3:51 That's the sort of thing I'm trying to teach my rather unobservant daughter to look out for, reflections in windows, between gaps, always being aware of what is around her. It's a work in progress 😁
This viewpoint gives a greater understanding on how to decide what is the best way to approach the ever changing situation that you are coming at speed on trying to get to your destination as quickly and safely as possible.
"Spotted through gap under van" or "Spideysense"? 😀 Amazing as always. And to the black SUV on the Hitchin Library roundabout: Have a word with yourself...
Seeing that oncoming Car beneath the Van showed great awareness on your part Chris, damn exceptional driving, keep up the great work you do, as always, Drive Safe, Stay Safe.
I have been retired for 15years plus but haven driven on blues and twos very many times, it is the same problem other road users simply freeze when they hear or see an emergency vehicle approaching. The answer is straightforward be aware of emergency vehicle signal to the left and pull over when road conditions allow. Perfect example was the dark Volvo that dithered and Chris held his hands in the air! Great video Chris regards Crawford
Hi Chris. Another great video which I find fascinating and informative. It shows how not to panic when an emergency vehicle is behind you and how to keep moving and not stop in dangerous blind spots as did the Volvo driver. His/her only excuse could be the low visibility of your new car! Admittedly it had strobes and wailers going but in rear view mirror close up, is it possible they didn't realise it was your car with sirens blazing? Would be interested to know if you encounter more incidents like this since changing vehicle? Keep up the excellent work. We all appreciate what you do and all emergency staff do 👍🚑🚓🚒
I’m always in awe of the skill and professionalism of the driving. I honestly don’t know how you deal with some of the conditions like direct sunlight and all the myriad elements involved.
Blue Light emergency response driving teaches you that there are two sorts of drivers out there firstly the one's who when they see or hear you will do everything they can to make your progress easier and then there are the driver's who do the opposite and stop in stupid places but the DTU train you for this
Some nasty narrow open road stuff there in the nationals. Excellent spot under the van. Really frustrating when traffic is so heavy you don't even get to a speed where you have to consider limit points. Great video as always, sir.
Is it purely a coincidence that most of your videos start with the same route? It gives the impression you'd be better off stationed 4 miles up the road.
Great footage to see, I have so much respect for anyone who can drive in that manner and not let frustration with motorists get in the way. Some of the illogical places people pull over when they know emergency traffic is coming through really does boggle the mind.
Holding back until it's safe and you have a path 👍 I love under vehicle views. Wondering what's the most useful trick afayc ? Ouchy... light, dark, light, dark through the trees. Feckin Summer 😉 The siren radio mute worked well.
Heiliger Bimbam. Bei euch möchte ich auch kein Blaulichtfahrer sein!! Da fahren ja alle auf der falschen Straßenseite!!!! 😉🤣🤣😂🤣 Schönes Video. Danke dafür.
It always makes me wonder why some stop in the corner. Especially with large vehicle you don't see around it is the worst place ever to get over. Why not stop after the bend instead. I liked the speedometer in view. It always gives a perspective of what kind of speed you're driving at.
Not related, but I almost got run down by a Lexus SUV coming out of a roundabout on Sunday. Thank God for Automatic Braking or I would be in hospital. The new highway code guidelines on giving way to pedestrians are something I cannot take for granted. I was allowed to cross by one driver, but almost became a victim of the second. Not all drivers are the same person, nor follow the same behaviour.
Some people's reaction on first noticing an emergency vehicle is to simply hit the brakes and/or stop without thinking for some reason. The worst ones those who pull out of a junction in front of an emergency vehicle they really should have seen and then panic stop in front of it when they belatedly notice... To be fair I had a similar vehicle, unmarked probably police grey Skoda Superb with just the small blue lights tucked in the grill and wing mirrors and in this instance not using its siren, come up behind me a few days ago and in bright sunlight it took me a moment to notice it was an emergency vehicle.
@@Rroff2 I agree that you need to have that instant recognition of an emergency vehicle and that lime and green battenberg sends a strong message. If you have a non-car shape such as an Ambulance or Fire Appliance it also has a different profile, so much easier to instictively react to.
