Who should I email regarding some interesting emergency services driving?

[Caol Ila]

This evening, my friend and I were hacking down the road, returning to the yard after hacking in the park. The road at this point is straight, but fairly narrow. Almost two cars wide but not quite. We heard sirens, then saw an emergency vehicle (one of the little doctors' cars) caning it towards us at 60/70mph, sirens blaring. My friend has a nervous horse, and she freaked out. I was in front on Hermosa (thank f*ck), and I looked at this car and thought, "Oh, c0ck, he's not slowing down or turning off the sirens." Can't say I was wild about him passing us at that speed, with sirens screaming, either. I'm used to cars passing at 30/40, which isn't ideal but we live with it. He was going much, much faster. I waved at him with the up-down slow down signal and he did not change speed, not in any appreciable way, and instead hit his horn. Like the big emergency vehicle air horn. HOOOOOONNNK! About a second later, he slammed on the brakes and the car skidded to a halt (the wheels actually locked and screeched), past Hermosa, who stood there like "WTF" but didn't do anything (is she an awesome horse or what?). I looked behind me to see my friend's horse tanking off in the opposite direction, with my friend clinging to his neck. My friend managed to stay on, stop him, then jump off. The driver, who was between us at this point, said to her, "I'm really sorry, I didn't see yous. I'll radio the others to let them know you're on the road."

My friend and I looked at one another. The others?? There is a small drive about 20m up the road from where we were, so we scurried into that and stood there while about 10 other emergency vehicles hauled ass past. A firetruck. An ambulance. Some police cars and vans. Some more doctors' cars. They did all turn off their sirens. Once the road seemed clear of every emergency vehicle in Scotland, we continued on our way. Obviously some serious sh1t had gone down.

The chap did apologise and he warned everyone behind him we were there. Points for that. But he was about to pass us at full speed, blared his horn at us like we could move out of his way (by jumping into a ditch and a barbed wire fence?), and I think the horn spooked my friend's horse, and that's the point where he realised he f*cked up and stopped. I can't believe that he "didn't see us." We were both wearing hi viz and I was waving a bright pink, reflective, and very long dressage whip. He saw us well enough to hit the horn. Did I say that the road is straight?

I feel like I should message someone in emergency services, thank the guy for radioing his colleagues, but also encourage them to remind everyone of safe driving practices around horses. If someone had fallen off and gotten hurt and/or there'd been a loose/panicked horse in the middle of the road, they would have been more delayed in getting to their emergency.

I was so impressed with Hermosa, though. What a warhorse.

 

[Jellymoon]

Wow, how shocking, how is your friend? Ok I hope.

Yes, I would say something, basically what you’ve said above. He could have caused two human deaths there, and maybe even more if your horses had galloped off into a road and caused a pile up. I get he was on a mission to save someone’s life, but…your lives matter too.

 

[Caol Ila]

My friend was shaken but okay. Hermosa probably saved the day by staying still. If both horses had run (which definitely would have happened if I'd been on my other horse), we would have ended up in the next county. My friend's horse was scared but he wasn't going to leave the herd.

I think the driver was probably only thinking of getting to the emergency at top speed, and at first, only saw us as something in the way. He only switched gears to "Sh1t! 1000 pound flight animal" when my friend's horse spun.

 

[OrangeAndLemon]

Emergency drivers know to turn off sirens, slow right down and watch for hand signals from riders. We complained to the area chief constable when one driver didn't live up to the high standards expected.

(The chief constable was a rider)

 

[SEL]

Wow - well done Hermosa what a flipping star of a young horse.

It's usually easier to find an email or postal address for the police but if you can find something for the ambulance service then they'll know who the medics were I suspect. I'd write to both!

He could have caused a very serious incident behaving like that and stopped the emergency services getting to the initial incident.

 

[Barton Bounty]

Normally I would say yes, say something but knowing how it feels to have to respond to emergency calls etc..

I wouldn’t say anything, he has apologised, it was probably just his mistake.. he probably zoned out and was just concentrating on the job in hand. I know he shouldn’t have done it and he could have caused another accident but he admitted it was his error as a first responder.

Thanks goodness your friend is ok

 

[meesha]

Well done Hermosa ...potentially a very nasty accident and huge hold up for emergency services already trying to attend another incident !!

I would complain but not give dates and times instead ask that the message be passed on to all emergency callout vehicles.

That way you don't get him in serious trouble but get your point across.

 

[ycbm]

Can I take it when you say a wee doctors car you meant a first responder car with full markings from the ambulance service?

I think the use of the horn both proves he saw you and escalates this way beyond any excusing.

He threatened your lives, he needs retraining and I would make a written complaint to the ambulance service giving details of the time and place.
.

 

[ycbm]

And Hermosa is a star!
.

