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To answer your question lawfully, the law specifically states that traffic law does NOT apply to emergency vehicles. It does not say anything about, "when in an emergency, the emergency vehicle can speed in excess amount over the limit." It states emergency vehicles are exempt.
NOW...I would say that most, if not all, jurisdictions have their own rules and regulations. This means that even though the law allows it, the dept says you can only run code under these circumstances....code 1 = normal driving. code 2= lights, siren, and only 10mph over the limit. code 3 = lights, siren, and 20mph over the limit. In the real world it is different. I'd love to tell you how it is, but wouldn't want to get in any situation by posting it up here.
Officer in trouble means you go balls to the wall. You still be careful because what good are you to the officer in trouble if you don't get there at all. Shooting, cuttings, robberies, etc. you go code3 to try to get the bad guy, preserve crime scene, protect individuals, get witnesses, etc, etc, etc.
There's so much that comes into play when running code. Someone could be running quite fast on the hwy today going to a shooting. They might not run lights or siren because traffic is light and it is easy to get around the few cars on the road. BUT, you have no idea just how many people out there don't know what the hell to do when red and blues are in their mirror. They want to hit the brakes first.....uh.....no. They want to pull over to the left shoulder.......uh.......no. They go crazy. There's a lot of times we should run code, but it isn't safe due to the high volume of traffic on the roads. It's very much a judgement call. You want to get home safe. We want you to get home safe. We don't want you to hit us and we sure as hell don't want to hit you. One thing I remember all the time is that when I'm in my police car, pretty much all eyes are on me.....which is the way it goes.
Now, speeding to get to a drive through? Hmmmmm....
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