@@Rroff2 "Some people's reaction on first noticing an emergency vehicle is to simply hit the brakes and/or stop without thinking for some reason". Those people need to hand in their licenses cause their the dangerous ones on the road. People without functional brains.
A lot of modern cars still use the airbag as the horn, but have smaller and smaller airbags, such as this Audi. Pretty much requires you to take a hand off the wheel to actuate it. The idea being that the stalk is generally easier to reach without taking your hands off the wheel.
@@SourceHades The button reacts fine, 1 tap changes the tone & 2 taps turns it off. What might be confusing is that the audio on the video has at times been changed to dub out some confidential radio traffic (there was a note in the bottom left hand of the video every time it was done) so when he hits the button nothing seems to happen to the siren but I am sure it did on the original audio.
We have a stalk on my car and it certainly takes some getting used to…. Generally you get used to it but sometimes you need a big red button to hit rather than a grasp around the area to find it. Also have a bull horn on the lighting controller that is a pain in the ass to find
0:45 Automatic Emergency Braking I presume. How intrusive do you find it on jobs? I know there have been a lot of complaints about it on the newer Volvos.
It’s just the warning system, not an active safety system. These should all be disabled prior to response driving. Lane assist, swerve support, emergency breaking, etc.
I do wonder whether some of the less helpful drivers you encounter have poor observation and planning skills whenever they're driving, or only when they're in a siren-induced panic.
I´ve always wondered how emergency drivers deal with automatic brake assist. Most blue light drivers I´ve talked to turn it off when responding so it doesn´t freak out on close manouvers. Are you leaving it on or is it regulation? Or it doesn´t bother you at all?
Great angle and much improvec two-tone switching without the 'blip horn' on every change. How did you mount the camera? Might use that for the Masters if its doable in my wheels.
Hi Chris, I am a regular viewer of your stuff. I have a question relating to when I did my blue light training some 12 years ago (South Wales police). Then we did not have exemptions to cross solid white lines and when came to a stretch of nearside solid lines or double solids we turned off the blues and twos to keep the traffic ahead from "panicking" and doing something stupid. At the end of that section of road we then turned on the required emergency equipment and continued making progress. At around the 2:30 point, you come up against what I described but I'm not sure if your equipment was on as you had a caption 'sirens edit to protect...' so my question is, have the exemption rules been changed in England to allow crossing solid lines?
Good spot an yes, in some of my other videos i discuss/demonstrate exactly that, turning off sirens and holding back when in a dbl white line sections. The siren edit on this didn't really help as i just overlaid siren noise to as the radio was discussing the incident. Good spot though, thanks.
Why do people panic when they see an emergency services vehicle? Read the road and don’t just stop. The oncoming vehicle at 4:00 slowed down and actually blocked the road
Why has the siren function button been moved to the PTT stalk for the radio? thats such a bad place to put it; they should have fitted the steering wheel with a button near the paddles, or they should have left it with the horn like normal. Look at how many time's Chris misses the button
One downside of the siren edit is that you give the impression that you're using the siren at times when you wouldn't. There was one sequence for example when you were in double white lines and nowhere for the car in front of you to go. It looks like you were being aggressive and I know you weren't. If I'm really truthful I prefer it when you just mute radio traffic.
I always admire your professionalism and safe driving skills, but at 0:47 I have the impression that you're going to fast around the corner resulting in a close maneuver behind the silver and the red vehicle.
Chris are you using NMA lite yet via a mobile phone ?. There is a rumour that you should be able to put a full nma tablet in the car in a dock and for it to just work with navigation etc
@@ChrisMartinEMS I watched your tour of the car after I posted this comment as I had to find out! Very impressive car.. thought originally it was a sports Audi as can see yours has paddle shifters and also the "S" logo on the bottom of the steering wheel. Appreciate your response
@@jackpanter7941 Nah Audi puts S logos on S line trim and above cars (Black edition, Vorsprung). Literally can't differentiate them between a proper S cars nowadays.