 

[Sossigpoker]

So he didn't see you but honked his horn ? Who was he honking at ? A ghost?
A lady died locally here two days ago when her horse was spooked by a vehicle (not an emergency one). Yes , she died on the road !
You definitely need to take this further!

 

[scats]

The fact he honked his horn indicates he certainly did see you!
Please take this further.

 

[ApolloStorm]

How awful! Definitely report, to who depends on how it was sign written - if ambulance then your local NHS trust ambulance service will have a procedure - sounds like you’re in Scotland so would be

Making a Complaint

www.scottishambulance.com

If was in anyway sign written with police (as in some forces there are combo ambulance and police vehicles) ring 101 and complain that way as it will go through to professional standards!

Sounds like this driver was very lucky to meet Hermosa and not your other horse, as he then would’ve caused a nasty accident and they are trained on safely passing Horses - don’t believe for a second in the “ I didn’t see you” more like “ I wasn’t paying attention”!

ETA: His vehicle will have a dash cam of some description! So it won’t be a he said/she said!

 

[FFAQ]

My dear friend was killed in an altercation with a motorbike while out hacking on Sunday afternoon. Even though the emergency services driver apologised I would still report him. Better for him to get a slap on the wrist now and further training (hopefully) than for someone else to die. Presumably his vehicle is fitted with a dash cam so there should be evidence of this shocking behaviour.

 

[Red-1]

I would have believed him were it not for the blast on the horn. I would report him.

 

[AShetlandBitMeOnce]

My dear friend was killed in an altercation with a motorbike while out hacking on Sunday afternoon. Even though the emergency services driver apologised I would still report him. Better for him to get a slap on the wrist now and further training (hopefully) than for someone else to die. Presumably his vehicle is fitted with a dash cam so there should be evidence of this shocking behaviour.

I saw the news article about this, how desperately sad - my thoughts are with you.

 

[Goldenstar]

Well he would not have got to his emergency if one of the horses and riders had ended up sitting on the bonnet of his car with its legs through the windscreen .
You need to report the incident to the ambulance and to the BHS as well.

 

[criso]

Aside from the horn, if you could see him to see what sort of car it was, then he could see you. If he couldn't see 2 big horses and riders in hi Viz, there are questions to be asked about his eyesight and fitness to drive.

I would report. He's lucky that there wasn't an accident blocking the road and stopping everyone going through.

 

[Snowfilly]

Report him. He needs retraining at least and I’d say an assessment of his fitness to drive emergency responses if he couldn’t see you and then acted so dangerously.

The first rule of first aid is not to put yourself or others at risk and he risked both of your lives.

 

[littleshetland]

It sounds to me hitting the horn was a reflex action and at least he apologised, but nonetheless , he shouldn't have done it. I would report it.
Glad you're both ok...and indeed, Hermosa is a star!

 

[Clodagh]

When we lived near Stansted airport we often had emergency vehicles to deal with and they were great. I k ow they are saving lives, and need to get to where they are going asap but not by taking all others out en route.
I used to go like smoke to the nearest gateway if I possibly could, Barring that tuck in and hope. They always turned off lights and siren though.
I’d report him in an educational way.

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

Of course he could see you! Or if he didn't he isn't fit to drive any vehicle, let alone an emergency response vehicle. You need to report him in order to save the next horse and rider that he 'fails to see'.

 

[SEL]

My dear friend was killed in an altercation with a motorbike while out hacking on Sunday afternoon. Even though the emergency services driver apologised I would still report him. Better for him to get a slap on the wrist now and further training (hopefully) than for someone else to die. Presumably his vehicle is fitted with a dash cam so there should be evidence of this shocking behaviour.

I've sympathy liked your post - I saw details of the accident in the press. Awful for everyone concerned xx

 

[Peglo]

I too would report him and I do appreciate he apologised but you, your friend and your horses could all have been killed or seriously injured. (gold star for Hermosa. What a trooper)
I can’t quite understand what he was thinking honking his horn. Possibly a knee jerk reaction when he realised the situation he’d put you in but I thought his training would’ve taught him better. He could easily have killed you both. It’s just so scary.

I’m very glad you’re all ok and so very sorry @FFAQ to hear about your friend. How terribly tragic.

 

[Tarragon]

I was out riding on a narrow country road with a young 12 year old girl riding my other pony, when a police car with flashing lights and siren came up behind us and sped past. We caught up with them a few minutes later as they had stopped, and I said that they were lucky the ponies had coped with the situation and suggested that they slowed down and cut the sirens etc. when they pass next time and was told that they had considered cutting the siren, but decided against it as the car makes a weird horn sound when the siren is switched off and they felt that that might have been worse!

 

[holeymoley]

Oh that is wild. What a clown, but what a fab horse to not react, what a shame about your friend. How can he not have seen you but hit the horn? I never heard anything happening yesterday, maybe devil’s pulpit emergency? I’m not sure who you would report an emergency doctor’s car too, I suppose you could try police as he was dangerously driving. The first thing all emergency trained people are taught is to preserve life so he reacted in a very peculiar way.

