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I would just use common sense and start to move over once it is a couple hundred feet from you. I did what you are referring to once before where the the emergency vehicle was about 1/4 mile back on an interstate, I pulled over and felt ridiculous sitting there for 20-30 seconds until it FINALLY passed me.
As with most things in life, common sense rules. I doubt you will ever be cited as nobody can prove when you saw the vehicle. The only time I've ever heard of anyone being cited was a gross violation of failing to yield that did result in a delay.
Is every minute of your everyday life so important that you can't spare a few moments to pull to the side of the road for an emergency vehicle that is coming to somebody's aid, or...is this one more case of you believing that every traffic regulation exists only to extort money from you?
It's simply a waste to pull over or stop if it isn't necessary to do so; roads are for traveling, not stopping. When it is necessary to do so is the topic of this thread.
How about this. Pretend it was someone you loved either in the ambulance or they are on the way to help that person. Whatever it is you would like everyone on the road to do in that situation you should do the same.
What I usually do is I just keep driving at my usual velocity (which may or may not be at the speed limit depending on the appropriateness of the speed limit) and I usually end up getting to my destination long before the emergency vehicle gets close to me. At that point, I'm out of its way. No harm, no foul.
There is a fire station not far from home that results in occasionally seeing a fire truck or ambulance in my rearview mirrors. By "occasionally" I mean once every other month or so. It's surprisingly rare, considering the proximity of the fire station. Its closeness to home is also the reason why the destination I'm headed to when I encounter said flashing lights is home & how I get to that destination so quickly.
I was just wondering what we're supposed to do. However, by keeping on course, I get home on time & more importantly, I am guaranteed to be out of the way of an emergency vehicle that way.
Pull over and get out of the way. You being selfish is endangering someone else's life or lives. What if it was your family??
My brother is a FF and drives the Fire Truck. He says you won't believe the people that won't get out of the way even coming up on 30 feet. He literally just runs them off the road..
Pull over and get out of the way. You being selfish is endangering someone else's life or lives. What if it was your family??
My brother is a FF and drives the Fire Truck. He says you won't believe the people that won't get out of the way even coming up on 30 feet. He literally just runs them off the road..
Heh, that's funny. I was downtown one night and there was a line up at the Detroit/Windsor tunnel. The line up crossed a main road when the Fire Trucks and Police cars showed up. Nobody wanted to move out of the way (and they certainly could) so one cruiser started shoving cars out of the way for the Fire truck, while the other cop started writing them tickets. lol
Because of the thinking I-am-too-far-away-so-siren-doesn't-apply-to-me I see everyday that fire trucks have hard time to get around as everyone including who is just 50ft away thinks it doesn't apply to them. If you see the truck just pull over where it is safe and get out of the way.
When I hear the sirens, I immediately try to determine where the emergency vehicle is and which way it is going, while at the same time figuring out how quickly I can safely pull over and doing so. An occasional 20 seconds by the side of the road doesn't even begin to measure up to the possibility of putting someone else's life or even health at risk in importance, to me, y'know? Clearly, some people's mileage varies in that regard.
Pull over and get out of the way. You being selfish is endangering someone else's life or lives. What if it was your family??
My brother is a FF and drives the Fire Truck. He says you won't believe the people that won't get out of the way even coming up on 30 feet. He literally just runs them off the road..
I don't think anyone is saying that they're impeding an ambulance or fire truck.
Often I'm driving as fast or faster than an ambulance on the highway. If it's a 1/4 or 1/2 mile behind me and not getting any closer (which is similar to what the OP is talking about), how am I endangering anyone's life by continuing to drive?
I have no problem pulling over for an emergency vehicle at an appropriate time as to not delay his progress,its the pulling back onto the road after he's passed that i find to be a bit chaotic as now all those cars that were behind you before you pulled over are now passing you by and giving you no chance to merge back onto the road in the sequence you pulled off the road.
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