Well it is Tijuana, i’d expect that there…
I get so frustrated in my neck of the woods (Michigan) when cars don’t pull over because they can’t see, hear, or care.
Also frustrating when they pull over blocking the driveway or street where the emergency vehicle needs to be.
Seems driving school needs to do a better job explaining what to do when you encounter an emergency vehicle.
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Yes, just a bunch of clips isn’t a good comparison. From my personal experience, though, most Germans manage a good Rettungsgasse during a traffic jam on the autobahn. And I work and commute near a hospital with emergency ambulances and see them frequently blaring by and I haven’t seen any case where the traffic didn’t come to a full stop to let them thru. Including running red lights and blocking the other lane to make way for the ambulance.
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I did that once, but had a reason. Not a good reason, but a reason.
I had the dubious distinction of crashing my bike in front of the hospital ambulance entrance one afternoon. Staff came running out asking if I was ok. Meanwhile, an ambulance showed up and was waiting for me to scrape my ass off the ground so they could deliver their patient. I was too embarrassed to admit I was hurt, so I drug my twisted bike out of the way and carried it, while limping and bleeding, the final block home.
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UK drivers get fined for stopping or making illegal lane changes or turns when they try to get out of ambulances’ way
Well its just like when you modify a duct without a 27 B / 6 form. If you do so without said form, expect a call from Central Services.
When I had my, should be dead look at that white light, heart attack my wife drove me to the ER. She pulled into the ambulance bay, I stumbled out and made into the entrance before full cardiac arrest happened. The security guard said to me the car had to be moved. I just kept going. My wife gave him the keys but he said she had to move it.
By the time she came back clothes were being removed and 15 people were running me down the hall on a gurney.
Oh and if anyone ever has a heart attack call an ambulance and leave the driving to them.
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Not the emergency scenario, but I (US resident) found UK drivers to be very considerate but the best example was in Germany.
In a smallish town south of Munich I was in the middle of three lanes approaching a traffic light when I realized, late, I needed to be in the left lane. I anxiously looked in the mirror and was quite surprised to see the driver behind already waving me into his lane.
Awesome anticipation and consideration.
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UK drivers get fined for stopping or making illegal lane changes or turns when they try to get out of ambulances’ way
I wouldn’t take the Bristol Post as being the last word in journalism, and as others have said, you can always appeal a fine, and “I was moving out of the way of an ambulance” is
Anyway, half the roads here (in Bristol) are too narrow for an ambulance to get past a car however far they’ve pulled over, everyone just has to be patient.
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They have cop cars here fitted with camera tech that can read and identify licence plates on the fly. They use them to catch parking violators quickly, also if there’s an APB out on a particular car.
What they should be doing is mounting them on all emergency vehicles and sending automatic tickets to all of the cars that don’t get out of the way fast enough. If you disagree with the ticket, you can plead your case in court.
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According to my speed awareness course, you can and will be prosecuted if you cross a redlight stopping line even if you are getting out of the way of an ambulance* (you would have to be particularly dangerous for an on-the-spot copper to do it but a camera operator would for even slight infringement).
All emergency vehicles are now supposed to stop sirens when traffic is held up by lights. This was news to me and not always observed in practice.
*the only time you can is if a uniformed police officer directs you to do so.
I have vivid memories of two incidents: China and India. China where the large inter-city bus I was on merged into traffic cutting off an ambulance coming around a traffic circle with sirens blaring. India where I witnessed two separate incidents of ambulances with relatives leaning out the windows begging other drivers to let them through!
It looks like some countries have already figured out a solution to the traffic congestion/mobility issue.
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There was a trial of motorbike paramedics here, too. Didn’t last beyond the trial period because no way to transport patients on a motorbike.
But that’s what the sidecars are for! They didn’t account for that?
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London has a number of motorcycle and bicycle responders to deal with congestion.
They are equipped to keep a patient alive until an ambulance can get there (hopefully in time).
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Lol, nope. The motorbikes here didn’t have sidecars. I also suspect sidecars wouldn’t allow for horizontal transport, nor monitoring/treatment of the patient while en route to hospital.
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We have them here in NL too. They can’t transport a patient but in a pinch a trained paramedic with the essentials (intubation set, insulin, AED…) can increase survival changes significantly.
Look at this beauty, it gets everywhere!
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They make a great deal of sense when every second counts.
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