My firend is a police officer and I've been tempted to join the force for many years.
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So I took him up on his offer of joining him in the patrol car for a few hours last night
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(10pm to 1am) in and around Lewisham, London.
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Of all the things that I was impressed with the most, it was his driving.
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Wow!
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Talk about skills!
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We were in a 2006 BMW 530d.
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215bhp
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& 370lb.ft.
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Uprated brakes and suspension.
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I used to think I was a pretty good driver.
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I feel I can handle a rear wheel drive car and am used to the performance of my 300bhp tubby.
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But this guy's skills were stunning.
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I'm not talking about exuberant and flashy skills, I'm talking about car control, anticipation and concentration.
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The first time we got a call and he flicked the blue lights and siren on, I couldn't wipe the smile off my face.
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However,
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soon turned to
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as we raced through the town centre and residential streets.
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His cornering was especially impressive.
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You can see they've been taught like racing drivers.
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There is no breaking at all except in a straight line.
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When he turns, it's all about feeding the wheel and applying power.
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None of this crossing arms and braking mid corner that you and I do.
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A few times the rear stepped out round longer sweeping curves at 40-50mph and it was all taken in his stride.
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His concentration for planning a route through traffic and pre-empting how vehicles in front will react left me flinching more than a few times as we whizzed past some cars with only a inch to spare
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Many times we'd approach slower moving cars in front at almost 50-60mph fatser than them.
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Hard on the brakes, manoeuvre through a gap, hard left through the lights with the rear tyres struggling for grip.
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Then 370lb.ft of torque kicks us up to 70mph through the high street, wrong side of the road
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- cars scrambling to get out of the way.
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Hard on the brakes, feed the wheel for a 90 degrees right hander, back of the power, overtaking a bus with only a few centimeters to spare on my side.
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And he wasn't doing all this to impress me.
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He was just in the zone.
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I just gave me a new level of respect for officers who drive on pursuit, and also highlighted that I'm not such a good driver after all.
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Oh, and one more thing.
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For all you drivers who think the police use their lights and sirens to get through traffic even if they're not in pursuit of someone.
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.
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.
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.
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you'd be correct
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