First experience .. Vic law regarding passing emergency vehicle

[EDManual]

Originally Posted by Syndrome

Could it be the four policemen killed on a Melbourne freeway this afternoon was because people were panic breaking to get under 40 km/hr thus causing the accident?

https://www.news.com.au/national/vic...9ab13847d924ae

Absolutely to blame I'd say. (guess we dont know yet..)

Imagine this :

2 trucks in left lane doing 100kmh not too far apart, some cars brake, then the first truck brakes a bit hard, then the 2nd CANNOT see to the left why this is, so does an emergency braking swerve into the EMERGENCY lane to avoid to come across 2 police cars. No wonder the poor trucky had a Heart Attack after he saw what he had don.

Sad all round.

Pulling someone over for speeding is not an emergency. Shouldnt be used for any reason but to have as an emergency lane, ie to swerve into...

RIP to these Police. :-(

[Tickford.]

Speaking to someone who was there when it happened, that is exactly what happened.

He has given a statement to the police.

But have you noticed none of the news, nor the Police statements being made, are mentioning this fact as a probable cause?

[Syndrome]

Originally Posted by Raptor

Dumbest rule ever IMHO

Hopefully it gets revoked or at least changed.

[XR Martin]

Originally Posted by EDManual

Absolutely to blame I'd say. (guess we dont know yet..)

Imagine this :

2 trucks in left lane doing 100kmh not too far apart, some cars brake, then the first truck brakes a bit hard, then the 2nd CANNOT see to the left why this is, so does an emergency braking swerve into the EMERGENCY lane to avoid to come across 2 police cars. No wonder the poor trucky had a Heart Attack after he saw what he had don.

Sad all round.

Pulling someone over for speeding is not an emergency. Shouldnt be used for any reason but to have as an emergency lane, ie to swerve into...

RIP to these Police. :-(

Car was speeding excessively.
Dashcam showing it passing cars in the left lane doing probably 200kmh.

[Romulus]

Originally Posted by Tickford.

Speaking to someone who was there when it happened, that is exactly what happened.

He has given a statement to the police.

But have you noticed none of the news, nor the Police statements being made, are mentioning this fact as a probable cause?

The truck driver should have kept quiet. Rule #1, never talk to the Police without a lawyer present. If the Porsche wasnt stolen I'd say the best thing the owner can do is seek legal representation. They're going to need it!

[Romulus]

Originally Posted by XR Martin

Car was speeding excessively.
Dashcam showing it passing cars in the left lane doing probably 200kmh.

Where's the dashcam footage?

[EDManual]

Originally Posted by XR Martin

Car was speeding excessively.
Dashcam showing it passing cars in the left lane doing probably 200kmh.

yes, they say it was being impounded, and when a car is being impounded the police have an extra car to provide "back up"

Still, could have waved him to leave the highway at the next exit for example? No need to use an emergency lane for a Non emergency.

Perhaps the driver of the Porsche should have thought to do that himself.

[JasonACT]

I doubt 200k's in the left lane is realistic for overtaking, given people in the right lane were there for a reason, but that's my opinion based on the two times my idiot mates have taken me for a ride I didn't really want to take. Maybe the Porsche is that much better handling wise, but any left/right movement is mental at that speed.

I've also been called to walk up 30m for a breath test (when parking at my work, when I went in for an late afternoon emergency I needed to fix) when the cops were near my building and saw me park without driving past where they were testing. The young cop called a busload (seriously, a bus load of them came by!) of his work mates to drive up to us - before he took the reading. 0. He kept saying "very suspicious" except, that's where I work you effwit.

My last speeding fine, 6 years ago, in a 100 zone. The cop standing a foot into the left lane and me thinking - do you want to talk to me from the passenger side maybe? Oh, do whatever you want, yes sir, no sir...

I have no doubt these guys felt no pain, sad to say I know, but they aren't thinking clearly from the endorphins they had running through the minds when they had just decided they now own a Porsche. It is really sad, they need to smarten up though.

[GO FURTHER]

Originally Posted by Romulus

Where's the dashcam footage?

The dash cam footage was posted in Twitter earlier this evening.
I saw the footage, and yes, it looked like the Porsche was doing 200Km/hr.

Unfortunately, the footage has been taken down.

[zipping]

Originally Posted by Tickford.

Speaking to someone who was there when it happened, that is exactly what happened.

He has given a statement to the police.

But have you noticed none of the news, nor the Police statements being made, are mentioning this fact as a probable cause?

Considering how close the incident is to the on-ramp, that I find a difficult one to navigate and I use it a lot, it's entirely possible that a merging car has cut-off the truck or got entangled with it unexpectedly somehow causing the accident. If the truck was the merging vehicle then driver has stuffed up big time.

If a car suddenly stopped to 40km/h surely the truck driver veers to the right away from the stationary flashing lights of the police cars and takes its chances in the middle of the road.

The Porsche driver leaving the scene is real odd, he was either in the car and nearly crushed, or out of it and not standing with the police you would assume.

[XR Martin]

9 news showed the dash cam footage late on Wednesday.

[JasonACT]

10:37pm - since I happen to record all the prime (and a lot of secondary) TV channels on a loop for the past 4 weeks.

Thanks.

It was going fast. It probably was close to 200.

[JasonACT]

Image:

[roddy1960]

Really sad for the families of the police and police community ...I found it hard to believe when I saw the late news last night..

Whatever the circumstances ...lives lost . ..Terrible .

[Polyal]

How the hell did the dash cam footage get released! No one other than the investigators have the right to be viewing that at the moment.

RIP to the officers.

Trying no to jump to conclusions but why would the bloke run if he owned the car. And what kind of person runs when 4 others have just been mowed down in front of them.

