The Skoda emergency cars that can break the speed limit, ignore red lights and park where they want – but you can’t buy them
Skoda provides the emergency vehicles to police, fire service and paramedics for rapid response to 999 calls
BELIEVE it or not, Skoda has a history of making rapid response vehicles.
Way back in 1906, it produced a Laurin & Klement ambulance that packed a potent 2.0-litre engine and a rear section that could cram in four stretchers.
Fast forward to 2017 and the Czech brand supplies the UK cops, ambulance and fire services with specially adapted versions of its massive Superb Estate, robust Octavia Scout and, most recently, the new mud-plugging Kodiaq.
This week they invited journalists to jump behind the wheel of some of the latest emergency services models and go for a real “blues and twos” experience.
Arguably coolest of all is the Skoda Superb Estate 280PS police covert car, which cops consider to be one of the best “sleepers” around.
Skoda adds robust suspension for blazing over speed bumps and it upgrades the brakes for better stopping power.
Inside, there are a series of buttons hidden beneath the ashtray that take care of the lights, which are also integrated into the headlamps.
The latest Karoq can be fitted with a removable passenger seat for use in mountain rescue, or it can hold the guns, ammunition and protection required by armed police in its cavernous boot.
Mark, a police driving instructor (he doesn’t want his surname revealed for obvious reasons) explains that any rapid response driver is taught to break driving down into stages – information, position, speed, gear and acceleration.
None of these stages should overlap, with the exception of information, which should be gathered at all times.
So rather than taking the normal line through a bend, cops hang out wide and look right through the corner, set a speed and keep the power balanced before accelerating out when the road ahead is clear.
Mark says: “We probably spend around 90 per cent of a call-out on the wrong side of the road.
“That’s why it’s important to get the best view ahead rather than tucking into the apex like a racing driver.
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“If there was one mistake I’d say every driver makes, it is not looking further up the road, or ‘lifting your vision’, as we call it.”
So next time you see an innocent- looking Skoda Superb Estate pulling up close, make sure it isn’t the law.