Written question asked by Baroness Hoey (Labour) on Wednesday, 14 March 2007, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 19 March 2007. It was answered by Tony McNulty (Labour) on Tuesday, 20 March 2007 on behalf of the Home Office.

Police: Sirens

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what guidance is given to police car drivers on the use of their sirens at night-time; and whether the guidance (a) is kept under review and (b) has been amended in the past two years;

Answer: Regulation 37 of the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986 restricts the fitting of sirens and other devices to specific emergency vehicles. Regulation 99 allows use of a siren only to indicate to other road users the urgency of the purposes for which a vehicle is being used, or to warn other road users of the presence of the vehicle on the road.Subject to compliance with Construction and Use Regulations, the use of sirens is according to police discretion. It is for individual chief officers to decide on whether to issue local guidance and on monitoring of adherence to such guidance.

Secondary information