A number of Royal Gibraltar Police recruit officers passed their blue light training course this week.
The week-long course is designed to allow police officers to drive safely to emergency situations where someone’s safety is at risk.
The course is taught by a handful of the RGP’s more senior officers, who have all qualified as Emergency Response Driver Training (ERDT) instructors, after passing a two-week-long UK accredited course in Gibraltar.
During the recruits' driving course, which includes a practical and theory examination, the new officers are taught how to perfect driving skills including vehicle control, overtaking safely and blue light response tactics.
Following the course, Acting Inspector of the RGP’s Roads Policing Unit, Daniel Ruffle, explained why the officers do the course and what the public should do if they see an emergency vehicle with its blue lights and sirens on in their rear view mirror.
He said: “We have about a 25 per cent failure rate within the force, because of the stringent testing that we’re doing. It’s a pass or fail course, so if officers don’t pass it, we don’t allow them to drive the police vehicles.
“We teach our officers how to get to an emergency situation as quickly and as safely as possible.
“Whilst on a blue light run, the officers are trained to take in all the hazards in order to make an educated decision as to how they can safely navigate through traffic.
“We also want to educate the public on what they need to do when an emergency services vehicle approaches them or is behind them. What we’d like them to do, is to remain calm and when it’s safe and clear to do so, pull over onto the side of the road – if the road is big enough to allow that emergency vehicle to pass.
“Obviously within Gibraltar the roads are extremely narrow, so if you find yourself in that situation, keep at the speed that you are at, don’t panic, and when it is safe to do so, pull over and let the emergency vehicle pass you.”
He added that all emergency services in Gibraltar are now trained and accredited by the same organisation, the ERDT.
Acting Inspector Ruffle, added: “Safety is our number one priority and we train to arrive safely.”