Avoiding Collision with Emergency Vehicles
Feb 24 '00
As a firefighter, I am licensed to drive emergency vehicles such as fire engines carrying 500 gallons of water, fire trucks containing lots of heavy equipment, and other emergency vehicles containing heavy equipment and volatile chemicals.
For personal use, I also drive a subcompact car and a motorcycle. I have participated in amateur road racing and have many hours of experience and training in driving at high speeds and in close quarters. (I might also mention that I have attended traffic school more than once!)
Here in San Francisco, we live in a densely populated area with geographical features which sometimes make it difficult to judge where certain noises are coming from. One such noise might be the sound of an emergency vehicle, such as a police car, ambulance, or fire rescue emergency vehicle approaching an intersection. Buildings and hills can cause the sound of sirens and what are usually pretty loud diesel engines to seem to be coming from a different direction from which they are actually approaching. Many accidents involving emergency vehicles occur because people miscalculate the speed and direction of such vehicles.
Emergency vehicle operators in this city are trained to enter intersections cautiously, alert to the fact that other vehicles may not see or hear them. Even though an emergency vehicle may pass through an intersection against a red light or stop sign does not relieve them of responsibility to slow and look carefully before crossing that intersection.
In spite of this, and in spite of the most careful judgment of the driver, accidents do sometimes occur. While I do not have at hand any statistics regarding such accidents, I hope the examples which follow will help you to decide to drive more carefully if only for the reason that it may help an emergency vehicle more expeditiously reach a destination towards which emergency personnel are headed in order to give aid, and avoid unnecessary injuries to anyone.
--A fire engine was approaching an intersection, using lights and sirens, with three lanes going in each direction. The emergency vehicle's direction of travel was into an intersection where perpendicular traffic had the right of way (green light). The driver slowed to assess the safety of entering the intersection. It appeared to be clear as vehicles were stopped. The fire engine proceeded into the intersection. Unfortunately, there was an open lane in which no cars were stopped and a car sped through and struck the side of the fire engine causing injuries to the firefighters aboard. They were unable to proceed to the emergency. The moral of this story is that if you are approaching an intersection in a clear lane where most of the traffic appears to be stopped, you should approach with caution.
--A fire engine was proceeding down a street with two lanes in each direction. The speed limit was 35 miles per hour, and the fire engine was in the right hand lane as traffic approached a controlled intersection with a red light. A small car made a sudden lane change in front of the fire vehicle without using signals. The driver was forced to brake hard to avoid hitting the vehicle. A fire engine is very heavy and does not stop as quickly as a car. Fortunately, there was no contact or damage. The moral of this story is be aware, as a driver, of the vehicles around you. If a large vehicle cannot stop in time, it is likely that it will do a lot of damage to a smaller one.
--A fire truck approaches an intersection in heavy traffic while in the right-hand lane. It slows so that the driver can assess the safety of proceeding into the intersection. Another driver interprets the slowing down to be something which is impeding his expeditious return home after work and makes a right turn in front of the emergency vehicle from a left-hand lane. The driver narrowly avoids being hit by a half-block-long vehicle which is making a lot of noise and flashing lights. The moral of this story is that there are some very good reasons to avoid making a turn out of the wrong lane around any other vehicle. If you are in the wrong lane, go around the block, or wait for the vehicle to pass!
All of these situations are similar to problems you have probably experienced in traffic while driving a passenger vehicle. I'd say all of us have probably been in hairy situations from which we are happy to have emerged alive or unmaimed. We may consider ourselves good drivers but we must always be alert to others who aren't, or be aware that other drivers may be having a bad day (or even a bad moment) just as we have had ourselves.
We are trained not to assume that other vehicles will yield to us the right of way. We are also trained to abide by the traffic laws in order to gain and keep our special licenses. Our jobs depend upon it.
Your job may not depend upon your having a driver's license. You may think that you will not be caught or cited if you make a turn out of a lane in front of an emergency vehicle, or block its egress from the station when an emergency call comes in, and you are probably right. What I am asking you here is to consider the fact that it may be your friend, your daughter, your student, your patient, or your client who is to be the recipient of care or protection from an emergency responder trying to speed across an intersection to their destination, even if it may inconvenience you. Also, if you are involved in an accident with a heavy emergency vehicle, there are bound to be injuries.
Please be alert and aware. Stop and pull to the side of the road whenever you hear a siren. Don't move until you are sure it is safe, and that it will not impede the efforts of the emergency crew. I'm sure you would want others to grant you this courtesy if you were in need of help.
Thank you,
Erika A. Lockhart
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