Police officers 'avoid' driving Ranger

[vibe_xr6]

From our local news paper
http://www.dailyadvertiser.com.au/ne...r/2217413.aspx

Police officers 'avoid' driving Ranger
KEN GRIMSON
06 Jul, 2011 12:00 AM
THE Police Association is calling for the urgent testing of replacement vehicles for Ford Ranger "paddy wagons" in the wake of yet another rollover near Gundagai this week.


Two Tumut police officers, a male senior constable driving a Ranger and a female probationary constable, suffered minor injuries when the vehicle rolled after a head-on collision with a Daewoo sedan on the Nangus Road about 5pm on Monday.

A 29-year-old female prisoner in the back of the police vehicle also suffered minor injuries but the driver of the Daewoo, a Junee woman, was uninjured.

All three injured people were discharged from hospital after treatment.

Police investigations into the cause of the crash are continuing, but it is believed the Daewoo crossed onto the wrong side of the road and into the path of the police vehicle.

Ford Rangers fitted with prisoner modules at the back have been involved in about 10 rollovers since 2008.

Fears over safety led to a temporary ban last year, and since restrictions on their use have been applied despite modifications estimated to cost $5000 per vehicle.

Police Association southern region executive member Mick Connor acknowledged yesterday the collision was the main factor in the Ranger overturning on Monday, but he still does not believe they are safe vehicles at present.

"If I have a choice, I won't use them," Mr Connor said.

"I avoid them, and that is what our members should be doing; if an alternative is available they should be avoiding the Ford Rangers."

Mr Connor said testing of alternative vehicles, such as a modified Holden Commodore panel van about to be used by Victorian police, should be investigated immediately.

"I think it's an absolute disgraceful position that we find ourselves in," Mr Connor said.

"We are forced to use a vehicle that was the cheapest option, not the best option, and found to be completely deficient for police work, and they don't seem to care.

"They should be testing other vehicles, but they are not."

The NSW Police Force said the project rollout of the Ford Ranger modifications is well under way and is due to finish this month.

The program includes the modification of the Ford Rangers suspension fitted with a prisoner pod in line with recommendations from Ford Australia.

"We are approximately 70 per cent through the overall change and modification program. Close to 95 per cent of the Ford Rangers used within the southern region have been modified or changed," the statement read.

[b2tf]

A bit rich I think - anything will roll if it has enough weight on it and is not driven well. I also notice they dont seem to have made a big deal of the fact that there was a car on the wrong side of the road to cause the accident.

[DBourne]

10 roll overs since 2008?? what the heck, how do they manage so many?

[galaxy xr8]

I'd like to know how those 10 roll over's occurred ?.

[Mechan1k]

Originally Posted by SgtBourne

10 roll overs since 2008?? what the heck, how do they manage so many?

Uneducated drivers.

[EgoFG]

I saw something on Telly about it, and it is related to the Police Modifications, not the base car.

[MAD]

"oh no, my car rolled over cause I had a head on with another."
How can I paint this statement with the amount of sarcasm that is required?

Maybe the officers that were driving at the time need to learn a thing or two about limitations and road conditions.

[Ben73]

Originally Posted by Mechan1k

Uneducated drivers.

I have always been told police are better drivers because they are trained extra.
Sure a car rolling in an accident is one thing, but I heard most of the roll overs were due to police taking corners at excessive speed.

I have no problems with police doing what's necessary to do their job, but perhaps they should be training the drivers a bit more thoroughly before they allow them to break laws.

[Trevor 57]

Driving a 4X4 with an an-natural pod on the back beyond the limits it was designed to go by a bunch of drivers un-educated in driving overloaded 4x4's - me thinks

[Perko]

Originally Posted by vibe_xr6

"They should be testing other vehicles, but they are not."

The NSW Police Force said the project rollout of the Ford Ranger modifications is well under way and is due to finish this month.

The program includes the modification of the Ford Rangers suspension fitted with a prisoner pod in line with recommendations from Ford Australia.

By the sounds of it the vehicles were bought and then fitted with a pod without meeting Ford's recommendations for the suspension. So really they have themselves to blame for not following manufacturers parameters. Just a shame then that the product gets dragged through the mud because of government cost cutting.

[GS608]

QLD use Hiluxs exclusively but they have been banned due to dodgy brakes yet we don't see anything about that plastered all over the media? They're being replaced with Isuzu Dmaxs and iLoads

[FTe342]

Poor design my @r$e - perfect for softening up apprehended offenders being conveyed at Her Majestys pleasure!

Maybe they should be offering said passengers a helmut with Hans device lol

[vibe_xr6]

The way i see the police officers drive them in my local town is a bit wild also, especially for domestic officers, we had a domestic police officer walk to there ranger and chase us, we were about 5 minutes ahead and they caught us in no time ( No we wernt running away but we new they were coming for us thanks to a friend ) Then i see the xr6 turbo cop cars flying around everywhere for no reason, i have seen one hit rev limiter just from taking off from the lights. I think it comes down to the officers !

[ebxr8240]

Ah a set trainer wheels is what they need..
I know one thing.. Our work vehicles have similar weight
centre of gravity.. If we roll one we would be charged
with neg driving..

[Franco Cozzo]

Why are they using modified Rangers anyways? If its for a carrying prisoners in the back might as well as use a van, right?

Ambulance service does well with Sprinters, give the police the more powerful 419 with TD V6 with the ability to put 10 people in the back under arrest plus room for storage cupboards and a separate comms area.

At work we're doing a prison van, using the same model Sprinter I mentioned and it has a massive metal cage in the back and it fits 10, plus two drivers, storage cupboards and comms cupboard.

