Is this guy an asshole? Possibly. But Iām thinking this person is stone deaf and didnāt notice the truck seeing what happened here. Seriously, Iād fucking drive up onto the sidewalk, or jump the curb to let something with a siren that painful get by.
truckās got lights on it!
I saw the blue lights on top (which would be totally out of the dudeās line of sight). After a second (muted) viewing, I see there are a couple of strobes that would have been visible to the driver. But they were only blinking about once every 5 seconds, not particularly noticeable.
When I was EMS director and a officer in charge of writing some policy I put forward a rule which was accepted by the board to ban blowing lights or speeding over 10mph over the limit when driving an ambulance or fire vehicle, stopping for stopsigns to evaluate the intersection was also required. We could push other vehicles to clear a blockage but that is different than entering an intersection against the light(if the opticom light changer was not working) and risking a high speed t-bone accident. The statistics are that except in remote rural areas modifying traffic rules for emergency vehicles running lights and sirens may save up to one minute, sixty seconds. This time savings is insignificant in almost all fire and medical emergencies and statistically eclipsed in both lives and property value saved by the death, delay, and injury caused by code-3 aggressive driving by rescue crews.
This is becoming policy in many jurisdictions in North America and I assume the developed world where people actually review statistics.
(edit) This video is a case of common siren panic, one of the dangers of the lights and sirens is that while some will ignore or even try to outrun there is a percentage of people whoās brain will lock up when they forget what the rules are, sometimes they just lock the brakes in the middle of travelling down a road or do something else unexpected in a panic. It is one of the great dangers while driving an emergency vehicle though being driven over once dismounted is the big killer for firefighters and EMTs.
This person would annoy me greatly but at least they are effing consistent staying where they are instead of doing something even weirder in an escalating panic.
(edit2)surrounding video of pushing cop cars or breaking windows to access a fireground or hydrant reminds me of our old department policy. We donāt break car window to access a blocked hydrant, we would push the car off with the engine or better break open and flap forward the doors so that there is a more direct less kinked path for the large diameter hose which supplies the fire engines.
Interesting. All I know is that siren in the video could drive a snake to tie itself in knots, and Iād fracking run for cover if a siren that deafeningly loud and piercing rolled up behind me. Iāve never encountered a siren like that in the US.
Iāve noticed similar behaviour. Donāt even think itās necessarily mean spirited. People seem to be getting increasingly dumb and ignorant these days. Possibly, the person in the vehicle had no idea whatsoever how he or she had to react ā was probably looking at his or her smartphone thinking āWhatās that noise?ā.
Deaf people shouldnāt be driving.
Whatās the justification? I donāt think Iāve ever had an experience in my car where the first thing I thought of was āIām so glad I heard thatā.
Iāve avoided many accidents by seeing them, and Iāve been hit once or twice from my blind spot, but never heard it coming.
I guess hearing could be important if youāre in a school zone with the windows down, but I canāt really think of that many circumstances where hearing is particularly necessary for driving.
This video is plenty justification. And regular car horns make sounds without the flashing lights. Even if you personally have never been in the position of avoiding an accident due to aural warnings, itās obviously a possibility.
I this the cheapest headline on boingboing?
On the one hand, UK law really is that you shouldnāt cross a red light to let an emergency vehicle past, at least not unless you are directed by a uniformed police officer.
On the other hand (i) thatās the Daily Mail (ii) the diagram and photo donāt show any real reason for him to do so once the other two cars have moved; heās not blocking the police car any less than where he was. Were the drivers of cars A and C fined?
I donāt know how much the laws vary by country about moving out of the way of emergency vehicles.
But parking in front of a fire hydrant, is pretty much illegal. Some fire departments might try to work around your car or push it out of the way, but NYCās practice is to break the windows and run the hoses through the car, and firehoses are leaky. Most people get the hint and donāt do that once, and certainly not twice.
Maybe the driver is from the UK and is super worried about a German traffic ticket. āThis must be a test! Well, Iām not falling for it.ā
Thatās a video effect - you know, approx. 25 frames per seconds, with the strobe having a longer, but approximately synchronous period?
It may sound stale, but my average fellow German does in fact like to follow rules. The driver probably just is terrified to move towards the red light. Only once in his life has he crossed a red traffic light, on a bicycle, and promptly was fined and seriously scolded by a policeman. That will not happen to him again.
Selfie chance!
Exactly. I havenāt followed the link (itās the Daily Mailā¦) but if thatās the only evidence, I have no reason to believe it happened the way they describe. Or happened at all.
Iām a member of our local (volunteer) fire brigade and this doesnāt surprise me at all. Weāve got awesome dashcam footage - I edit the Christmas āhighlights of 201xā every year - and this dead possum behaviour is pretty typical.
Our drivers get angry in the moment but generally shrug it off later.
Without doing any research, I ask myself the question:
- Am I allowed to break the law if directed to by a police officer?
This is on a continuum with questions ranging trhough
āIs it a war crime if I was just doing my job?ā to āIs it a good idea to run a red light in front of a traffic cop?ā
OTTOMH, I think that the guidance on getting out of the way of emergency vehicles is something like to pull over when and where it is safe to do so. Itās easy to imagine someone internalising another rule that it is verboten and never safe or legal to drive through a red light. Which law do you choose to break?
When in doubt about exactly what to do in a tricky situation - the go-to response is to do nothing rather than risking committing a crime.
In calm retrospect, we can say that this driver may not have done exactly the right thing fast enough during the 25 seconds between the truck pulling up behind it and the lights changing pictured here - but itās a bit rough to call it deliberate asshole behaviour.
Yes, exactly, but I did follow the link as often Daily Fail articles have a few lines at the end, when most have stopped reading, that reveal the whole thing is made up or greatly exaggerated.
In this case it was an automatic light jumping camera that caught him. So, exactly as one would expect. It then goes on to say:
'Spokesman Karen Delaney said: 'If the lights are red you are putting yourself in danger if you go through them.
āYou risk getting a ticket but if there is evidence that backs it up that you have manoeuvred on behalf of an emergency vehicle then we will look into it.āā
If he had contacted them he may well have had the fine removed. Even if he didnāt, Iām sure the Ā£500 or so the Fail paid him for this āstoryā will compensate.
It also gives another example, automatic camera covering bus lane, and that fine was indeed removed.
