(WKYT) – In today’s Good Question, Theresa asks: Are police allowed to speed in their patrol cars without lights and sirens on? I drive on Paris Pike daily and am often passed by patrol cars that are not exactly speeding, sometimes at 70-80 miles per hour. I know this because I drive behind them and try to keep up.
First of all, if you’re driving that fast, you’re speeding, so don’t do that. But no, technically those cops aren’t supposed to be speeding unless they have their lights and sirens on.
State law exempts police and other emergency vehicles from state speed limits under the following circumstances.
KRS 189.940 Exceptions to traffic regulations:
(a) when responding to emergency calls;
(b) to monitor police vehicles in pursuit of an actual or suspected offender;
(c) to ambulances transporting a patient to medical care facilities;
However, a warning with lights and sirens is also required by law.
Paramedics can do without the siren if it would be harmful to their patients.
Emergency vehicles are also allowed to pass stop signs and red lights and, if necessary, drive in the opposite direction.
So that’s the technical answer, but there is also a practical answer.
Doug Dahl, communications director for the Washington Transportation Safety Commission, wrote about his early days as a deputy sheriff and how he would only drive the speed limit on the highway. He said that would cause traffic jams because people would try to pass, realize they were police officers, and then be stuck.
“I came to the conclusion that it was better to drive a few miles per hour faster than the speed limit than to be stuck on the highway with a group of cars.”
According to state law, drivers of emergency vehicles were expected to “take due account of the safety of all persons on the road or highway when operating their vehicle.”
If you have a good question you think we should answer, send it to [email protected].
All rights reserved.
