What do you do if an ambulance or firetruck is behind you at a red light?

+1 vote
asked Apr 25, 2018 in Law Enforcement/Police by Kerkman (380 points)
What do you do if an ambulance or firetruck is behind you at a red light?

If you're stopped at a red light and an ambulance or firetruck is behind you with it's lights and sirens on and is blowing it's horn what are you supposed to do?

Are you supposed to run the red light or stay put until the red light turns green?

I ask because yesterday I was at an intersection and I was sitting at a red light and an ambulance came up behind me and had it's lights and siren on and was blowing it's horn to get through.

I decided to run the red light to get out of the ambulances way but I'm not sure if I did the right thing or not.

The ambulance driver was getting annoyed at me for sitting at the red light and not moving as I had to wait for the intersection to clear before I could run the red light.

1 Answer

0 votes
answered Apr 25, 2018 by Grahlu (51,270 points)
If it's safe to run the red light and no other vehicles are crossing through the intersection while you're stopped then yes you should go through the red light to let the ambulance or fire truck get past you.

Don't go through the red light though if it's unsafe to do so and you risk getting hit by another vehicle.

Ambulance drivers and firetruck drivers are trained to get around a stopped vehicle if needed and they will wait if they have to until the light turns green.

But you did do the right thing going through the red light if the ambulance driver couldn't get around you and it was safe for you to proceed through the intersection.

If it's not safe to proceed through the intersection and run the red light then try to pull out into the intersection enough and pull your vehicle out in front of the car beside you if possible to allow the ambulance to get by.

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