blue light driving

[Guest]

Forget blue light training. A course in spelling and grammar might not be amiss. Can we be truly confident that some of the contributors can read and understand the Highway Code, Road Traffic Act, Fire Services Act or even road signage given the lack of basic literacy skills demonstated herein.
As for the individual 'racing' to the coastguard station. Get a grip. I feel a more accurate statement would be to say you were 'responding'. Otherwise if you truly do race you are in reality making the case against blue lights for non-qualified emergency services personnel.

[Guest]

STEADY ON!

This is an imformal chat room and there is no need to get personal about other people.

The guest who rather cowardly didn't leave his name is certainly one to talk. Perhaps he should look at his own grammar before criticising other peoples.

I remind everyone that this is meant to be a friendly informal pleasant site

[Guest]

Perhaps the idiot who chooses to criticise and judge someone because of their ability to spell would tell us what he does for a living.
I think any fool could see it was just a throw away nasty comment.
Someone's spelling doesnt affect their ability to drive with or without blue lights
Is this person a policeman I wonder??
 I think the coastguard used the word "raced" tongue in cheek.
Shame some people dont grw up on here isn't it.

[Guest]

Guest above is a serving LA wt Ff who has spent 8 of his 15 years on a day staffing station where he has both responded to shouts on an alerter using his own vehicle and witnessed the lunacy of other Ffs who do the same. Never mind saving lives they have been lucky not to take some.
My own experience suggests that the desire for blues come from only the retained side of the service. I have never, ever heard a wt day staffing member seeking to have flashers and nee-naws on their own private vehicle, even when responding from their home address.
Bravado and Machismo were the names of 2 Ffs who instigated a similar debate on the subject on a station i once served on.

[Giovanni]

"Flashers and nee-naws"?
Are these the same as blues and twos?
Perhaps the "Guest" comes from an area where flasher means something different.
Or is he just auditioning for C-Beebies!
Gio.

[Guest]

I use the terms 'flashers' and 'nee naws' to reflect the childlike desire of some to look flash in their privately owned DIY emergency vehicle.
As for 'blues and twos' this is no better than 'flashers' and 'nee naws'. The correct terminology should in fact be 'visual and audible warning devices' and to be fully beneficial they should be used on vehicles with sufficient and suitable high conspicuity vehicle markings.
I prefer to leave the sad emergency service slang as the preseve of those who lack the knowledge or expertise to use the correct and more more professional technical expressions.
And, i never knew it could still be this easy to wind some individuals up on this forum.  :lol:  :lol:

[Giovanni]

Touchy, Touchy! Who is it that's getting wound up?

Perhaps if you didn't hide behind your anonymous 'guest tag', knowledge and expertise could indeed stand comparison.

Conspicuity!!!??? (you're making this up!)

I rest my case M'Lord.
Gio.

[Guest]

Oh yeah great wind up that was mate.

Absolutely hilarious.


Some sad people around isnt there.

Retained emergency services officers do not make it there ambition to get neee naws, blues or toes, flashers, sirens, audible and visual warnings etc,they are not sad individuals who only joint the service to wear a uniform or pose, they are commited members of the community whom give up their time to save life.

So I think as we have shown "Mr Guest" you are well outnumbered here as being an Idiot.

Grow up please or find another chatroom to terrorise.

[Guest]

Outnumbered on this forum yes. Outnumbered in the real world no. But never mind, the fact that it will have to be a month of Sundays before you ever get your toys means i shall continue to be entirely satisfied with my lot while you whinge about your inability to race to the station like Starsky & Hutch. Concentrate on addressing the major issues facing the retained service such as IRMP & IPDS  and put this old chestnut to bed.
I shall no longer be referred to as the anonymous guest but by my new alias.
Oh, by the way when the new world order comes into force and attendance times go out the window there will be no legal requirement to 'race'. Or, are we advocating that 15 retained fireys can break the speed limit simply in order to attend run of the mill non-life threatening 1 pump incidents under the guise of responding to an emergency. What actually constitutes an emergency?
90% of what you attend will be non-life threatening and you can not modify your driving style to suit the nature of the incident as you won't know the nature of the incident until you arrive on station and view the turnout information.
How many lives have been lost due to deficiencies in the current system, put this against the potential for lives to be lost by the element of over zealous FS personnel exceeding the speed limit in built up areas.
A risk assessment by your employer would state that there is no justification for blue lights on your cars as the gain will never outweigh the risk.

