If there is a siren and lights move out of the way!

COMMENT

You see as I travelled down a relatively busy road near my home, there was one driver, who decided that for them, the road rules, laws and just general safety and courtesy for others do not apply and instead, they’d use the situation to their advantage, seemingly without a care in the world. And the whole experience, well it had me fuming.

It was mid-morning, and I heard a siren behind me. Looking in my rear-view mirror I saw an ambulance, lights flashing, coming up the road behind me, still relatively in the distance. As I looked around to establish the safest place to pull over, to let them pass, most other cars up ahead of me and behind me did the same thing.

But there was one (isn’t there always), who decided that creating a clear path for an emergency vehicle attending to an emergency wasn’t their priority. Instead of doing the right thing like everyone else around them, I watched on as they remained in the lane, continuing to drive along to wherever it was that they were going, apparently somewhere far more important than this ambulance.

As the ambulance made up the space between them and Obnoxious Driver, I thought surely this car is going to pull over now, I mean there are only two lanes, and the other lane of traffic is oncoming. Surely, they will do the right thing now?

No. They surely did not. Instead, as I re-joined the road I saw the ambulance up ahead, stuck behind this car, for a good 20 seconds or so, unable to move around it until enough cars had pulled over on the opposite side, allowing the ambulance to overtake the car in front and pass.

Flabbergasted, I shook my head in disbelief that a car would choose to do this, to slow down an ambulance en route to an emergency – I mean how selfish can you be?

Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time I have encountered this. It is either that drivers believe they are the number one priority or don’t know the laws and road rules around responding to emergency vehicles. Either way, it’s not good, it’s not safe and it can also be illegal.

According to the Transport Accident Commission (TAC), if a police, emergency, enforcement or escort vehicle has its red, blue or magenta lights flashing or its siren on, you must:

You must also stop if twin red lights are flashing on a road, for example outside a fire or ambulance station. You can start driving again once the lights have stopped flashing and the road is clear of emergency or other vehicles.

Ambulance Victoria Driving Standards Department Coordinator Nick Thresher says there is no difference between an ambulance responding with lights and sirens, and an ambulance responding with only flashing lights.

In either situation, if you see an ambulance approaching with flashing lights or sounding a siren, as soon as it is safe to do so, move out of the way.

“You don’t need to swerve quickly. Simply indicate to show which direction you’ll be moving and then do so at a safe place and at a safe speed,” he says.

“Paramedics are trained to find their way through traffic congestion when responding to an emergency, so if it is unsafe or you cannot move out of the way, gradually slow down and if necessary, stop.”

Do you read that Obnoxious Driver? Do not keep driving as if the road is yours, do not utilise the clear lane for your own benefit, and do not ignore the flashing lights, sirens and other cars doing the right thing just because you can.

And for accidents that emergency vehicles are responding to on the roads or the side of roads, you need to slow down says Thresher.

“The roadside is also often a paramedic’s workplace so when you see us stopped by the side of the road, please slow down to pass at 40km/h, if safe to do so.”

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