On Penistone Road today I could hear sirens but couldn't see any flashing lights so I continued to check my mirrors more often in case an emergency vehicle popped out.
Sure enough eventually an ambulance came in the opposite direction, from St Phillips Way/Upper Hanover and needed to cross my side of the road, go through a red light and get onto a side road which goes towards the Ski Village etc.
Having just been stuck in traffic and at lights I decided to stop and wait at the lights to let the ambulance pass. The driver to my right sat directly in the way and the driver behind me honked to try and make me move.
Sure enough the ambulance comes careering round the corner, dodges the muppet parked in the gap and waved to me to thank me.
Great, I felt good for having thought sensibly. What about the pillocks at the side and behind me?
I hadn't slowed to stop from a normal or high speed, I only moved around 6 feet forward before stopping and there was traffic about 20 yards in front of me anyway.
It makes my blood boil when drivers turn dopey when emergency vehicles are trying to pass.
Do you move? If not, WHY not?
Does anyone else get so annoyed?
Isn't there a law about obstructing emergency vehicles?

I move out of the way for any kind of siren, if the driver behind doesn't like it he can honk all he/she likes, I ain't moving until the emergency vehicle has passed me

:)

I can't see ANY reason for obstucting an emergency vehicle other than selfishness.

To those people who condone it, let's hope that when it is your child/mother/father/whoever needing help there isn't some idiot like you sat in the way.

Originally posted by Deejay
I move out of the way for any kind of siren, if the driver behind doesn't like it he can honk all he/she likes, I ain't moving until the emergency vehicle has passed me

:)

That seems to sum it up farily well Deejay, these knobheads who refuse to move out of the way for the emergency services are usually the ones who bleat on about how long it takes ambulances etc to get to accidents :rant:

Thankfully in my lessons I have never encountered an ambulance!

I'd attempt to move out of the way....

What REALLY bugs me is when you pull over for an ambulance and then some idiot is following in the trail of it and won't let you pull back out!! UUGHH x

Who else besides me can remember that at one time Sheffield traffic always gave way to emergency vehicles? - as soon as you heard a siren EVERYTHING used to stop and let the ambulance or fire engine get through - don't know if it was the same in every city, but it's a pity so many drivers are so selfish now.

One had a problem getting down coperation street today in rush hour. Sometimes you are limited as to where you can go at peak times, but normally I'll either stop of mount the kerb if need be.

All i think is 'if the seconds they save when I move aside will save a life..who cares what those behind or in front think' If it was you in the emergency vehicle...or someone you know they are going to save.... One minute out of our lives is b****r all ..may well be one minute too late for someone else. :(

If in doubt...stop and let them go round you..they are professional drivers even if you are not !

Zebra..they turn dopey cos they don't know what the hell to do..they panic and can't cope all you can do is just stay calm and hope that the muppets can get thru life without having to be on the receiving end of actions like theirs

An old man made me both angry and want to laugh once when he was crossing the road. He pressed the button at the crossing and just as the green man was about to show an ambulance came speeding along with horns and lights blaring.

The old man stepped out into the road and the ambulance had to stop, he then stepped back onto the kerb not knowing what to do - the ambulance man waved him on after he kept trying to step onto the road in front of it to cross. Eventually he crossed and the ambulance went on it's way.

He got a proper earbashing from another old couple across at the other side.

I voted:
'Yes, every time and I remain alert when I hear sirens'
Always do this :thumbsup:

I move out of the way ASAP, let it past, and then follow it closely and quickly, enjoying a smooth, brisk and easy journey through the traffic. For some reason people give me funny looks when I do this. :confused:




NB. Not actually true.

Thanks, it's good to know that people do respond as they should but then I suppose the poll was a little useless - who would admit to being stupid?
They would get torn apart by forum users, it would be like throwing fresh meat to hyenas.
Good on you!

Originally posted by leddi
What REALLY bugs me is when you pull over for an ambulance and then some idiot is following in the trail of it and won't let you pull back out!! UUGHH x

Have you thought that in some cases it could be a family member driving in tandem?

K x

My sisters mate didn't move out of the way of a fire engine once so they pushed her car onto the kerb out of the way.

Always, it bothers probably a little too much though when I see people panic and just freeze.

Not what I would cosider as competant driving.

I have jumped several red lights in the past to clear the path of an emergency vehicle

Originally posted by Kristian
Have you thought that in some cases it could be a family member driving in tandem?

K x

Far more likely it'll be a Claims Direct rep.

If I see blue lights or hear sirens I generally keep moving ensuring I have enough space around me to get out of the way quickly if need be.
It actually makes it worse if you pull in too soon sometimes due to other drivers then trying to overtake you. And the most annoying ones are those who think they need to immediately stop where they are! :gag:

The other thing I find really annoying is emergency vehicles trying to get through traffic using only their blue lights!?
It seems to happen more and more often these days... in broad daylight on crossroads etc, do they think it's enough with just flashing lights?
Has anyone else come across this?

