Are cops required to use their lights? If not, how is the issue of speeding in a police car dealt with?
Here in the Sacramento area, cops use their lights and sirens in two situations: either they’re going way over the speed limit to respond to a really pressing emergency, or they’re going through an intersection. It’s very common to see a police car turn the siren on just long enough to get through an intersection against the light, then turn it off again when the car is safely through. As I understand it, this is the policy — whether official or unofficial, I’m not sure — because studies showed that people get into a lot of accidents in their haste to get out of the way of an emergency vehicle.