[Guest]

ps One mans terrorist is anothers freedom fighter. Hence the alias. The Z fights for justice, freedom of speech and the right to remain anonymous.

[Guest]

Hi "Zorro"

I dont quite understand your argument really.

I think you need to re-assess some of your comments. Whilst we can't allow people to have blue lights just for the sake of having then, some retained personnel would be able to provide a much more rapid response with blue lights on their vehicles.

I think its a sad state of affairs to label all retained firefighters as blue      light freaks whomjust want them to pose with.

As one person said here, blue light use is approved by the local police.

They stipulate that an untrained driver can only travel 10mph higher than the speed limit. In some case they may also insist that the driver undergoes advanced driver training with the IAM.

Firstly speed is of the essence when responding to an emergency.

Secondly you ask "What is a life threatening emergency?" The answer is "pass", "I dont know", because we can never 100% be sure until we get to the incident if anyone is at risk regardless of what information is gleened by control staff during the initial 999 call, as you well know.

Thirdly someone's house is burning down, no persos are reported,but we take our time getting there and as a result half the house has been burned down. The occupants are extremely angry that we didnt save their property.Brilliant!

Somewhere down the line you have been disillusioned by the work of the retties and part timers, and I don't know why, but you rather under estimate their value and I think thats very sad.

There is always an element of risk when responding to an emergency either at speed or under normal conditions, but control measures can be put in place to greatly reduce that risk.

We are not saying ALL retained firefighters need blue lights, just those where because of traffic or remoteness of an area firefighters can man the engine quicker and respond in good time.



The subject of this debate

[Guest]

In my Brigade retained firefighters are authorised to use Blue Lights when making for the station.

The purpose of them having blue lights is not for them to race about but simply to clear traffic out of the way during periods of heavy traffic such as rush hour for example. This allows them to continue at normal road speed without encountering obstruction.

I know one of the officers from that staion very well indeed. He sums it upo in a nutshell -firefighters are their to save lives, not kill them, therefore you will find any blue light user will drive with extra care when using them on a highway.

Nobody wants the death of another human being on their conscience and I think Zorro should have more faith in our emergency personnel in being reponsible enough to use blue lights properly.

[Giovanni]

Graham & Crazy SO
Well put but I fear your wise words will be wasted on the still 'anonymous' Zorro whom it appears has no logical argument and merely wants to knock the retained. The area covered by Strathclyde Fire Brigade for example could not be met unless retained units were employed, many of which come into the larger towns to assist wholetime and in essence can face the same hazards.

Zorro?
Freedom Fighter? Right to remain anonymous? Good to see you have the courage of your convictions. :?
Disney must have a bulletin board that would be right up your street!
Gio.  :lol:

[Guest]

Can only speak from the experience of having been overtaken on a blind bend in a 30 limit by a retained Ff who was in all honesty known for racing to get a turnout as opposed to an attendance. He was one of 3 in a retained establishment of 12 known for his shall we say' bold and aggressive' style. Not scientific but indicative of some of the real issues affecting some but not all retained personnel. Ironically we were both responding to the same shout and we both got the turnout.

[Guest]

bit of a generalisation I feel though wouldn't you say Zorro?

Next you will be telling us that all Policemen are corrupt, that a certain race of people whom follow a certain religion are all terrorists etc etc

You always get the odd few who let the side down but speaking from experience myself I would argue that most if not 99.9% of all retained firefighters are responsible law obiding people fully equipped to deal with hazardous situations which includes driving to the station with or without the use of blue lights