Letting emergency vehicles pass.

[arch684]

driving to a fire one day,the car in front would not pull over to let me pass .then they indicated that they were at last pulling over when I over took they sped up and I came in contact with there front wing . we had to stop and drop one of our guys off to take details .that meant we were one guy down when we got to the incident .luckily there was a witness standing at a bus stop who saw what happened .the guy was charged and fined and had points put on his licence

 

[CopperCyclist]

What does the law say on the matter? Specifically. Is a driver obliged to slow or stop or otherwise get out of the way and if not why not?

Specifically, nothing. Nothing at all. Nowhere is it written "you must give way to vehicles on blue lights".

The offence you would be guilty of is careless/inconsiderate driving, for which the burden of proof is "your standard of driving fell below that expected of a competent driver". This court believed (and I would agree with them) that the actions of the male were below that expected from any normal, competent driver.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

Specifically, nothing. Nothing at all. Nowhere is it written "you must give way to vehicles on blue lights".

The offence you would be guilty of is careless/inconsiderate driving, for which the burden of proof is "your standard of driving fell below that expected of a competent driver". This court believed (and I would agree with them) that the actions of the male were below that expected from any normal, competent driver.

I agree with you and them tool. He gesticulating hammered the nails in. But I wondered what the statue was.

 

[Phil Fouracre]

Seems a very weird, pointless attitude, got to wonder about the IQ?

 

[Brandane]

I agree with you and them tool. He gesticulating hammered the nails in. But I wondered what the statue was.

Road Traffic Act 1988 section 3.
AKA driving like a knob and failing to use common sense.

 

[paul04]

This happened to me the other day, an ambulance was behind me when I was in my lorry, a couple of cars had pulled over in front of me, but me being in a truck there was no room to pull over. So I overtook the cars in front knowing further down the road there was a roundabout with a crawler lane up the hill on the other side. The Ambulance driver guessed what I was doing, switched the siren off and happily sat behind me at 56 mph until I hit the roundabout and pulled over into the crawler lane. He passed, siren back on and gave me the thumbs up.

Same here, I drive a 7.5 ton wagon, and sometimes you just can't pull over safely, so you just have to plan ahead.

 

[Crankarm]

I,am a retired firefighter/driver the people who don't want to let you passed are very few, Its the people that panic that are the real problem

"Don't panic Captain Mainwaring …….. DON"T PANIC CAPTAIN MAINWARING!"

 

[ufkacbln]

On the bike I always raise a hand to tell them I've heard them and stop to allow them past me safely - at some of the speeds they have to drive, it's safer!
In the car I slow up if the way ahead is clear, if not I indicate and pull over out the way.
I've made several journeys on a blue light with ill, premature babies from the hospital i worked in, to Great Ormond Street, and have the utmost respect for the emergency drivers. It's definitely a skill!

It is different for me as I have manned Ambulances and also crewed Search and Rescue Helicopters

ANYONE who obstructs an emergency vehicle shoukd be an automatic lifetime ban and a hefty fine.

For me, the importance is to let them know what you are doing.

I always clearly signal to the kerb, pull in and keep the signal clear until they pass.

Unequivocal and clear... helps the driver

 

[shouldbeinbed]

I've not seen anyone obstruct an emergency vehicle but once stuck in and accident tailback on the A1 we all zippered out of the way as an ambulance came up the middle of the 2 lines of vehicles followed with barely a gap by some old couple in their purple Austin Allegro busting the queue in their own way. You had to smile at the audacity.

 

[Accy cyclist]

Don't forget the odd numptie driving the ambulance who thinks it's ok to put the siren on as he's nearly upon you from behind while you're on a bike!

 

[DiddlyDodds]

What does the law say on the matter? Specifically. Is a driver obliged to slow or stop or otherwise get out of the way and if not why not?

As with 99% of others i would pull over , but i was thinking the same, are you required by law to pull over, so was he breaking the law ? , by the fact he got fined it does imply that, but if i was the judge i would have just sent the knobber round the back for a good kicking.

 

[subaqua]

There was a bloke in our village who, not only refused to let the fire engine past, but actually slowed down along a country lane. He went along at about 5 mph, as he was a bit of an idiot. The country lane was a dead end, there were only 2 houses at the bottom of it too. One of which was his. It was on fire! Like I said, a bit of an idiot. Village gossip has it that the insurance company wriggled a lot and wouldn't give him anything like a full payout as he had 'impeded the progress of emergency vehicles'. What a numpty.

I, like the majority of people, get the heck out of the way to let emergency vehicles pass. The bloke in the newspaper report deserved all that he got, and more.

NFN by the sounds of it .

 

[User6179]

Apparently after the guy was banned he came out the court and drove away.

 

[Saluki]

NFN by the sounds of it .

That's not nice. The bloke was some 2nd home owner from London. An absolute snot who spoke with such an estuary accent he was difficult to understand.
Anyway, it's NIN, not NFN.

 

[Saluki]

Apparently after the guy was banned he came out the court and drove away.

That happens a lot.