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

If all those vehicles/services were involved itsounds like a training exercise. I would email the police in the 1st instance, as they were likely to have been coordinating

Well done Hermosa!

 

[Mrs. Jingle]

I am so relieved that Hermosa proved her weight in gold during such a dangerous incident.

The driver honking at you goes against all professional training around horses and clearly indicates he DID see you. Of course he was very nice and apologetic, he knew damn well he had gone against all training and could be in deep shite. And more importantly HE put your lives at huge risk.

Report him, likely he would/should be offered a refresher course to sharpen him up a bit.

So happy both of you and the horses are OK.

 

[MiJodsR2BlinkinTite]

So he didn't see you but honked his horn ? Who was he honking at ? A ghost?
A lady died locally here two days ago when her horse was spooked by a vehicle (not an emergency one). Yes , she died on the road !
You definitely need to take this further!

^^^ I'd agree with this. YES feelings are running high at the moment because one of our kindred has been killed on the public highway here in the Westcountry (motorbike spooked horse), but this goes in contravention of everything they should've been taught.

Seem to remember there was an incident a good few years ago now where a Fire Service vehicle on blues & two's spooked a load of cows which then trampled the farmer to death. There was a legal "precedent" established then...... which is (or should be) drummed into driving courses for all blue-light services.

I've worked in a blue-light service; and at the end of the day if an officer is on a Shout then yep OK the adrenaline is running high and reason can fly out the window, we all know this. But there's no point in having another casualty on the way to an incident - and to sound a horn at a horse rider is WAY way unacceptable.

Complain: Chief Constable, Chief Fire Officer, and Chief Ambulance Officer. You will get a bog-standard letter saying "your comments are noted blah blah blah". Don't take this BS for an answer; write back and say that you are expecting that driver training will include safety advice on encountering horses when on an emergency call, and ask them what they will be doing about it.

 

[Caol Ila]

Oh that is wild. What a clown, but what a fab horse to not react, what a shame about your friend. How can he not have seen you but hit the horn? I never heard anything happening yesterday, maybe devil’s pulpit emergency? I’m not sure who you would report an emergency doctor’s car too, I suppose you could try police as he was dangerously driving. The first thing all emergency trained people are taught is to preserve life so he reacted in a very peculiar way.

If all those vehicles/services were involved itsounds like a training exercise. I would email the police in the 1st instance, as they were likely to have been coordinating

Well done Hermosa!

I think it was most likely another quarry incident. There's a quarry in the park with 7-8m high cliffs and a lake in the middle, and the local teenagers like to get pished and jump off the crags, into the lake. A kid died there a couple years ago (and there were other similar incidents before that), and they erected a 4ish m spiky high metal fence around the quarry. Nonetheless, we saw kids there during the heatwave in June and saw where they'd been digging under it.

The Scottish fire service is also trained in water rescue and cliff rescue, up to a point. They need to be able to access the top of the cliffs for a rescue. Some friends were rock climbing at Auchenstarry, a legitimate climber's quarry near Glasgow, and another girl on the crag took a fall and landed on a ledge, breaking her leg. Fire and Rescue got to 'Starry but then said they would need to phone Ochills Mountain Rescue because they're not equipped to go up a crag, only down. It would be a 40 minute wait for MRT. Luckiy for the injured lassy, my friends knew rope rescue techniques and one was a trainee doctor, so they rigged a pulley system/double abseil and got her off the crag. In the case of the Mugdock quarry, however, access is at the top, next to a road.

If you were going to Finnich Glen, you'd go straight up the A81 and cut through Killearn. You wouldn't wiggle a firetruck down the Khyber Pass. I don't think it would fit!

Still, I need to figure out who to write to. Police were probably coordinating the whole emergency response, but are the individual services responsible for training drivers?

 

[holeymoley]

I think it was most likely another quarry incident. There's a quarry in the park with 7-8m high cliffs and a lake in the middle, and the local teenagers like to get pished and jump off the crags, into the lake. A kid died there a couple years ago (and there were other similar incidents before that), and they erected a 4ish m spiky high metal fence around the quarry. Nonetheless, we saw kids there during the heatwave in June and saw where they'd been digging under it.

If you were going to Finnich Glen, you'd go straight up the A81 and cut through Killearn. You wouldn't wiggle a firetruck down the Khyber Pass. I don't think it would fit!

Still, I need to figure out who to write to. Police were probably coordinating the whole emergency response, but are the individual services responsible for training drivers?

Maybe over B834? Might be smoother for the big trucks than the Stockie. That’s nuts about the quarry, I remember the teenager that died there. Can’t believe they’re still doing it!