Why won't people move for an ambulance !!!!!!!!!

[Margie J]

OMG !!!!!!!!

I work at a major Boston hospital so emergency vehicles are always in the neighborhood. On my way to the parking garage tonight an ambulance came up the main road, lights on and sirens blaring. Yet, four cars ahead and to the side of it wouldn't let it through the light (red) until the ambulance driver got right behind one van and gave his extra horn. It's a sound that will rattle the rivets out of any vehicle.

It's not that the cars had no place to go. They could have easily gotten out of the way. No cop would cite a driver for "running a red light" while yielding to an emergency vehicle. At least the drivers that had the green light had the sense to stay put and yield.

Every time I see this I get so angry. If that ambulance was carrying the loved one of any of those drivers I bet they'd be cursing anyone who was in the way.

 

[quiteblonde]

My brother was training to be an EMT and it used to drive him crazy when people wouldn't let the ambulance through. I can't understand why anyone would block an ambulance, especially with lights and siren blaring.

 

[Geoff_M]

People's general manners and behavior with regard to emergency vehicles gets worse and worse every year. Around here it's a personal hazard to come to a stop when you see an ambulance or public safety vehicle on a run coming the other way. I'm one of these "old fashioned" drivers that thinks you're supposed to come to a complete stop when you see flashing lights and/or hear a siren. I just about got rear-ended by some idiot the last time I did that. At first people seem to think it was OK if you just slowed down a lot, but now that "slow down" speed seems to get faster and faster. Idiots!

 

[mommytotwo]

I don't understand this either and just shake my head when you see cars still driving along. My sister's b/f drives an ambulance and they also don't like it when people are tailing the ambulance since that could cause an accident.

 

[Idahomom]

Oh that is so annoying. Just the other day there was an ambulance coming in the opposite direction and so everyone was pulling to the side of the road-except for this moron who actually pulled out of a side street right in front of it.

 

[Dan Murphy]

It's the "ME" attitude, Margie.

I think Vince has a secret desire to ram one of those cars off to the side of the road when he is navigating an intersection with one of the BIG rigs.

 

[HomeSweetDisney]

That is one of my pet peeves. There is a major hospital on the street I take to get to work so there are constantly abulances going down that way. It amazes me that some people just won't move even if they have PLENTY of room to get out of the way

 

[Mad4Mickey]

my Dh says when people wont move out of the way he leans on the horn and keeps moving forward .
He said people move for the firetruck most times but the ambulance they seem to want to just sit in the way go figure

 

[ericamanda01]

My Dh and I feel the same way. Everytime we hear the siren or see the lights we get out of the way. But we see so many drivers that act like the ambulance is in their way. It's amazing! Karma will catch up to them and they will be having an emergency and no one will move.

 

[marlasmom]

My dd was transported by a New Hampshire ambulance to a hospital in Boston. The driver had a loudspeaker and Marla said he really used some "colorful" language telling people to get out of the way. I bet he did.

 

[Blueeyes101817]

It's the "ME" attitude, Margie.

I think Vince has a secret desire to ram one of those cars off to the side of the road when he is navigating an intersection with one of the BIG rigs.

haha my dad and his firemen buddies always say they wish they could...they work in a city where the streets are really not too wide so its annoying when no one moves!

 

[SandraM]

I was once being brought to hospital in an ambulance, which was running red lights all the way, lights flashing etc. A car started tail-gating us and running the red lights along with the ambulance, as if it the driver was family or something. The ambulance guys say it happens a lot, and it's really dangerous because sometimes the ambulance has to stop/slow down suddenly for people who don't give way. Last thing the patient in the ambulance needs is for it to be rear-ended by some idiot.

 

[LindsayDunn228]

Sadly, it's called disrespect. "It's all about me and my little world."

 

[golfgal]

That happened to me once. I was sitting at a red light with a cop car behind me and an ambulance came screaming up behind us. I looked in my rearview mirror and shrugged my shoulders at the cop "asking" him what to do. He waived me on to go through the light so I did. It is one of those which is the lesser of two evils-you are suppose to move for the ambulance, but you are sitting at a red light. It takes a while to process that.

 

[Mackey Mouse]

I do not get it. I always pull over, what if it was one of my loved ones in that ambulance trying to get to the hospital for an emergency......geez, what is wrong with people lately.

 

[CajunDixie]

He said people move for the firetruck most times but the ambulance they seem to want to just sit in the way go figure

Not defending the idiots but think about a few things.
1. Our EMS sirens are not near as loud as the firetrucks and they don't have that extra-loud airhorn (or whatever it is) that the firetrucks have.
2. Some old people are hard of hearing and don't monitor their mirrors. Personally I think elderly people should have to take driving tests and should fail for not using their mirrors.
3. Stereo systems in cars now days can be soooooooooo loud. Some are old people who crank it up because they can't hear well and others are younger people with "boomin" systems.
4. Sometimes the surprise factor comes into it. Recently on a highway that has a curve in it I looked up in my mirror to see a county officer on my tail that was not there before the curve.....I understood after he passed me because he had to be going at least 80.

We actually had an elderly lady come into our office last fall and apologize because she never heard the siren. When she noticed the EMS in her mirror she pulled over. She then told us she drove straight to CVS to buy batteries for her hearing aide that she left at home because the batteries were dead. Just remember that because you see and hear the EMS someone else may not know it's anywhere near or know what to do at redlights and such.

 

[froglady]

That happened to me once. I was sitting at a red light with a cop car behind me and an ambulance came screaming up behind us. I looked in my rearview mirror and shrugged my shoulders at the cop "asking" him what to do. He waived me on to go through the light so I did. It is one of those which is the lesser of two evils-you are suppose to move for the ambulance, but you are sitting at a red light. It takes a while to process that.

This only works if cross traffic is willing to yield to you. There was an unfortunate incident locally a few years ago when a young woman was "forced" through the red light to allow an emergency vehicle to pass, and was killed by a car that didn't stop.

 

[Rowena]

Can someone please correct me if I'm wrong. If I'm not blocking the path of the emergency vehicle, and my car was stopped to begin with, isn't it safer for me to just remain where I am? I see other cars going all over, getting in and out of the way, having many near-miss collisons with each other. Usually when I do this, I'm in the right lane of a four lane road, and if I can move my car, I move it more towards the right. I was just under the assumption it's easier for the driver of EV to not have to worry about what I'm going to try to do, so I should stay put.

 

[live4christp1]

Disrespect and ignorance.

Disrespect in their attitudes toward authority figures be it, fire, ambulance, police with attitude and actions.

Ignorance in the fact that this isn't something that is taught, we all just kind of learned it as a courtesy. I think a lot of younger drivers just don't think about this for one and secondly some of them have their music so loud that they probably don't even hear it. I like my music, but you need to be able to hear approaching emergency vehicles, when the car two or three up from you is so loud you can feel the vibrations......there is a problem.

We have friends who moved here from Arizona and they just flipped because here in the south were things a bit slower paced if you meet a hearse and funeral procession coming from the opposite direction or they come along side you on a two lane, you pull to the side and politely bow your head in respect for the deceased.

 

[golfgal]

This only works if cross traffic is willing to yield to you. There was an unfortunate incident locally a few years ago when a young woman was "forced" through the red light to allow an emergency vehicle to pass, and was killed by a car that didn't stop.

You are right, at the time there were not any cars crossing, which was good, I did look before I went. I could have pulled around the corner and stopped, too, I guess.