So when did red flashing emergency lights mean.....

[Pikester]

get out of the way so I can get my kids to school?


Was taking DS9 to school and noticed a jeep gaining speed on myself and the car behind me. The jeep had red emergency lights flashing so both myself and the car behind me pulled out of the way. I know the person who drives it is a volunteer firefighter in the next town over. His family is pretty active in the community and the younger kids go to the same school my youngest goes to. I was hoping nobody was hurt so imgaine my surprise when I pull up to drop my DS9 off at school and there is the jeep with lights no longer flashing and kids getting out.

Now there is a chance that he was called into work and needed to hurry up and drop the kids off because they were all ready in the vehicle and he shut the lights off as to not draw attention to himself while he was parked in front of the school. He still had to drive about a 1/4 mile to drop the oldest boy off at his school and he was behind me for a little ways for that and never turned the lights back on.

I really hope that he didn't have his lights flashing just for fun because if he did then I have lost just a little bit of respect for this man.

 

[Dee77]

Did you notice if the siren had been sounded for a fire call in your district? The fact that he did not put the lights back on en rte to the other school to me comes across like he was taking advantage of the light while he was running late to drop his children off at school and if that's the case then it would annoy me to no end.

 

[golfgal]

I've seen police cars use their lights to change signals and then turn off their lights after they get through the intersection .

If you see this happen again, I would certainly let the fire department know he is using his emergency lights inappropriately. Many schools/hospitals, etc. have no siren zones around them so that COULD be what was going on too.

 

[Pikester]

Did you notice if the siren had been sounded for a fire call in your district? The fact that he did not put the lights back on en rte to the other school to me comes across like he was taking advantage of the light while he was running late to drop his children off at school and if that's the case then it would annoy me to no end.

No fire call for my town. He is a VF in the next town over so not sure if they had a call or not.

 

[Pikester]

I've seen police cars use their lights to change signals and then turn off their lights after they get through the intersection .

If you see this happen again, I would certainly let the fire department know he is using his emergency lights inappropriately. Many schools/hospitals, etc. have no siren zones around them so that COULD be what was going on too.

I had all kinds of scenarios going on in my head of what he was doing. I guess it made my day a little more interesting.

 

[penn19]

get out of the way so I can get my kids to school?


Was taking DS9 to school and noticed a jeep gaining speed on myself and the car behind me. The jeep had red emergency lights flashing so both myself and the car behind me pulled out of the way. I know the person who drives it is a volunteer firefighter in the next town over. His family is pretty active in the community and the younger kids go to the same school my youngest goes to. I was hoping nobody was hurt so imgaine my surprise when I pull up to drop my DS9 off at school and there is the jeep with lights no longer flashing and kids getting out.

Now there is a chance that he was called into work and needed to hurry up and drop the kids off because they were all ready in the vehicle and he shut the lights off as to not draw attention to himself while he was parked in front of the school. He still had to drive about a 1/4 mile to drop the oldest boy off at his school and he was behind me for a little ways for that and never turned the lights back on.

I really hope that he didn't have his lights flashing just for fun because if he did then I have lost just a little bit of respect for this man.

In the small town I grew up in, the Fire Chief of the volunteer fire department lived a few houses down. He routinely would hop in his car, lights flashing, to say run to the store. Routinely. He was quite the power tripper.

 

[wdwmom0f3]

Oh that would make me mad! I have seen police go through intersections with them on, and then turn them off when they get through.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Yep that would irritate enough to complain. Of course, we have police officers in our parking lots so it would be easy for me to talk to the officer and get him in the hot seat.

Then again right now I live in a town where death happens frequently from headon collisions so they would take it seriously.

 

[BriarfoxinWA]

I'd report him to whoever his Chief is. If he wasn't going to an emergency that is a big violation. He could get in serious hot water if he keeps doing it.

 

[GeorgeG]

Having been chief of a volunteer fire department in the NYC suburbs, I can assure you abuse of lights is taken seriously. Report it. There may well be a good explanation, but that will be easy to verify with no harm done. There are enough people who simply don't acknowledge emergency vehicles already without giving them reasons.

 

[Dictator]

Oh that would make me mad! I have seen police go through intersections with them on, and then turn them off when they get through.

I've seen police cars use their lights to change signals and then turn off their lights after they get through the intersection .

That doesn't necessarily mean the police weren't responding to a call.
But don't let that stop you from jumping to conclusions.

 

[Mermaid02]

That doesn't necessarily mean the police weren't responding to a call.
But don't let that stop you from jumping to conclusions.

That's true. The call could have been canceled. It happens a lot.

 

[Magpie]

My American uncle is a cop and he used to let me sit in the front of his squad car and put on his lights and siren just for fun. I never visited him during the school year, though, and he lived in the country.

Me, I'd drop a nice note to the fire chief, commenting on the fact that there obviously must have been a fire that morning and expressing your hope that the firefighter wasn't held up due to the traffic congestion around the school. It must be very awkward getting the call when your kids are in the car.

 

[kiddo76]

Having been chief of a volunteer fire department in the NYC suburbs, I can assure you abuse of lights is taken seriously. Report it. There may well be a good explanation, but that will be easy to verify with no harm done. There are enough people who simply don't acknowledge emergency vehicles already without giving them reasons.

ITA! DH is a volunteer ff. They will also get into big trouble if they are caught speeding on the way to an incident. So since he can't speed anyway, he only uses his light if he is in traffic and once he is on scene. There are some cowboys in the department who speed, tail gate when someone doesn't pull over, abuse the light, etc. When the chief gets reports of this happening, there are serious consequences.

You should report him to the Chief. If there was a call at that time, he would know.

 

[krcit]

That doesn't necessarily mean the police weren't responding to a call.
But don't let that stop you from jumping to conclusions.

Not everything is a lights and siren emergency but there is a time element.

 

[whgrn]

I don't know about your state, but in NJ, abuse of emergency lights can cause you to lose your permit to have them. There may be a perfectly legit reason for what happened, but there also may not be. If it bothers you, look into it.

 

[budmonster]

Oh that would make me mad! I have seen police go through intersections with them on, and then turn them off when they get through.

That doesn't necessarily mean the police weren't responding to a call.
But don't let that stop you from jumping to conclusions.

DH was an officer and I use to be a 911 dispatcher and off the top of my head I can think of a dozen different kind of calls where officer would need to resond without lights and sirens but then use them to get through intersections or heavy traffic. There're lots of situations where you don't want the bad guy to know your getting close or the advantage of knowing your on scene.

 

[JVL1018]

My husband is a volunteer firefighter-Deputy Fire Chief now-and I guarantee you that if anyone in their company was caught doing that, they would be disciplined.
Absolutely not allowed. I would report it.

 

[2girlsmom]

I agree, but think this would be more common with police officers vs fire fighters as far as the legit calls, and certainly there are abuses with the police as well. In my town both the police and fire fighters have traffic signal interceptors, to automatically turn the lights green for them. My husband works for the city and was in charge of installing them. He has had chiefs pull the interceptors out of specific police cars and fire trucks due to abuses.

 

[M&N]

The next time you see him say something like: I was surprised to see you pass me on your way to school with lights flashing. Did you just receive the call on the way there? I would not think it would be safe to have the children in the car with you.