Having worked in the Fire/EMS field for a while as an apparatus operator. I have just come to expect people not to see me or pay attention. Our department policy was to stop at all stop signs and traffic signals. One time when I was assigned to our medic rig responding to a fire alarm drop.
We were casually making our way to the alarm and cautiously passing vehicles. We slowed down for a vehicle that had not moved over and waited for it to yield. We then began to move in to the opposing lane of traffic to pass them, when the vehicle in front of us took decided he could not wait and began to pass the car in front of him. At this time we were already next to him in the opposing lane of traffic. He had almost sideswiped us and then swerved back in the other lane, while cursing at us and displaying his IQ through use of middle finger. (mind you all this time, our lights and sirens blaring all this time) We then got back in our lane and continued or response when I loked in my rearview and noticed that the person who we passed was on our tail...(I mean RIGHT ON OUR TAIL) I was absolutely dumbfounded that this character was doing this. We came up to a red traffic signal. Stopped as per norm, and proceded through it, well so did our new friend. he continued to follow us until the next intersection, where he abruptly turned right and sped away.

All we could do was just laugh at the whole incident, but had he hit someone in the process of being our shadow, he probably would've sued us for making him cause an accident. (sorry for the long post)

 

Again this is CA, your area may vary. You must remain at least 300 feet behind a moving emergency vehicle displaying a flashing amber light.

Jim

 

Around here we're required to stop at any red light (although usually it's a slow roll until we know we're clear). Red lights and sirens aren't a license to speed, break traffic laws, etc. Cars should stop for us, but they don't' always. During rush hour they often won't even stop even though they know we're coming. They only stop at the intersection where they now clogged it up forcing us to get around them and further risk an accident due to cars now not knowing what to do. I take my time in getting the truck to the scene. It's more important to get there in one piece and be useful at a scene than getting tied up in an accident.

Volunteer lights are a joke. Nobody pays attention to them. Sometimes they look right at you and never move out of the way. Why have one? The only time I use one is when I'm parked. They're pointless otherwise.

 

i used to have a volunteer siren but i found out that if u throw on ur flashers the little sign that says volunteer firefighter+flashers means that people will try there hardest to get out of the way and only 1 time i have been stuck in traffic, sometimes if i can ill take the median or turning lane to pass some vehicles, cops here are pretty nice but occasionally they pull me over and i tell them that im on a fire call and they escort me to the scene and people here WILL move for a cop with flashing lights, its nice and i think that if people hit ambulance drivers or any emergency vehichles its automatically there fault except under certain circumstances, and that emergency vehicles should have the right away at all times
Don

P.S. Buddy of mine got himself some sirens for his ranger and all the local cops know not to pull him over and usually wont even if the lights arent on
Don

 

Man a bummer. Brings back memories after reading the story. I did my time, college wise and intership wise at the hospital listed along with others and rode with some of those units. I remember bouncing around in the back of those rigs in VB & Newport News and a lot of people just ignored you with light and sirens.
Now that I am working at a "slower pace" FD most people up here are pretty good about stopping and getting out of the way. You get the occasional one that doesnt see you until you get right up on them. Those are the ones to watch out for. Once we are on scene we just shut down the highway until we are done. People dont like that but all well safety first. We have to follow all laws although we are allowed to break the speed limit but at a safe a prudent speed. That is kinda a vague. I'v learned over the years that speeding usually dosent make too much of a difference and to take a deep breath when the call comes in and try to suppress that adrenal rush. I also have learned to expect the unexpected with other drives on the road. You just never know what they are going to do.

 

> Ambulance of a Fire Engine coming down the street and then watching people
> try to race past it

I was getting onto a ramp for I-285 in Atlanta GA when I heard the ambulance coming. So, I pulled over and can see he is not going to make it (the highway was jammed with the vehicles leading to the accident he was heading towards). So, I back up 50-60 feet towards the ramp so everyone can back up and let him by. Everyone else rushed forward to beat the ambulance, to go where?

So the ambulance sat in that V of traffic trying to get to the breakdown lane (to get to the accident) without anyone moving with lights and siren on. I had leave my kid in the truck, tell people to back up, and pound/knock on windows of some people so totally out of it talking on a cell phone, listening to music, watching the ambulance while a whole line of cars has already moved back towards my truck. At least pull to the far right. Idiots.

 

What you saw is quite common. People are oblivious.

 

double post

 

Like so many of the other fire/ems peolpe here, I've just learned to not expect anyone to do what they are supposed to, and drive accordingly. Over my 20+ yrs in the field, I have noticed most people will move out the way of fire apparatus long before they move for a medic or police unit. I guess it's because of the size of the fire apparatus.

I will straddle the center line in a heart beat. This forces both lanes of traffic to move over which gives me plenty of room to maneuver when they do something stupid. There's also a little trick we use when people race the fire trucks then get stuck at the light in front of us and will not move. "Some" chaffeurs will get up on the car's bumper and stand on the Federal Q (ours are mounted on the bumper). After about 10 seconds of it wound up, the window usually shatters. Of course, I'd never advocate that.

It's also a little satisfaction watching them pull out in front of us only to get pulled by the pd unit following us.

 

I think the worse place to be an EMS/EMT/Ambulance driver would be in Boston, MA going over the Tobin bridge, especially during rush hour. You can watch people actually nudge out the ambulance to be first on the off ramp or the idiot that tailgates the ambulance a foot away to beat everyone else.

 

Really? I didn't know that..

When at an intersection, I love the Q2.. I usually have it wound up as we slowly go through the intersection.

 

Ah your evil. But it is kinda funny to see them jump out of their skin when you lay on the airhorn. Glad I'm not in the city any more with all that traffic. We still get an occasional person that wont pull over. We will usually call in the license plate and the cops take it from there.

 

Everytime I here sirens, I always try to look around and see which direction they are coming from. If I see they are coming from behind me, I will get over as far as I can and then slow to at least 20 miles under the speed limit or come to a stop in in slow traffic. If I am in the truck, I try to maneuver myself so that others cannot try and be slick and get past me but yet be far enough out of the way of the emergency vehicle.

Yesterday I saw a cop with sirens on and all lights flashing coming down 4 lane highway only divided by a center turn lane and approaching a redlight. I was in the left lane and really couldn't go anywhere because of other traffic. Well the cop starts going down the center turning lane, but this girl decides she wants there too, so the cop had to go into the oncoming traffic lanes to go around her. She stayed right there and almost would not let the cop pass and almost causing to get into an accident.

Also around here, even though people don't get out of the way, they are supposed to and with flashing lights and sirens they can run through red lights after only determing it is safe too. We had an incident a few months ago where a fire utility truck(pickup truck platform with toolbox bed) was responding to a brush fire had his lights flashing and sirens blaring and ran a red light at an intersection and plowed into another car that did not see his or hear him and had a very bad accident. Several people got seriously hurt.

People are idiots and have that "must be first" mentality. So everyone be on the look out for emergency vehicles and please get out of there way.

 

how about farm equipment? its planting season here in my area and large slow-moving equipment is out. i always look for a place to get over and stop, driving that stuff is no picnic, you have low power lines, mailboxes, dual wheels and then having to judge speed and distance of a oncoming car adds to the stress. when i was real young (5 i think) a old jeep wagonneer tried to pass my dad driving a john deere "a" with a mounted cultivator unit, it got too close and the bumper caught the tire, it would have rolled but the cultivator dug in and kept it from going over, this was within sight of the house. people just dont have much patence or consideration for others.