[Daedalus7]

Originally Posted by vegas taco

some cities in texas they run stings where they will have an ambulance of fire truck drive with the lights and siren on followed by police cars...dont pull over for the ambulance or fire truck you will be pulled over by the police

I wouldn't call it a "sting", but when I worked in EMS and the police saw we were going to a call, they would sometimes pull in behind us and give tickets to people who didn't yield. It was fantastic because driving with lights and sirens is dangerous enough without people who don't know how to (or don't want to) respond to an emergency vehicle.

Please, please, please pull to the right and stop when you see an emergency vehicle with lights/sirens on the road.

[Ethan Allen]

I use common sense. If the ambulance is heading in the opposite direction as I am, and they're in the far left lane, obviously they are not going to be making a left turn in front of me. They're in position to make a right turn away from me. I'm not going to change my driving.

If they are behind me, I will get out of their way.

If they are approaching a light, I will stop. If I am at a red light that turns green, I'll stay put until I see where they are going. Seeing people go through the light while the ambulance has to wait irks me to no end.

I'm not going to slow down and inconvenience myself if I'm not going to be impeding them. If i am going to impede them then I will do whatever I can to get out of the way because I would like people to extend me the same courtesy if I ever need an ambulance.

[AA702]

The problem with some of the new cars these days is the amount of noise insulation they have and how loud people listen to their car audio systems. I used a lot of sound dampening material (dynamat with really thin foam insulation) in my truck to quiet down road noise and it also works well as extra insulation. Sometimes I cant even hear the fire truck or ambulance until I actually see them coming with the flashing lights. But I try to pull over to the right as soon as possible to let them pass.

[oeccscclhjhn]

Originally Posted by Ethan Allen

I use common sense. If the ambulance is heading in the opposite direction as I am, and they're in the far left lane, obviously they are not going to be making a left turn in front of me. They're in position to make a right turn away from me. I'm not going to change my driving.

If they are behind me, I will get out of their way.

If they are approaching a light, I will stop. If I am at a red light that turns green, I'll stay put until I see where they are going. Seeing people go through the light while the ambulance has to wait irks me to no end.

I'm not going to slow down and inconvenience myself if I'm not going to be impeding them. If i am going to impede them then I will do whatever I can to get out of the way because I would like people to extend me the same courtesy if I ever need an ambulance.

And there you have it.

[WestieJeff]

I don't see any problem with his response. That's nearly letter of the law anyways. If there is a hard median between you and the emergency vehicle you legally do not need to pull to the right. If it's an open road then yes legally you do need to pull to the right, but it's unlikely they will pull a turn in the middle of an undivided road anyways.

Generally most people I see pull to the right on roads. The freeway I do often see people not pull over, which I assume they are not paying enough attention.

"Full" intersections are usually a cluster when an emergency vehicle approaches, but not sure there is much that can be done about that.

Originally Posted by oeccscclhjhn

And there you have it.

[jfkIII]

The common sense approach I use is envisioning that there is a baby inside that ambulance that needs to get to the hospital, or it will die. I will do everything to get out of the ambulance's way, and pull over to right wherever it is coming from, so as to allow the driver to make any move possible to get there as quickly as possible.

[OmegaSupreme]

What boils my blood most is when people honk their horn and overtake you because they have no f'n clue there is an emergency vehicle approaching from behind

If a car pulls over to the right and safely comes to a stop, it might just be because they are obeying the law

[OmegaSupreme]

Originally Posted by vegas taco

some cities in texas they run stings where they will have an ambulance of fire truck drive with the lights and siren on followed by police cars...dont pull over for the ambulance or fire truck you will be pulled over by the police

About 25% of the drivers here would get a ticket

[Boris347]

In our State, and several others I know, an Ambulance or a Fire truck, do not have the right of way. People make room for them because that's what your supposed to do out of courtesy. You move, if you have room and are driving, and if at a light and stopped, and can't move, you stay stopped, and let the emergency vehicle pick their way around you. That's what they want you to do.

[Ethan Allen]

Originally Posted by jfkIII

The common sense approach I use is envisioning that there is a baby inside that ambulance that needs to get to the hospital, or it will die. I will do everything to get out of the ambulance's way, and pull over to right wherever it is coming from, so as to allow the driver to make any move possible to get there as quickly as possible.

That is an excellent way to get rear ended. People rubbernecking the passing ambulance not paying any attention to your car, that is now at a dead stop int he middle of the road.