Professional Police Driving.

The Transportation Code defines “authorized emergency vehicle” by list. A fire department or police vehicle is first on it. The list also includes licensed ambulances, certain emergency medical services vehicles, municipal and county emergency vehicles that have been designated or authorized, the private vehicle of a volunteer firefighter or certified EMS employee or volunteer when responding to a fire alarm or medical emergency, blood and tissue bank vehicles making emergency deliveries, and federal law enforcement vehicles.

Chapter 546 then says what the operator of such a vehicle may do. Under Section 546.001 the operator may park or stand regardless of other rules, proceed past a red or stop signal or stop sign after slowing as necessary for safe operation, exceed a maximum speed limit as long as the operator does not endanger life or property, and disregard rules governing direction of movement or turning.

Those privileges are not always available. Under Section 546.002, going through signals, speeding and disregarding direction rules apply only when the operator is responding to an emergency call, pursuing an actual or suspected violator of the law, responding to but not returning from a fire alarm, directing or diverting traffic for public safety purposes, or conducting a police escort. The parking privilege is the only one not tied to that list.

The general rule is in Section 546.003. An operator who uses the privileges in Section 546.001 shall use audible or visual signals, at the operator’s discretion in accordance with the policies of the department or local government that employs the operator.

Section 546.004 gives police officers an exception. An officer may operate for a law enforcement purpose without the signals when responding to an emergency call or pursuing a suspected violator with probable cause to believe one of two things. First, that knowing the officer is there will cause the suspect to destroy or lose evidence of a suspected felony, end a suspected continuing felony before the officer has enough evidence to establish grounds for arrest, or evade apprehension or identification. Second, that because of traffic conditions on a multilaned roadway, vehicles moving in response to the signals may increase the potential for a collision or unreasonably extend the duration of the pursuit.

An officer may also run without signals when complying with a written regulation on the use of signals adopted by the employing local government or the department. The same section says a police vehicle is not required to be equipped with or display a red light visible from the front.

The outline gives two situations to practice on. In one, the suspect is still at the scene of a burglary or armed robbery in progress, and arriving with lights and siren would defeat the response. In the other, two lanes of a three lane road are blocked. In both you must be able to say why you are not using the signals and that the Transportation Code governs the exception.

When you are not responding to an emergency, you are just another driver. Section 542.002 says a provision of the rules of the road that applies to an operator of a vehicle also applies to the operator of a vehicle owned or operated by the United States, this state, or a political subdivision of this state, except as specifically provided otherwise for an authorized emergency vehicle.

The outline’s example is an officer ending a shift who is 20 minutes from the station, has court under subpoena right afterward, and has been reprimanded before for being late. Being late to court is not a bona fide emergency. The officer must obey the same laws of the road as the public.