Yes they do' date=' when I did my IAM exam the police instructor said they had some.

you in northants?[/quote']

Yep - are you?

It's a tough life on the roads of britain today, unless you can afford not to have your licence you gotta drive sensible...

Unmarked cars are everywhere and as you have all said they can be virtually anything, spotting an extra mirror will be too late.

I know I am often paranoid that theres something behind me although I have to say that when an idiot in a boy racer'd corsa flew past me on the way out of Reading on the A339 the other night he crapped himself when I flicked on the xenons and booted it behind him! He drove sensibly for about 10 minutes until his mate plucked up the courage to turn round in the passenger seat and have a proper look who was behind him!

Leicestershire have got loads of Octy vRS's, both marked and unmarked

N. Yorks did have a Scooby WRX a few years back, and Northants (used to?) have an Evo in half Plod colours, half rally livery - looked awesome

i'm sure they arent allowed to drive like that without kojak lights/sirens are they?

Yep, they are. No legal requirement at all for the blues to be on when using the exemptions... That said, Force Policy, common sense and best practice might dictate otherwise.

To be honest often people panic when they see the blues and do stupid things and it can sometimes be safer without them!

Apparantly Northern Ireland have a race tuned Evo VI as a traffic car (a marked one)!!

yes they do .. spotted it at the NW 200 last year / year before .. I complained that it was a bit unfair them having that ... they said I should see how it goes ! Asked for a demo, but was refused ( politely ...) :(

loughborough police deffo have at least one badged up octy VRS as a patrol car.

Yep, they are. No legal requirement at all for the blues to be on when using the exemptions... That said, Force Policy, common sense and best practice might dictate otherwise.

I didnt think they were legally allowed to break any road laws anyway. Certainly with Ambulance drivers, if they crash because they've run a red light or something, they're personally liable. Didnt think it was any different. Even speed fines, until recently, they have had to go to court to justify why they were speeding to be let off. Believe that's just changed though.

To be honest often people panic when they see the blues and do stupid things and it can sometimes be safer without them!

Yep, :agree: They also think that just stopping and sitting there is helpful in you passing them, even when they're blocking the way. Nuggets.

Wouldnt be the first time a traffic car had to do an emergency stop for the 'fast-lane-only' driver that moved over half-@rsed when they eventually spotted the high-beam flashing, blue lights flashing, sirens on and beeping horn behind them, police car... IMHO the police should be able to take down the plates of such a vehicle and slap them with a BIG fine or penalty for driving without due course and attention (sp?) GRRRR

Wouldnt be the first time a traffic car had to do an emergency stop for the 'fast-lane-only' driver that moved over half-@rsed when they eventually spotted the high-beam flashing, blue lights flashing, sirens on and beeping horn behind them, police car... IMHO the police should be able to take down the plates of such a vehicle and slap them with a BIG fine or penalty for driving without due course and attention (sp?) GRRRR

Indeed, I really dont know why people panic so much, you just find the next available safe place to let them past and thats it, if your paying attention you should have seen them coming long before and have plenty of time to get out the way!!

I've been known to cane it up certain roads that simply aren't wide enough to allow emergency service vehicles past when they come up behind me, and nearly always get a cheery thanks or wave from the driver, almost like they appreciate the occasional person making a real effort because most dont, it should be the other way around really.