[Wise]

There's not much any driver can do when someone comes into your lane.

To get to the snr const rank you have to have been there for a considerable amount of time, whether its 5 or 6 years I can't remember. But in that time the bloke wouild have done the higher level driving courses. But let's remember the accident wasn't his fault. The probationary const wouldn't have been there all that long, say under a year. She wouldn't have done the more advanced courses the driver did yet.

At least it shows you can have a head on with them and for the most part, even the prisoner will be fine!

[XD 351 Ute]

All the more reason to have XR8 paddy wagon utes....

Ed

[SEZ213]

Originally Posted by Big Damo

Why are they using modified Rangers anyways? If its for a carrying prisoners in the back might as well as use a van, right?

Ambulance service does well with Sprinters, give the police the more powerful 419 with TD V6 with the ability to put 10 people in the back under arrest plus room for storage cupboards and a separate comms area.

At work we're doing a prison van, using the same model Sprinter I mentioned and it has a massive metal cage in the back and it fits 10, plus two drivers, storage cupboards and comms cupboard.

There's a good reason why the police don't use vans...do you really want to see ten people who are brawling all in the back of a van? So when they go around the corner the hooligans all band together and roll the bloody thing anyway?

And yep, journalism has a lot to answer for...the cause of the crash was a head on collision...and all of a sudden they're talking about rollovers? WTF? Who writes this **** seriously?

If I were Ford, I'd be suing that papers rear end off...the accident had nothing to do with the vehicle itself and everything to do with a collision...

[GTP owner]

Originally Posted by Sezzy

There's a good reason why the police don't use vans...do you really want to see ten people who are brawling all in the back of a van? So when they go around the corner the hooligans all band together and roll the bloody thing anyway?

And yep, journalism has a lot to answer for...the cause of the crash was a head on collision...and all of a sudden they're talking about rollovers? WTF? Who writes this **** seriously?

If I were Ford, I'd be suing that papers rear end off...the accident had nothing to do with the vehicle itself and everything to do with a collision...

You mean they don't publish all of the truth? Who woulda thunk it?

[my_gxl]

Originally Posted by MAD

"oh no, my car rolled over cause I had a head on with another."
How can I paint this statement with the amount of sarcasm that is required?

Maybe the officers that were driving at the time need to learn a thing or two about limitations and road conditions.

Police....driving to the conditions....hehehehe

Hope the waaaabulance was called...hahahaha

[SEZ213]

Originally Posted by GTP owner

You mean they don't publish all of the truth? Who woulda thunk it?

Fair call.

There is a standard somewhere, AJA Standards - it's quite an interesting read...and most of these numbnuts should be out of a job as a result...but alas, it doesn't appear to actually have any impact on what they write these days, and once it's written they only need to offer a retraction if someone complains, it's not like you can erase the BS you've just tried implanting in someone's brain...

There's a distinct lack of accountability in papers, the surprising part is it seems that the minute a Ford product starts selling well, there's an article to contrary shortly thereafter...

[redxm]

It was the same story 10 years ago with the rodeos. The vehicles are not meant to be driven like they are...........

[castellan]

All them type of rubbish are a joke especially when you have morons in the back kicking and thrashing around as the weight is up to high and in any type of evasion action the people in the back flop about it's worse than driving a half full milk tanker.
If they were low down and strapped in it would be OK.

[Franco Cozzo]

Those 10 hooligans wont be rolling the car because they're all seated. If it works for prisoners it will work for police work.

[ebxr8240]

They have special cars for pursuit..

[flappist]

So it has them baffled as to why the accidents happened?

Oh, of course......they can't say what they usually say when they have no idea or know but the reason does not support agenda because politically there is NO WAY that "Speed was a factor"......

[castellan]

Originally Posted by Big Damo

Why are they using modified Rangers anyways? If its for a carrying prisoners in the back might as well as use a van, right?

Ambulance service does well with Sprinters, give the police the more powerful 419 with TD V6 with the ability to put 10 people in the back under arrest plus room for storage cupboards and a separate comms area.

At work we're doing a prison van, using the same model Sprinter I mentioned and it has a massive metal cage in the back and it fits 10, plus two drivers, storage cupboards and comms cupboard.

Yes it helps when the weight is down low.
your bum can be strapped down but if the top half is just free to flop about side to side it makes it hard to control the car and the higher the weight is the worse it gets. and speed is not really the main issue.

[Tobey]

Originally Posted by Big Damo

Those 10 hooligans wont be rolling the car because they're all seated. If it works for prisoners it will work for police work.

Are you going to strap 6 drunken men into a seat after they have been arrested for brawling outside the local? Do you think that would be a walk in the park? The heading we would then see is police using excessive force...

Can't really win can they?

[BAXR8_Ute]

The Ranger with the fibreglass 'Varley' Pod fitted is an absolute pig to drive. There is no weight on the front wheels and the centre of gravity makes it feel like a block of flats. I've driven a ranger with a normal canopy and its drives fine, all be it very under powered compared to Pajero's, Hilux's or Transporters that the police also use. Why are the Rangers still used?? Because it costs too much to break the lease and send them back. They are slowly being replaced with Hilux 4wd's as they reach the end of the lease term.

A head on causing a roll over is not going to be the Police drivers fault, no matter how much training they have. In the above situation, I'd say most 4wds would probably have rolled too. From what I've heard, most of the other roll overs were due to speed. Not necessarily the drivers fault, because Police driver training refuse to train Police to drive the ranger in urgent duty driving due to it being inherrently unsafe thanks to the poor handling and bad crumple zone which would pin the driver in the vehicle in a high speed front on impact.

[Auslandau]

Why don't they just 'avoid' having head ons?