Blue Light Conflict
Discussion
Deranged Rover said:
Given that there exists the possibility that there is a critically ill patient in that ambulance and that time is of the essence to get them to hospital then, personally speaking, yes, I would indeed go through a red light or into a bus lane to let an ambulance past, if it was giving it the full Blues and Twos.
..and you'd be happy to pick up the fine and the points?20 years time served paramedic here.
I don't expect anyone to do anything illegal to let us past, I won't force anyone either. Even through most red lights I turn the sirens off as just sitting there blaring makes people panic and cars end up all over the place which actually slows things down.
Don't automatically think there is someone dying in the back getting rushed to hospital, that thankfully is quite rare, some of the jobs they send us to on blues are a joke! Magic words spoken on the 999 call automatically ensure this.
Anyway, the only thing that is fustrating is people not concentrating and not seeing or hearing us, even face on sometimes you only see 'the jerk' when they see you about 100 yards in front of their bonnet as that's about as far as some drivers look ahead.
I followed a granite work top company van down the A55 for 4 miles with Blues/two sand bull horn going trying to get in his eye line and he still didn't see or hear me. I managed to get his passengers attention when I turned off up the slip road and got ahead of him still oblivious in lane 2. It's not very often I give the coffee beans....
I don't expect anyone to do anything illegal to let us past, I won't force anyone either. Even through most red lights I turn the sirens off as just sitting there blaring makes people panic and cars end up all over the place which actually slows things down.
Don't automatically think there is someone dying in the back getting rushed to hospital, that thankfully is quite rare, some of the jobs they send us to on blues are a joke! Magic words spoken on the 999 call automatically ensure this.
Anyway, the only thing that is fustrating is people not concentrating and not seeing or hearing us, even face on sometimes you only see 'the jerk' when they see you about 100 yards in front of their bonnet as that's about as far as some drivers look ahead.
I followed a granite work top company van down the A55 for 4 miles with Blues/two sand bull horn going trying to get in his eye line and he still didn't see or hear me. I managed to get his passengers attention when I turned off up the slip road and got ahead of him still oblivious in lane 2. It's not very often I give the coffee beans....
Edited by chrisgtx on Saturday 10th February 14:33
brrapp said:
Maybe you would, but I wouldn't. Would you also go through a red light to make room to let an ambulance pass? I wouldn't. Would you move into a bus lane? I wouldn't.
Pretty sure the correct advice is not to do anything illegal, just carry on until it's safe and legal to move over.
Absolutely spot on, if you go through a red light with a camera on top or a bus lane you WILL get a fine and you won't have a good enough excuse. I'm not sure if it's a policy change but I've noticed emergency vehicles around here will turn off the lights if there is queuing traffic stopped at a red and there's no way around, I think it's to stop other motorists doing illegal thingsPretty sure the correct advice is not to do anything illegal, just carry on until it's safe and legal to move over.
Deranged Rover said:
Bigends said:
..and you'd be happy to pick up the fine and the points?
Frankly, that would seem a small price to pay to ensure you weren’t helping to put someone’s life at risk, don’t you think? Pericoloso said:
It seems Ambulance drivers, who are probably way too overstressed ,are bullying motorists out the way nowadays if they don't get
past immediately.
Not everywhere, the ambulances in Berkshire are generally very very well driven, to the point of turning sirens off at red lights and waiting if they get stuck behind cars waiting.past immediately.
Deranged Rover said:
Frankly, that would seem a small price to pay to ensure you weren’t helping to put someone’s life at risk, don’t you think?
Nope. I risk losing my job if I don’t have a clean licence.If the authorities want us to break the law to allow emergency vehicles past (which I don’t believe they do) then they need to make it a statutory defence in the event of prosecution.
In the absence of that, I will do what I can LEGALLY to get out of the way, and that’s all.
Deranged Rover said:
Bigends said:
..and you'd be happy to pick up the fine and the points?
Frankly, that would seem a small price to pay to ensure you weren’t helping to put someone’s life at risk, don’t you think? zarjaz1991 said:
Deranged Rover said:
Frankly, that would seem a small price to pay to ensure you weren’t helping to put someone’s life at risk, don’t you think?
Nope. I risk losing my job if I don’t have a clean licence.If the authorities want us to break the law to allow emergency vehicles past (which I don’t believe they do) then they need to make it a statutory defence in the event of prosecution.
In the absence of that, I will do what I can LEGALLY to get out of the way, and that’s all.
