cop car"!

Fair call.

Do FESA vollies have the authority to have emergency lights fitted to their own private vehicles?

Maybe me calling the owner/driver a loser was a bit extreme but I've been around quite a few years now and it just didn't look right.

It's not a Goverment car for starters..

do you have anymore photos of the car?

was there a yellow card on the dash?
what month does the C of R sticker expire?

Tom wrote:Fair call.

Do FESA vollies have the authority to have emergency lights fitted to their own private vehicles?

Maybe me calling the owner/driver a loser was a bit extreme but I've been around quite a few years now and it just didn't look right.

It's not a Goverment car for starters..

None of the FESA vehicles have govt plates though..

Some FESA vollies do have the authority - for the most part, volunteer chiefs or deputy chiefs although that approval needs to come from the Director General of Transport through FESA I believe.

Theres a document floating about somewhere on vehicle standards and warning devices that discusses all the processes. Will see if I can find it.

Nah no yellow parking permit on the dash, that's what gave it away.

All the other 'genuine' unmarks parked there did have. No permit on the dash whatsoever, not even a City of Perth one.

And it was parked there for a hell of a lot longer than 5 minutes more like 1+ hours that we were in the City.

that aint a cop car for sure.

Did you get close enough for a look inside Tom? Im guessing you did and you saw no radios or screen or other of the usual stuff huh?? Wierd.
I swear this car is the same one that followed me up Wellard road late last week with two uniformed bods on board...it just looked a little out of the ordinary and as such I remember having a long look at it as it went past... the Mandurah Toyota plate surround and Reece hitch rings bells with me for sure.

Tom wrote:Fair call.

Do FESA vollies have the authority to have emergency lights fitted to their own private vehicles?

Maybe me calling the owner/driver a loser was a bit extreme but I've been around quite a few years now and it just didn't look right.

It's not a Goverment car for starters..

I was under the impression that NO emergency lights may be fitted to any volunteer vehicle. However after reading "Warning Lamps: A guide for installation and operation" issued by the DPI (lic_vsb13.pdf) I found that...

Red, Blue, White
Priority One Emergency
Combinations of red, blue and white flashing lamps
may only be fitted to vehicles that regularly attend
life threatening and serious property damage
emergencies.

Vehicles typically in this category are Police vehicles,
Ambulances, Operational Fire Brigade or Bush Fire
Brigade vehicles, Blood/Organ courier vehicles, and
certain Army and State Emergency Service
vehicles. The lamps shall only be activated when
the vehicle is attending an emergency.
Priority One vehicles shall normally have the flashing
lamp system supplemented with a high volume siren
or horn auditory warning system.

Here's the important bit in this case...

Specific written authorisation is required for vehicles
not specifically authorised in the Road Traffic Code
or the Road Traffic (Vehicle Standards) Regulations.
The Department will assess applications for
authorisation on an individual basis. Suitable driver
training is required in all cases. Fire and Emergency
Services Authority (FESA) endorsement is required
if authorisation is sought for a fire fighting vehicle
that is not owned or specifically designated as a
primary response vehicle of that authority.

Vehicles used in this category will usually provide
active response that may involve high speed and
continual contravention of the normal road rules (at
times at increased risk) under special emergency
exemption provisions, provided by the Road Traffic
Code 2000, during the period of operation.

That's just for Priority 1 vehicles... there's another 3 priority classes. I've put a link for the document here.

Thanks Wes. Thats the document I was talking about further up.

All the FESA manager vehicles and local govt vehicles with red/blue fall under that category too, as they are not really 'primary response'.

If it was a newer VZ Commodore with a deck-blaster, I wouldn't of given it a second glance.

I thought it was a bit suss by the way the car has had new plates issued, the pin-striping down the side, the cheap and nasty Khumo tyres and the Toyota number-plate surround.....No parking permit.

It's def. not a police vehicle, it's not even a factory police-pack 914 Commodore that the various goverment agencies are issued with in Aust.

Didn't have a peek inside Always RX.

Yeah maybe the guy has 2 mobile phone car-kits but what's with the deckblaster?

Parking for over an hour in a five minute bay.....illegal hell yeah....throw the book at them.

These days its hard to keep track of who the Director has granted approval to and who hasn't.

This one would have follow up inquiries for sure.

Walks.

if we look at the 2nd picture i notice (zoom up). where is the cords to the lights? deck blaster? that gotta b brought from ebay for sure.....

Hm681 wrote:if we look at the 2nd picture i notice (zoom up). where is the cords to the lights? deck blaster? that gotta b brought from ebay for sure.....

If they're installed properly, you wont have any wiring heading down the dash into the cigarette lighter.

As I did say earlier though.. are they even red/blue ?

I used to know a guy who did his car up like a cop car to do things just like this.......
I really really &*%#'s me, so I say dob em in.
How would you actually go about doing that I wonder?????