The Metropolitan Police Motor Driving School
| Jurisdiction | United Kingdom |
| Author | O. V. Thomas |
| Published date | 01 January 1959 |
| Date | 01 January 1959 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/0032258X5903200110 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
EX-INSPECTOR
O.
V.
THOMAS
The
Metropolitan
Poliee
Motor
Driving
Sehool
T~
POLICE Motor Driving School, at Hendon, which has been in
existence since 1935 (excluding the war years), is regarded as one
of the finest in the country.
Officers who have been trained at the School and qualify receive
a driving certificate. They are very proud of this document, and
those who have qualified as Class I drivers, particularly, appreciate
the intensity of the training and the high degree of skill required in
order to drive fast and safely on our roads today.
Press comments about the School have for many years been very
favourable. A series of articles written in The Motor in January
1952 and The Autocar in 1954 described the "Hendon Style" of
driving as outstandingly good; "driving methods that result from
nineteen years' continuous study." Mr. S.C. H. Davis, until recently
Sports Editor of The Autocar, who has considerable experience
of driving, track and road racing, paid the Driving School the
highest tribute in his book Car Driving as an Art.
Up to 1928 the only motor vehicles operated by the Metropolitan
Police were Flying Squad cars, prison vans and dispatch vans, and
a few cars for the use by senior officers at Commissioner's Office
and the four District Headquarters. Crimes in which motor vehicles
had been used were reported to Scotland Yard for action by the
Flying Squad, whose cars were then fitted with wireless telegraphy
and were at that time the only vehicles in use to combat crime.
Drunken or violent prisoners were conveyed to Police Stations by
hand ambulance.
Early in 1930, vans were supplied to Sub-Divisional Stations and
a few Sectional Stations. Drivers were selected from members of
the Force who possessed driving ability and were able to carry
out
minor running repairs. There was no system of grading and drivers
were required to pass a test on each type and make of vehicle.
The
Mobile Police, later known as Traffic Patrols, were formed
in December 1930, as a result of the passing of the Road Traffic
Act that year.
The
transport fleet then consisted of about 45 Morris
two-and-four seater cars, 8 RS.A. three-wheeled cars, a similar
number of B.S.A. motor-cycle combinations, and 50 B.S.A. solo
motor-cycles.
The
whole organisation was under the direction of
January-hlarch 1959 53
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