DO people NOT pull over for sirens anymore?

[hereyago]

Oncoming traffic pulls over in Georgia for a funeral going the other direction.

That is crazy. No, we don't do that here. Only traffic going in same direction. And cops will block intersection so no one can go across,etc.

 

[Planogirl]

I sometimes only slow down for an emergency vehicle but only because some yahoo is tailgating me or coming up real fast. Some people scare me.

I do make sure that I'm well out of the way though.

 

[js]

yesterday dh and I saw an ambulance go by with lights on and saw a car actually try to pass it.

BUT what made be furious. I was driving home from Williamsburg where I attend class. I see sirens way back....it was a cop car. NOT one car moved over for it. I would say it had to pass about 10.
SO I am in the right lane and pull of to the side and let the cop go and I swear I was going to get hit by the cars passing by right after the cop.

I ALWAYS pull over.

Three years ago, I got a call from my dd's friend who handed her cell to an ambulance tech, who informed me they were on the way taking my unresponsive dd to the hospital and to get there as soon as I can.

It makes me sick now, after that incident, to see cars not pulling over but rather speed up. I always wish I was a policeman then and give them tickets, but I'm not and they don't pull over

My dd is now fine and getting ready to leave for college the end of the summer but EVERY time I see an ambulance and people not pull over, I feel SO TERRIBLE for the person inside the ambulance.

 

[M5ward]

I also always pull over...and I obey the "Move Over" law in my state. When pulling over, I monitor traffic behind me through the rear view mirror to make sure I'm not going to get hit.
My daughter is an EMT and has been in an ambulance that was hit by a driver trying to turn in front of the rig...lights and sirens going too.

 

[mrodgers]

Good drivers are aware of what's around them all the time by using their mirrors, regardless of what they can hear.

It took 16 posts to come up with this? That's pretty bad. What are all you folks doing that you aren't aware there is an emergency vehicle coming way before it is possible to hear the siren?

 

[LilyWDW]

More often than not, it's not cell phones or anything else... it's just that more and more people think a siren means "move over to make a clear lane and just slow down." On more than one occasion I've almost been rear-ended by the car behind me when I pull over and come to a complete stop as required by law. I've actually had people get mad at me for stopping.

I will say this having grown up in a family of police officers. If you can pull over and stop, that is the best. However, there might be times where coming to a full stop could be considered dangerous. If that is the case, get over as far as you can and slow down. Do not put yourself in danger by stopping.

This is usually suggested for things like interstates where there are fewer possible turn offs and traffic moves at such a high rate of speed. Still, get out of the way for an emergency vehicle no matter what (well, unless doing so would kill you).

I do wonder what I would do in some areas around here though. There are some back country roads where "moving all the way over" would put in into the side of a mountain or over the side of the mountain. There is no shoulder and no side roads/driveways/ect to pull into. I guess just get as far over as possible and hope...

They don't pull over for sirens but if you live in the south they pull over and stop for a funeral. Never made sense to me. My theory is that if they pulled over originally for the siren then there might not be a need for a funeral.

I was born and raised in Northern Illinois and was taught to pull over and stop, if safe, for a funeral. Even one on the other side of the road. Again, only if safe.

We were nearly in an accident while in a funeral procession because someone decided to turn left into the line of cars. Even though we all had the flags and a cop was leading and following the line. They nearly turned right into the car in front of us, stopped, then tried to finish their turn when WE were in the way.

I liked it the way the police department my dad worked for did it. They would have officers leap frog and actually stop and hold traffic in the intersections. So, they would have an officer in the intersection directing/holding traffic, one leading, and one following. Worked a lot better then how they do it here.

 

[JVL1018]

I read this subject out loud to my husband, a fire chief who drives a chief's vehicle totally set up with lights and sirens , and before he was chief, drove a big red fire rescue truck or a big red fire engine-he just laughed and said, NO! How do you miss a fire truck, huge, blowing air horns, that's louder than any siren, but it happens.

 

[desamnik]

You have to keep in mind that many people behind their wheels don't speak or read english. They have no idea what the laws are. Not sure how they get their licenses without being able to read and speak the language, but I do believe that many drivers are clueless about this issue, and also the issue of funerals.

 

[allie7]

I agree completely, people should always stop, or at least make an attempt to slow down, and move out of the way. I was driving the other week when there was a firetruck with their sirens on, and I was stopped at a green light to let the truck go from the right. People were honking at me, and getting mad because I wasn't going to go in front of a firetruck with it's sirens on. It's so rude and disrespectful for other people. If they were the one needing the firetruck at their house, wouldn't they want people to move aside for them?

 

[willowsnn3]

Oncoming traffic pulls over in Georgia for a funeral going the other direction.

This is not the norm. Mostly in the south it is a sign of respect to stop for the funeral procession to pass. If there is a police escort for the procession there are points where you will have to stop so they can make a turn or proceed thru a light, etc. Otherwise half the people in the procession would get cut off by other traffic.

 

[willowsnn3]

I am a defensive driving instructor and it never ceases to amaze me at some of the excuses the people in my classes come with. Just hearing the amount of some of the fines they have to pay....

 

[ladypage]

Good drivers are aware of what's around them all the time by using their mirrors, regardless of what they can hear.

Even that's not always possible, at least around here. Our roads are too windy to see anything coming up behind you until it's right there, and if you can't hear the sirens you don't even know until you're already slowing them down.