:rant:

but i thought they didnt use sirens when there was little traffic late at night and and when they needed to use a silent approach

Originally posted by f_g
but i thought they didnt use sirens when there was little traffic late at night and and when they needed to use a silent approach

That's fine, I don't have a problem with that.... but I said 'in broad daylight on crossroads etc'...

:rolleyes:

Originally posted by jackthedog
Far more likely it'll be a Claims Direct rep.

That is actually quite likely :hihi: :hihi:

One time i remember coming to a junction where i used to live... I heard sirens so stopped in my tracks as i couldnt see where it was coming from... then as i glanced in my rearview mirror i saw it approaching quite rapidly from behind... well i had this stupid git behind me who thought i was sat there for the fun of it an starting tooting his horn at me... yeah right as if i could've moved :huh:

As the Ambulance passed i did something that i have never in my life done before... hence by this time i was a little wound up... there was nothing i could've done to move out of the way for person behind... If i had've done... i would have gone straight into the side of the Ambulance... yey :clap: NOT! :?

Anyway... due to my window being open (summer) i thought i would take advantage so raised my arm out of the window an gave him the bird as i drove off... he sped after me... of which time i was in a little panic :help: lol but luckily as i got to my turn off he kindly carried on... phew!

Could he not hear the sirens? :?

i see some right idjuts at the cross roads at darnall. once at tea time when the traffic was bad a bloke decided to stop bang on the crossing all the others drove right up behind him then all the trafic from the other directions were stuck. this meant that the fire engine couldnt get thru for love nor money everyone was blasting their hooters. it took over 10 minutes to sort out before the fire engine was able to move on its way. stupidity like that could have cost someone their life i think they should have had their license took off them. mind you thats just one of many ive seen in the 18 month ive had the shop.

Litha

Originally posted by Briano

The other thing I find really annoying is emergency vehicles trying to get through traffic using only their blue lights!?
It seems to happen more and more often these days... in broad daylight on crossroads etc, do they think it's enough with just flashing lights?
Has anyone else come across this?

:rant:
I've noticed this too. I've seen a few emergency vehicles trying to get through traffic in the daytime at junctions with just the lights on and no siren. Seems a bit strange to me to not use the siren. :confused:. If I hear a siren I start to think about how I'm going to get out of the way if I need to. I thought the whole point of it is to give drivers advance warning that they are coming?

On another point: I can't say I've ever seen anyone who hasn't got out of the way of an emergency vehicle. Sometimes I've seen people who've had to do some manoeuvring because they're in a queue of traffic and there's not much room, so that has taken a bit of time. But I haven't seen anyone just blatantly not moving.

Originally posted by Kristian
[B]Have you thought that in some cases it could be a family member driving in tandem?

That's a good point, but sadly not often the case. Usually it's the idiot who's been tailgating you infuriatingly despite the fact you're sat in a line of traffic who then tries to squeeze past you.

What has happened to common courtesy on the road? Drivers should MOVE QUICKLY out of the way for emergency vehicles.

Of course I do. Of course I should.
Those who do not may find themselves in the back of an ambulance one day praying that they get to hospital in time.
lights only can be neccessary for the comfort of the patient It might be a good idea to use mirrors more often for those who resent this,and/or turn down the super woofers!

Lots of people tend to panic when an emergency vehicle is approaching with the full blues & twos on the go.
I reckon sometimes it might be quicker for the ambulance drivers to work their way through the traffic without the sirens.

When the sirens are blurting out, a normal queue of traffic can turn into a nightmare jam as everybody awkwardly and unsuccesfully tries to move aside. It may be quicker to just try and pass through the traffic with as little fuss as possible.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Kristian
Have you thought that in some cases it could be a family member driving in tandem?

K x [/QUOT
Relatives and friends of the person in the abulance are advised to arrive at the destination in their own time as trying to keep up with an ambulance can be both very dangerous and very stressfull.
The reason ambulances drive without sirens somtimes is that it can be potentially dangerous in some circumstances, intra cranial pressure for example is life threatening and can be made much worse by exposure to excessive noise.

I just want to point out that the 9 times out of 10 when I have seen blue lights without a siren, it has been a police car in the middle of the day, in the town centre. Not on an ambulance trying to drive carefully etc.
There is absolutely no excuse for this except for the police to think everyone is watching their rear view mirrors all the time!!

Originally posted by Briano
I just want to point out that the 9 times out of 10 when I have seen blue lights without a siren, it has been a police car in the middle of the day, in the town centre. Not on an ambulance trying to drive carefully etc.
There is absolutely no excuse for this except for the police to think everyone is watching their rear view mirrors all the time!!

Perhaps they can't use sirens because they are going to a robbery etc, and don't want the culprits to get away?

K x

Originally posted by Kristian
Perhaps they can't use sirens because they are going to a robbery etc, and don't want the culprits to get away?

K x

Perhaps they forget to turn the sirens on!? :o

I seem to remember reading that the ordinary patrol cars all have blue lights but not all have sirens. Any bobbies on here?

