This is a case of "do as I say, not as I do." 
A DriveSmartBC newsletter reader reports that they admit to making a conscious decision to disobey a couple of traffic laws the other day. They did not follow the speed limit and failed to keep to the right lane.
They didn't think that the failing to keep right would be an issue because they were pacing a marked police vehicle that they knew was not responding to an emergency.
As with many readers, it has always been a sore point with me when I know that the people who are charged with enforcing the laws were not prepared to follow those laws themselves. While I do make mistakes, I did my best to follow the rules because I felt that I could not write violation tickets if I was not prepared to be an example.
This marked police vehicle was not being a good example as the driver was consistently 15 to 20 km/h over the speed limit if there was no overtaken traffic to slow down for. The vehicle also never vacated the left hand lane at any time during the 5 kilometres or so that I followed along behind. Do as I say, not as I do.
What does one do? Grumble like I did and carry on? Complain to the head of the detachment and hope that something is done? Perhaps you can write about it like this and hope that the officer will see themselves in the narrative and decide to do as I say and as I do.
Do As I Say
Yes, this is something that I encountered in my patrols. I could also be more confident of my assertion that there was no reason for the behaviour. While we all do this to some extent, whether by error of by choice, it does not look good when it is done by law enforcement.
Before you can enforce a rule you have to be prepared to follow it and set the example.
What To Do About It
Unless there is a reason to justify disobeying Part 3 of the Motor Vehicle Act the police can be reported the same way as you would with any other bad driver.
Yes, I know that this will likely be difficult to do for many reasons.
Your suggestion of contacting the detachment commander and reporting the incident to them is probably the most comfortable one. You might even consider making an appointment and doing this in person to gauge how the complaint is being received.
If complaints mount, there are internal disciplinary measures that can be taken in addition to or instead of a traffic ticket.
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As an instructor this has been a constant sore spot with me for years. While I know that police are trained in vehicle handling, they seem to have the worst driving habits when it actually comes to following the rules of the road that they are supposed to enforce. Speeding, failure to signal, failure to stop at stop signs seems commonplace, and not just in unmarked cars. They share these same bad habits that the majority of road users have.
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Notwithstanding the fact that police are hired and trained to follow orders and not interpret them, if the law is an ass, it's difficult to expect anybody to obey it. In the case of highway driving, as you know, the safest form of driving is generally to stay with the flow in order to minimize speed variance. Therefore if most of the other cars were doing 15 or 20 over, the police cruiser should have also. Most drivers on many BC highways, are travelling safely albeit illegally over posted speed limits which are generally too low (100 on HWY1 east of Vancouver, 110 on the Coquihalla, 80 on the S2S etc.). Mass civil disobedience from the driving public and those who enforce the laws is the logical outcome. Left lane hogs; you and I agree.....Keep Right Except to Pass. Regardless whether this police vehicle was doing the speed limit (or any other speed), and although it's not currently illegal to occupy the left lane unless passing (if I get my way, that'll change), I agree ... your visible example to the rest of the driving public was a bad one. He (or she) was a bad example and should have been in the right lane.
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I saw a cute move one morning where Departure Bay Rd hits the (old) Highway. The light turned red just as a cruiser was approaching, intending to turn south (left). He / she quickly moved to the right turn lane, entered the hwy, and after about 50 yds, hit the lights and did a u-turn across the hwy.
As soon as he was heading south, off went the lights and he proceeded along with the rest of the traffic. Obviously, no emergency. Too "important" to wait out the light I guess.
I wonder if they realize how much respect they and the whole service loses when the public sees this kind of stunt.
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That was pretty gutsy of you as technically by writing this article you are incriminating yourself in terms of this is a written record of you speeding.
I’m in agreement with what you are saying / writing that police should set a good example.
One can only hope that our enforcement officers will rise to your challenge for good driving examples and not look for ways to respond negatively to your critique.
Since I’ve followed your column my driving abilities and habits have vastly improved. I always drive in the right hand lane except to pass and only do 2 or 3 k over the speed limit. I’ve had people give me the finger a few times along the highway in front of Qualicum Beach for adhering to the speed limit. Nice!
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Just read the comment about police vehicle going over the speed limit and in general not setting a good driving example.
I too have seen this time and again, police vehicles switching lanes without using a turn signal, driving over the limit and the other day as I was already one foot into a pedestrian crosswalk when a police SUV style car just drove right in front of me, after having made a rolling stop. I don't even think he saw me. He had no emergency lights on and seemed to otherwise be going slowly.
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Just about all my travel is on highway 1 and some of it is four lanes. And here I have to give the cops a thumbs up for being consistent. Since the keep left except to pass has become a law I have yet to catch one cop vehicle in anything but the left lane. You can be out on the open highway with no vehicles in sight of the cop car yet they motor along in the left lane.
I also have a 60 klick section of the highway I travel on a daily basis and I personally cannot count high enough to record the number of times I have seen then at least 15k over the limit. But I can say I have never followed them at the speed limit.
I do not recommend reporting to the local detachment. If you live in a small town you will just bring trouble to yourself as you will be targeted. One thing a cop cannot stand is having their authority questioned.
You may want to send an anonymous letter to the head of "E" division and if you can send a video showing the vehicle, licence plate, vehicle number and the speed they are travelling it may eventually work its way through the system. Don't expect to see any changes though.
In 68 years of driving I have not seen any changes.
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Do As I Say, Not As I Do