Len Woodman said:
At 00:39 fire tender coming around the bend, surprised the road markings allow vehicles coming that way can cross over to the other carriageway. Would have thought two solid white lines.But good video.
eAyeAddio said:
simoid said:
In this case, it’s a solid white line.
No it isn't. The line closest to lane 2 is broken and it is not illegal to cross it in this case.
I feel there are a few wires crossed here with regards to chevrons and white lines etc.
Looking at the aerial view of your incident, the chevrons are just areas of the carriageway which assist to feed traffic onto the dual carriageway or off the dual carriageway.
You can cross the lines without committing any offence, BUT, THIS ONLY APPLIES TO A DUAL CARRIAGEWAY.
On a motorway you would be guilty of driving elsewhere than on the carriageway, but this rule DOES NOT apply to a dual carriageway. (Unless it is a M class dual carriageway like the A1(M) or the A621(M) etc.etc).
The solid white lines and hatching's you are referring to that you shouldn't cross, are the chevroned areas which are contained within the DOUBLE WHITE LINE system. If it is within the double white lines area of the carriageway and the bordering lines are solid AND the chevrons touch the bordering lines on both sides, then you should not cross them except to avoid an accident, directed by Police etc. or to pass a stationary obstruction etc.
But your chevroned areas shown are NOT within the DWL system.
The answer to the question should be to get the f
k out of the way at your earliest opportunity. As someone else said, you do not know how critically ill a patient could be on board, or could be at their intended destination, and could lose their life if the ambulance be unnecessarily obstructed because they had forgotten the contents of the highway code.
Looking at your scenario as you describe it, I would have been inclined to accelerate gently in the outside lane until I could safely pull in and allow the Ambulance to proceed unobstructed. And if you did exceed the speed limit it would only be for a few seconds and very unlikely that it would be enough for you to get nabbed. (Unless its camera and thats then down to your common sense to decide)
Looking at the aerial view of your incident, the chevrons are just areas of the carriageway which assist to feed traffic onto the dual carriageway or off the dual carriageway.
You can cross the lines without committing any offence, BUT, THIS ONLY APPLIES TO A DUAL CARRIAGEWAY.
On a motorway you would be guilty of driving elsewhere than on the carriageway, but this rule DOES NOT apply to a dual carriageway. (Unless it is a M class dual carriageway like the A1(M) or the A621(M) etc.etc).
The solid white lines and hatching's you are referring to that you shouldn't cross, are the chevroned areas which are contained within the DOUBLE WHITE LINE system. If it is within the double white lines area of the carriageway and the bordering lines are solid AND the chevrons touch the bordering lines on both sides, then you should not cross them except to avoid an accident, directed by Police etc. or to pass a stationary obstruction etc.
But your chevroned areas shown are NOT within the DWL system.
The answer to the question should be to get the f
k out of the way at your earliest opportunity. As someone else said, you do not know how critically ill a patient could be on board, or could be at their intended destination, and could lose their life if the ambulance be unnecessarily obstructed because they had forgotten the contents of the highway code.Looking at your scenario as you describe it, I would have been inclined to accelerate gently in the outside lane until I could safely pull in and allow the Ambulance to proceed unobstructed. And if you did exceed the speed limit it would only be for a few seconds and very unlikely that it would be enough for you to get nabbed. (Unless its camera and thats then down to your common sense to decide)
Edited by FlyingFin on Saturday 24th March 02:20
FlyingFin said:
The answer to the question should be to get the fk out of the way at your earliest LEGAL opportunity.
Added "LEGAL" - makes all the difference. There's no way for a car driver to know if the patient has an ingrown toenail or a heart attack, and if it's really that urgent then a police escort would ease the way.k out of the way at your earliest LEGAL opportunity.HTP99 said:
Deranged Rover said:
Bigends said:
..and you'd be happy to pick up the fine and the points?
Frankly, that would seem a small price to pay to ensure you weren’t helping to put someone’s life at risk, don’t you think? ATG said:
Jesus wept. If you can't judge whether it is safe to creep over the line at a red light to let an ambulance pass, then you shouldn't be on the road in the first place. And surely it is better for the car to change lane rather than require a faster moving, less manoeuvrable vehicle with a potentially fragile cargo to do so? And finally if getting some points in those circumstances could cost you your job perhaps the problem is the existing nine points on your license (i.e. your driving) or the knuckle headed attitude of your employer?
Perhaps the previous 9 points were for illegally clearing the way for emergency vehicles 
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