[csv8]

Not in Queensland. Thank goodness Qld doesnt have it. I hope the tragic deaths of the 4 Police Officers , isn't as a result of this law. Condolences to the families of the 4 Officers.
Apparently, the Porsche was owned by Lorbek Luxury Cars?

[GO FURTHER]

Originally Posted by zipping

The Porsche driver leaving the scene is real odd, he was either in the car and nearly crushed, or out of it and not standing with the police you would assume.

Some news reports say the driver of the Porsche was a known criminal, so that is why he fled the scene.

Maybe the car was stolen?

The reports say, when the first two cops pulled over the driver, and identified him as a criminal, that is when they called for backup, and the other two cops arrived on the scene.

I don't think a normal speeding driver or owner, would have fled the scene.
I mean the car has your rego number... They know who you are...
How far before they track you down anyway?

[Smoke Pursuit]

That dash cam footage was from about a month ago. Same vehicle tho.

[FoxtrotGolfXray 5.0]

Wow. So much jumping to conclusions already in this thread. Glad you guys don't do investigations for a living.

Rather than focusing on whether the law was to blame, how about we focus on four lives lost simply because they were doing their duty? Surely that should be the focus of our attention so early in the episode.

Let the investigators do their job, drawing conclusion based on evidence as much as possible. Then we can determine whether the law was a cause or not once the evidence has been analysed.

[GO FURTHER]

Originally Posted by FoxtrotGolfXray 5.0

Wow. So much jumping to conclusions already in this thread. Glad you guys don't do investigations for a living.

Well, whether the driver of the Porsche was speeding or not, or if it was just a routine pullover, he is still guilty of a crime.

His car was involved in an accident, being crushed under the truck.

It is an offence to leave the scene of a motor accident, especially were people are injured or killed, and not try to render assistance.

[FoxtrotGolfXray 5.0]

Originally Posted by GO FURTHER

Well, whether the driver of the Porsche was speeding or not, or if it was just a routine pullover, he is still guilty of a crime.

His car was involved in an accident, being crushed under the truck.

It is an offence to leave the scene of a motor accident, especially were people are injured or killed, and not try to render assistance.

Hey GoFurther, my comment was directed at the conclusion that the speed laws were the cause of the accident, not the reasons as to why the driver took off.

[Citroënbender]

Undoubtedly, some of the present discussion refers to matters which will soon enough become sub judice at a court level exceeding that in the case of keying a parked car.

[Romulus]

Originally Posted by Smoke Pursuit

That dash cam footage was from about a month ago. Same vehicle tho.

Whoopsy, that's a bit inconvenient then isn't it.

As for how the dashcam footage is released? Anyone with dashcam footage can post it on Facebook, Twitter, Liveleak or any platform.

[Polyal]

Originally Posted by Romulus

Whoopsy, that's a bit inconvenient then isn't it.

As for how the dashcam footage is released? Anyone with dashcam footage can post it on Facebook, Twitter, Liveleak or any platform.

Ah so it wasnt from the truck then?

[Vesper Martini]

Originally Posted by FoxtrotGolfXray 5.0

Hey GoFurther, my comment was directed at the conclusion that the speed laws were the cause of the accident, not the reasons as to why the driver took off.

So the truck just drove into the emergency lane for no other reason?
have you every encountered this 40kph law on a freeway? everyone has to slam on their bakes, now imagine doing that in a Truck.

[Polyal]

Originally Posted by Bevsta007

So the truck just drove into the emergency lane for no other reason?
have you every encountered this 40kph law on a freeway? everyone has to slam on their bakes, now imagine doing that in a Truck.

Take it the Police dont put out triangles or warning prior?

[Vesper Martini]

Originally Posted by chevypower

Surely on a divided road like a freeway, everyone wouldn’t have to slow down, just clear the lane where the cop car is stopped? On an undivided road it makes sense.

Here in Melbourne, even before they brought in the 40kph law we have rubberneckers that have to slow and have a look on the other side of a freeway with little concern of whats behind them.

Ive followed many cars where their central mirror is positioned to look back at themselves..

[Vesper Martini]

Originally Posted by Polyal

Take it the Police dont put out triangles or warning prior?

not normally in a pullover situation, but from what I read there wasn't time to do that anyway

[prydey]

Originally Posted by Bevsta007

So the truck just drove into the emergency lane for no other reason?
have you every encountered this 40kph law on a freeway? everyone has to slam on their bakes, now imagine doing that in a Truck.

The real cause is driving standards, not the laws. I'm not familiar with the stretch of road where it happened but unless it was over the crest of a rise, blue and reds can be seen some distance away. It's not difficult to slow down when you first see them. I've had to do it numerous times in 100 zones.

In a 100 zone you should have approx 60 - 80 metres between vehicles as a safe following distance. That's about 3 seconds and gives you time to react. It's very simple and controlled by the driver of each vehicle.

About time the law clamped down on following distances.

This is very traffic incident and one the laws were trying to stop. Paint whatever picture you like but these police officers were just trying to do their job.

[Vesper Martini]

Originally Posted by prydey

The real cause is driving standards, not the laws. I'm not familiar with the stretch of road where it happened but unless it was over the crest of a rise, blue and reds can be seen some distance away. It's not difficult to slow down when you first see them. I've had to do it numerous times in 100 zones.

In a 100 zone you should have approx 60 - 80 metres between vehicles as a safe following distance. That's about 3 seconds and gives you time to react. It's very simple and controlled by the driver of each vehicle.

About time the law clamped down on following distances.

This is very traffic incident and one the laws were trying to stop. Paint whatever picture you like but these police officers were just trying to do their job.

I have no doubt following distance is a huge factor, from the above posts the Truck was behind another Truck, and I don't see where I suggested these poor cops were doing anything wrong.. why would you get that idea?