Top Gear AdviceTop Gear
Everything you asked the internet about emergency vehicles... answered by Top Gear
You asked a search engine. Top Gear stepped in to (perhaps unhelpfully) respond
Can police cars break the speed limit?
Yes, but only when responding to emergencies, or when the local pie ’n’ mash shop is just about to close.
Can ambulances break the speed limit?
Really interested in the whole ‘breaking the speed limit’ thing, huh? Once again, the answer’s “yes, but only in an emergency”. However, bear in mind that ambulances a) can weigh in excess of five tonnes and b) are often carrying patients with bits of their body sticking out in directions they really shouldn’t be, which is why you rarely see ambulance drivers testing the limits of adhesion on a mini-roundabout.
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Can fire engines break the speed limit?
Yeah, kinda figured that one was coming. Yet again, yes in an emergency. But bear in mind that, fully laden, a fire engine can weigh in excess of 17 tonnes. Which, at a speed of 100mph, would give it an approximate stopping distance of Bedfordshire.
Why are fire engines called fire engines?
Sigh. Sometimes it’s difficult to know where to start with... OK, yeah, we concede you may have a smidgen of an iota of a point here. After all, police cars contain police. Fish and chip vans contain fish and chips. Fire engines do not – unless something has gone very, very wrong – contain fire. Then again, monster trucks don’t contain monsters, and apparently you have no problem with those, so we’re going to go right ahead and file this one under ‘waste of time questions’.
Why don’t ambulances always use their sirens?
Because it’s not permanently an emergency?
Why do police cars follow you?
To admire your precise and law abiding road skills.
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Can fire engines use sea water?
Yes, but only if they’re responding to an emergency involving either a) a dangerously thirsty dolphin or b) some dangerously under-pickled gherkins.
Why are police cars red?
If you’re in London, that’s because they’re part of the Met’s Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection group, a unit that provides security to high profile political and consulate figures. If you’re outside of London, that’s not a police car, that’s a post van.
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