I thought emergency vehicles were only supposed to use sirens if it was absolutely necessary. Therefore, in a traffic jam they may turn their sirens off. Everybody already knows they are there trying to get through but having the sirens on isn't really much use if nobody is able to move out of their way.

Originally posted by Briano
The other thing I find really annoying is emergency vehicles trying to get through traffic using only their blue lights!?
It seems to happen more and more often these days... in broad daylight on crossroads etc,
Briano, check the batteries in your hearing-aid, mate. ;)

Originally posted by Lucy_Smith
I thought emergency vehicles were only supposed to use sirens if it was absolutely necessary. Therefore, in a traffic jam they may turn their sirens off. Everybody already knows they are there trying to get through but having the sirens on isn't really much use if nobody is able to move out of their way.
Yeah I agree in this case, there's no point keeping them on if everyone's stuck.

But funnily enough when I was driving home yesterday I was at a crossroads with traffic lights and a police car came up behind me with just its lights on. I wasn't moving anyway because the lights were on red and the police car could get round everyone by driving on the other side of the road. But because they didn't have their siren on there was cars crossing the lights in front of the police car. One car crossed in front of the police car and only just got across before the police car. If they'd had the siren on then I'm sure the drivers crossing the junction would have stopped or slowed down to ensure they weren't going to be crossing the junction at the time when the police car came through?

Then another 2 (or it might have even been another 3) police cars came following after. None on them were approaching the traffic lights with the sirens on and the same problem happened again. The (normal) cars continued crossing the lights and the police cars had to dodge around them. Of course once the police cars came into view nobody else started crossing the junction, but there was already cars in the way because they didn't know the police were approaching.

Maybe as Kristian mentioned, it's because they don't want whoever they're after to hear them coming. I'm not sure. But it didn't seem the best way to get through the junction.

I didn't know this about ambulances though: "The reason ambulances drive without sirens somtimes is that it can be potentially dangerous in some circumstances, intra cranial pressure for example is life threatening and can be made much worse by exposure to excessive noise." Thanks scoop.

Originally posted by Deejay
I move out of the way for any kind of siren, if the driver behind doesn't like it he can honk all he/she likes, I ain't moving until the emergency vehicle has passed me

:) well said mate

Can we have an 'I keep an eye out for them all the time' option?

I can't believe how many people queuing on a blocked motorway forget to use their rear view mirror. If the road's stationary, there's probably an accident ahead, and the emergency vehicles need to get past us to get there.

And I always consider the fact that there may be a joyrider or emergency vehicle coming when I get a green light. It's just common sense. Your 'right of way' is no good to you if you're dead :(

PS I don't let it make me a ditherer though. I just watch the traffic around me whilst I'm stationary, rather than gawping into space or picking my nose.

Originally posted by Strix
PS I don't let it make me a ditherer though. I just watch the traffic around me whilst I'm stationary, rather than gawping into space or picking my nose.

Damn, so that's what I've been doing wrong all this time... I didn't realise I had to watch traffic around me when I was stationary aswell! :loopy: :heyhey:

Originally posted by Briano
Damn, so that's what I've been doing wrong all this time... I didn't realise I had to watch traffic around me when I was stationary aswell! :loopy: :heyhey:

It could save your life. I don't fancy being shunted into the path of an oncoming vehicle if there's something I could do to prevent it. Most 'accidents' are borne out of carelessness or just plain lack of attention.

Driving without due care? If your keys are in the ignition, you are deemed to be driving. People have been done for drink driving whilst stationary.

Pedestrians can be a hazzard too, if you're stationary. Ever had somebody attempt to open your car door or boot?

The 'it won't happen to me' theory doesn't work unless you take measures to ensure it won't happen.

they should be allowed through as they r there to deal with emergencies!

Originally posted by Strix
It could save your life. I don't fancy being shunted into the path of an oncoming vehicle if there's something I could do to prevent it. Most 'accidents' are borne out of carelessness or just plain lack of attention.

Driving without due care? If your keys are in the ignition, you are deemed to be driving. People have been done for drink driving whilst stationary.

Pedestrians can be a hazzard too, if you're stationary. Ever had somebody attempt to open your car door or boot?

The 'it won't happen to me' theory doesn't work unless you take measures to ensure it won't happen.


Err Strix, I hope you realise I was just taking the peeeee! :hihi:

I completely agree with you, of course you have to remain vigilant in the car when stationary! :thumbsup:

i always give way but one day as i was passing west bar green a fleet of police vans shot passed,all with sirens on,they turned right at the back of west bar nick,all the plod got out and were stood about talking so i know that there are some who abuse the system

Originally posted by Briano
Err Strix, I hope you realise I was just taking the peeeee! :hihi:

It was this: :loopy: that had me guessing :confused: :(

Originally posted by uniteddaz
they should be allowed through as they r there to deal with emergencies! your right mate,could be a member of your family who needs them,bye the way are you a first time poster?

Originally posted by uniteddaz
they should be allowed through as they r there to deal with emergencies! hi

Originally posted by depoix
your right mate,could be a member of your family who needs them,bye the way are you a first time poster? yes still tryin 2 figure this out