What do you do if you see blue lights behind you ?
Discussion
Busy traffic in leicester this morning, an ambulance comes up behind the slow moving queue I'm in, people just stopped. In effect blocking the road completely. Are people trained to do this these days or do they just panic and stop, surely it's far better to keep going till a suitable place appears to pull into, thus clearing the road. Or even put your foot down till you see somewhere suitable.
eybic said:
It's panicking rather than training I think. I'm sure the current "advice" is let them "split" the lane so left lane moves left and right lane moves right, they go down the middle.
This. It's because normally intelligent, competent people switch off behind the wheel, fail to pay attention/have zero spatial awareness, then s^%t themselves when something (the arrival of blue flashing lights/sirens) suddenly refocuses them on the road.
It very much depends on the layout and width of the carriageway you are on. Use common sense to get out of the way. That could mean pulling over, stopping or making progress until you reach a suitable place to pull in
I do however refuse to kerb my car in the way that I see some people mount it
I do however refuse to kerb my car in the way that I see some people mount it
I had one of the fast response paramedic estates come up behind me just outside Malvern the other week. I was doing 60 in an NSL, the road was winding with no clear overtaking spots and nowhere to pull over really (fairly steep ditches and big hedges on either side of the road). Thankfully I passed the scene of the accident he was responding to after only about 45 seconds or so but had he been following me for a while I'm really not sure what I "should" have done in this case! Slow on one of the straighter bits and let him past or just keep doing 60?
Many do seem to panic and just freeze, but there again there does seem to be some strange emergency vehicle driving too these days. I was in L1 and stuck in a very slow jam (<5mph) on the M62 the other night when an ambulance appeared in my mirror about 1/2 mile back. He very slowly parted the waves between L2 & 3 and took around 3 or 4 minutes to get level with me. All this time though, the hard shoulder was entirely free so surely they could've gone down there at around 30mph perfectly safely?
I've seen police doing similar recently. Has there been some new directive?? It just seems mad.
I've seen police doing similar recently. Has there been some new directive?? It just seems mad.
ManOpener said:
I had one of the fast response paramedic estates come up behind me just outside Malvern the other week. I was doing 60 in an NSL, the road was winding with no clear overtaking spots and nowhere to pull over really (fairly steep ditches and big hedges on either side of the road). Thankfully I passed the scene of the accident he was responding to after only about 45 seconds or so but had he been following me for a while I'm really not sure what I "should" have done in this case! Slow on one of the straighter bits and let him past or just keep doing 60?
You were in my neck of the woods there then. I am a Firefighter in Hereford and worcester (blue light trained) and its quite common in a fire engine that we can get behind cars on open roads that are travelling just as quick if not quicker than we are. If that is the case we let them keep going. We will keep our blues on for visual warnings, but turn the sirens off unless required. The sirens seem to cause mass hysteria and everyone panics. But in the real world if the driver in front can see we arent really gaining or likely to take over, hopefully they keep going and we just follow. Doesnt cause any hazards, no one pulls over in dangerous places. With the aim of everyone going about their business as usual.
If we need to get past we make it known, positioned out in the middle or other side of the road (in dafe places obviously) should alert people that we are looking to pass, all bells and whistles etc.
A few times now I've been driving the van in lane 3 and have seen blue lights in my mirrors in the distance. As I am indicating into lane 2 I've given a few long flashes of main beam, in the hope that those in front will be attracted to their mirrors and see said blue lights, as they won't have been able to see much beyond me in their mirrors.
Cue 20-30 seconds passing and they are still none the wiser when the emergency vehicle is right up their chuff.
Cue 20-30 seconds passing and they are still none the wiser when the emergency vehicle is right up their chuff.
I am an ex copper and i always liked it when people let me know they had seen me, i was trained to look out for that and also approach at a speed that allows people to acknowledge and act accordingly.
The amount of idiots who were seemingly oblivious to three different tones and flashing blue lights, yet noticed when i used the normal car horn never failed to astound me.
Nothing comes close to the adrenaline rush of driving on a blue light run as not only do you have to be on top of your driving game, but also there is something "interesting" to deal with when you get there.
The amount of idiots who were seemingly oblivious to three different tones and flashing blue lights, yet noticed when i used the normal car horn never failed to astound me.
Nothing comes close to the adrenaline rush of driving on a blue light run as not only do you have to be on top of your driving game, but also there is something "interesting" to deal with when you get there.
lesstatt said:
Busy traffic in leicester this morning, an ambulance comes up behind the slow moving queue I'm in, people just stopped. In effect blocking the road completely. Are people trained to do this these days or do they just panic and stop, surely it's far better to keep going till a suitable place appears to pull into, thus clearing the road. Or even put your foot down till you see somewhere suitable.
Narborough road by any chance?Carl
I had an ambulance come through the centre of stationary traffic a few years ago. Left lane went up the kerb to the left and right lane to the right. I was in my Noble and had no chance of going anywhere near the kerb, so went straight down the centre for about 50m at which point it went into 3 lanes and there was room for me to get over. Not sure if I upset anyone with that one!
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff