Dear Northwest PA... (Trooper, Kane, McKean: live, beach, vehicles)

[thecoalman]

As I originally posted here is the problem:

Knowing that I would be in danger if another vehicle approached from the opposite direction, I slowed down but kept moving fast enough to be able to get out of the "wrong lane" as quickly as possible in case another car came at me in that lane.

They should not of had to tell you to stop. When you're approaching an emergency vehicle that is blocking your lane of traffic you come to a stop unless directed otherwise. Numerous road workers and emergency workers are hit and killed each year because of irresponsible acts like this. This is just common courtesy.

[RomaniGypsy]

Originally Posted by thecoalman

As I originally posted here is the problem:



They should not of had to tell you to stop. When you're approaching an emergency vehicle that is blocking your lane of traffic you come to a stop unless directed otherwise. Numerous road workers and emergency workers are hit and killed each year because of irresponsible acts like this. This is just common courtesy.

*groan*

Not if they're not STANDING IN THE OTHER LANE. For as annoying as these guys were, they had the sense to stay out of the one open lane. Problem solved, lives preserved. NOBODY stops automatically when passing an emergency vehicle / work vehicle / whatever. If they did, there'd be no need for flaggers or people to direct traffic.

[North Beach Person]

Originally Posted by RomaniGypsy

*groan*

Not if they're not STANDING IN THE OTHER LANE. For as annoying as these guys were, they had the sense to stay out of the one open lane. Problem solved, lives preserved. NOBODY stops automatically when passing an emergency vehicle / work vehicle / whatever. If they did, there'd be no need for flaggers or people to direct traffic.

??????????????

Where the **** did you learn how to drive, one of the ****stans in Asia?

[tgauchsin]

Originally Posted by RomaniGypsy

*groan*

Not if they're not STANDING IN THE OTHER LANE. For as annoying as these guys were, they had the sense to stay out of the one open lane. Problem solved, lives preserved. NOBODY stops automatically when passing an emergency vehicle / work vehicle / whatever. If they did, there'd be no need for flaggers or people to direct traffic.

Ah I now see. It is the rescuers fault. Maybe what they should have done was to block both lanes of traffic until they were finished. "Problem solved, lives preserved" - including theirs, the victims and yours. But I bet you'd probably be upset at the inconvenience of being "automatically stopped" until the rescue is over.

Blowing by them at an excessive rate of speed in the "one open lane," endangering everyone is unacceptable and you got what you deserved. What an entitled, self-centered piece of work you are.

[RomaniGypsy]

Originally Posted by tgauchsin

Ah I now see. It is the rescuers fault. Maybe what they should have done was to block both lanes of traffic until they were finished. "Problem solved, lives preserved" - including theirs, the victims and yours. But I bet you'd probably be upset at the inconvenience of being "automatically stopped" until the rescue is over.

Blowing by them at an excessive rate of speed in the "one open lane," endangering everyone is unacceptable and you got what you deserved. What an entitled, self-centered piece of work you are.

Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed this morning, junior?

The accident was a pickup truck that had skidded off the road and was resting 10-15 feet off the right side of the road, smashed against a tree. There would have been zero need to block both lanes of traffic, at least at that exact time when they had just arrived at the scene and there were no tow trucks anywhere. (And if they DID have to block both lanes of traffic, it would be okay as long as they had posted a detour at the last available place to veer off.)

As for an excessive rate of speed, there is no such thing as rate of speed. Speed is rate of travel. Acceleration is rate of change of speed. So let's call it "speed". "Excessive" qualifies (at least to me) as a speed which renders people unsafe or in danger (assuming there is no posted speed limit, or that driving at the posted speed limit would be dangerous as it would have been in this case). As long as I'm not endangering anyone nor speeding, I'm not driving at an excessive speed. Now, if there are laws on the books to countermand that, stating that there actually IS a speed limit when passing emergency vehicles in all cases (such as 10 miles per hour as the one ornery guy told me), then there is a certain inherent burden of education on the state. In this age where everyone travels and very frequently from state to state, NOBODY is going to know that you're supposed to pass a stopped emergency vehicle at 10 miles per hour. (Most states that tell you to slow down when passing an emergency vehicle have signs posted which only say that - "move over or slow down when passing stopped emergency vehicle". Those signs never tell you how slow to go... and if I had to guess why, it would be that telling people how slow they need to go would drastically reduce the number of tickets that cops could write for speeding past emergency vehicles... which reduces the amount of money in the local government's coffers. Here we go again.)

I lived in PA for three years, went to college there for 3 1/2 more, and STILL didn't know that! Many states post large signs every now and then, advertising certain traffic laws that most people don't know. PA has no problem doing that with their "work zone - turn on headlights" law, which is a law few states have. When there is an emergency, the emergency crew should post up a temporary sign which says something like "emergency ahead - 10 MPH". How hard could that be?

Endangering everyone?

Hardly.

It's a shame to see that you have so little to keep you occupied in life that you would join an online forum and then by your sixth post be personally attacking people. You have my pity.

[thecoalman]

Originally Posted by RomaniGypsy

(And if they DID have to block both lanes of traffic, it would be okay as long as they had posted a detour at the last available place to veer off.)

Yes. we they must have their prioroitize and make sure Mr. RomaniGypsy is not inconvenienced and then we take care of the people in the crash.

Now, if there are laws on the books to countermand that, stating that there actually IS a speed limit when passing emergency vehicles in all cases (such as 10 miles per hour as the one ornery guy told me), then there is a certain inherent burden of education on the state. In this age where everyone travels and very frequently from state to state, NOBODY is going to know that you're supposed to pass a stopped emergency vehicle at 10 miles per hour.

Law or not this is common sense and courtesy.

When there is an emergency, the emergency crew should post up a temporary sign which says something like "emergency ahead - 10 MPH". How hard could that be?

This is what those big red flashing blinky thingies are for on the tops of their vehicles for that you can see for miles away and even around corners. This is what we refer to as an emergency light. When you're approaching a vehicle that has one these big red flashing blinky thingies activated it's an indication of danger.

[RomaniGypsy]

Originally Posted by thecoalman

Yes. we they must have their prioroitize and make sure Mr. RomaniGypsy is not inconvenienced and then we take care of the people in the crash.

I was once involved in a wreck which came to require both lanes of traffic to be blocked off. Traffic crawled past us in one lane (with EMS guys directing traffic) for as long as it took for the traffic to be blocked off at the last available place to turn off... so that people weren't stopped for hours as the investigation and cleanup took place. This was in Pennsylvania, by the way.

Originally Posted by thecoalman

Law or not this is common sense and courtesy.

I agree that slowing down is common sense an courtesy. But 10 mph? You're hardly moving at 10 mph. I can outrun a car going 10 mph. If you have to slow down THAT MUCH, it ought to be posted. For example, everyone knows you're supposed to slow down as you approach a curve. But, for especially tight curves, the "curve ahead" signs are accompanied by suggested speed signs. If the suggested speed is 20 mph, you'd better slow down quite a bit because you ain't getting through it at more than 30 even on a dry day with good tread on your tires.

Originally Posted by thecoalman

This is what those big red flashing blinky thingies are for on the tops of their vehicles for that you can see for miles away and even around corners. This is what we refer to as an emergency light. When you're approaching a vehicle that has one these big red flashing blinky thingies activated it's an indication of danger.

Did you read my original post? They were OVER A HILL. I could not see the flashing lights stopped because this area of PA is very hilly and the lights were obscured by the hill. I couldn't see any aura from the lights because it was broad daylight. I slowed down as soon as I came close to the top of the hill and recognized that there were stopped emergency vehicles ahead.

[thecoalman]

Originally Posted by RomaniGypsy

I was once involved in a wreck which came to require both lanes of traffic to be blocked off. Traffic crawled past us in one lane (with EMS guys directing traffic) for as long as it took for the traffic to be blocked off at the last available place to turn off... so that people weren't stopped for hours as the investigation and cleanup took place. This was in Pennsylvania, by the way.

You stated the ambulance driver had just passed you out, you expect them to set up detour when the accident just happened.

I agree that slowing down is common sense an courtesy. But 10 mph? You're hardly moving at 10 mph. I can outrun a car going 10 mph. If you have to slow down THAT MUCH, it ought to be posted. For example, everyone knows you're supposed to slow down as you approach a curve.

That sounds like a reasonable speed for me, the slower you are going the more time you'll have to react. You have to remember these people are responding to an accident and may be in quite a bit of hurry trying to save someones life and may not be thinking about the guy speeding by them at excessive speed because he shouldn't be.

[RomaniGypsy]

Originally Posted by thecoalman

You stated the ambulance driver had just passed you out, you expect them to set up detour when the accident just happened.

That sounds like a reasonable speed for me, the slower you are going the more time you'll have to react. You have to remember these people are responding to an accident and may be in quite a bit of hurry trying to save someones life and may not be thinking about the guy speeding by them at excessive speed because he shouldn't be.

Even if you're entirely right, that doesn't change anything. The problem was not that they wanted me to slow down. I already was slowing down. I wasn't complaining about the presence of EMS people, the inconvenience of slowing down, anything of the sort. I was complaining about their disposition and the way they behaved. Even if they believed I was not driving safely, they didn't have to be so rude and ornery. Even if they had to stop me, a simple "I can see you're not from around here but in Pennsylvania, when there's an emergency vehicle stopped, if you're going to pass, you have to keep it to 10 mph or less" would have sufficed. But instead they decided to be rude and ornery. There's no excuse for that. My excuse is that I live in freaking TEXAS and haven't been on top of the PA laws lately. Their excuse for how they behaved can only be that they go to sleep every night hugging a pillow wishing it were a live woman.

[thecoalman]

Again, law or not it's common courtesy to proceed with caution no matter what state you are in.