Something I've noticed recently around here that I hate is they stopped putting the lights on top of the car, instead they put them in it, in the back window. How does that help someone in front of you see you coming?!?! And they don't always use the sirens, just the lights. The police/sheriffs in my county confuse me....

 

[mhsjax]

They don't pull over for sirens but if you live in the south they pull over and stop for a funeral. Never made sense to me. My theory is that if they pulled over originally for the siren then there might not be a need for a funeral.

I am in the south and we pull over. I guess it depends on how many idiots are on the road that day, ALso to the pp that said a good driver is aware because of the use of mirrors, I agree 100%. I always am glancing back to see what is behind me, and I am an A/C music lovin fool. and I have never been surprised by and emergency vehicle. People just are aware of their surroundings anymore.

 

[luvmy3]

I notice around here people do not pull over either. I always think what would they want people to do if it was their loved one in that ambulance?
I think its just a symptom of the me me me mentality that so many people have.

 

[kamik86]

I pull over most of the time... however if they don't have the lights on or I can't see them yet I dont always. I have a REALLY hard time telling where sound is coming from. Espeically if I"m in an area of town with many different streets near each other/on a bridge with another intersection below me, etc I have no idea where the cop car is. Add in the fact that I live in an area with alot of hills etc unless other cars around me start pulling over many times they are practically right behind me before I know. (In daylight if its dark out then I can see the lights coming since they are so bright)

Then there are the places around here where there really isn't anywhere to go (the only way for the car to have enough space is if BOTH sides of the road pull over so they can drive down the middle... and many won't pull over if thye are on the other side)

Part of the problem is that it is highly unlikely you will get ticketed for not pulling over for a cop or ambulance. I have never heard of it happening, becuase the cop is busy and going somewhere so they don't have the time to pull you over!

 

[kamik86]

Even that's not always possible, at least around here. Our roads are too windy to see anything coming up behind you until it's right there, and if you can't hear the sirens you don't even know until you're already slowing them down.

Something I've noticed recently around here that I hate is they stopped putting the lights on top of the car, instead they put them in it, in the back window. How does that help someone in front of you see you coming?!?! And they don't always use the sirens, just the lights. The police/sheriffs in my county confuse me....

The ones in the back window and the grate of the car (around here they have them in the front grate too) are for unmarked cars. AT least that is what it is around here.

Not that the cars don't still SCREAM cop. I mean I have never seen a non cop car with the black extra bumper thingy on the front... but they seem to like to have unmarked ones like that anyway. If I can tell its a cop when I really don't care, you can bet anyone doing something wrong has figured it out by now.

 

[Sgt Mickey]

I am a defensive driving instructor and it never ceases to amaze me at some of the excuses the people in my classes come with. Just hearing the amount of some of the fines they have to pay....

I hope some of these people I see get pulled over.

 

[willowsnn3]

I pull over most of the time... however if they don't have the lights on or I can't see them yet I dont always. I have a REALLY hard time telling where sound is coming from. Espeically if I"m in an area of town with many different streets near each other/on a bridge with another intersection below me, etc I have no idea where the cop car is. Add in the fact that I live in an area with alot of hills etc unless other cars around me start pulling over many times they are practically right behind me before I know. (In daylight if its dark out then I can see the lights coming since they are so bright)

Then there are the places around here where there really isn't anywhere to go (the only way for the car to have enough space is if BOTH sides of the road pull over so they can drive down the middle... and many won't pull over if thye are on the other side)

Part of the problem is that it is highly unlikely you will get ticketed for not pulling over for a cop or ambulance. I have never heard of it happening, becuase the cop is busy and going somewhere so they don't have the time to pull you over!

When the move over law first went into effect here in GA, I had a lot of people in my classes for that very reason. One student told me he didn't move over for an officer that was ticketing another car. He said the officer left that car, pulled him over and told him to stay there til he finished with the other car.....

 

[kellyg403]

When the move over law first went into effect here in GA, I had a lot of people in my classes for that very reason. One student told me he didn't move over for an officer that was ticketing another car. He said the officer left that car, pulled him over and told him to stay there til he finished with the other car.....

This actually happened to me. I was coming home from the airport and got off the highway, and welll....didn't slow down as much as I should have
First ticket I have had in 25 years, no lie. As the State Trooper was coming back to my car to hand me the ticket, an 18 wheeler drove by at a great speed and REALLY close to us. The trooper threw the ticket at me, said you can go online and pay, I have to go after that trucker, ran to his car and went flying down the road.

Kelly

 

[LilyWDW]

This actually happened to me. I was coming home from the airport and got off the highway, and welll....didn't slow down as much as I should have
First ticket I have had in 25 years, no lie. As the State Trooper was coming back to my car to hand me the ticket, an 18 wheeler drove by at a great speed and REALLY close to us. The trooper threw the ticket at me, said you can go online and pay, I have to go after that trucker, ran to his car and went flying down the road.

Kelly

To be blunt, I am glad they are ticketing for this. After having a friend lose her uncle after he was hit by a pick truck while doing a routine stop, it makes me so angry that other drivers do not move over or slow down. I have seen and heard way too many instances of near misses... and heard of way too many officers losing their lives. A routine traffic stop is actually one of the most dangerous things an officer does... this is one reason.