Getting out of the way of ambulances and car damage

I hate hearing emergency vehicles when I’m cycling.

On a bike, you generally hear them ages before car drivers too.

I’ve had people start to pull over as I pull up behind a queue of cars with my flashing front bike light 🙂

OP you did right don’t bump on the pavement/kerb just move over when safe.

I’m calling borrox on that.

Why? You can’t go through a red light even ambulances and fire engines don’t have a right to go through them.

I’ve had people start to pull over as I pull up behind a queue of cars with my flashing front bike light

Had that too – only used my L&M Stella, with it’s blue tinged LED, once because of it!

I don’t hear anything when riding though, just bass 😉

I too see nothing wrong with the OPs actions.

I drive an ambulance and I wince at the way people bang their cars up kerbsquote

Me too.
I would love to say that most people crive correctly but there appears to be little understanding from a sizeable % of drivers on what do do in these situations…….and a worryingly high number who are totally oblvious until they are overtaken.

OP did the right thing. I certainly wouldn’t risk damaging my car getting out of the way.

I overtook a fire engine on blues and twos on its way to an RTC last week. Fire engines aren’t that quick.

TGA Did it have to get past you again when you stopped at the RTC?

No, they just parked up behind me.

RRV?

Police car

I’d have done the same thing. Though I’d have tried to find some way to let people past me afterwards, otherwise my politeness gland would explode.

thegreatape – Member
I overtook a fire engine on blues and twos on its way to an RTC last week. Fire engines aren’t that quick.

This is sadly true – ours starts to complain at about 65. Its a bit like a supertanker though. I wouldn’t want to get in the way of it.

edlong – Member
I see lots of people holding up ambulances etc. by immediately stopping on hearing the sirens, when continuing on as they were doing would be far more helpful. I’ve jumped a red light before now as it was the only practical way I could get out of the way of a fire engine.

Also true. Where we are we get a choice of two reactions – people apparently completely oblivous of the big red truck looming in their rear view mirrors or slamming on the anchors as soon as they hear a siren – generally in the narrowest bit of lane they can find.

We’ve been recently told it’s a no no to get into a position where we’re forcing another vehicle over red lights.

Sounds like the OP did the best he could in the circumstances.

LOL @ tga I find they are usually quite keen to let me overtake too 😉

EDIT
A few of ny daily encountered favourite ‘manoeuvres’ are (in no particular order0 :-
Emergency stops
Cars stopping adjacent to each other (especially fun when combined with above)
Overtaking the car(s) that have just slowed/pulled in to let you past
Stopping just below the brow of a hill
Boy racers when they realise its not a Police car
Horses ‘trotter racing’ two abreast (might be just Durham on that one)

I’d do the same as RJ, pull out fast and safe into a space, no way I’d damage my car nor others.
I was told provided you get out of the way safely and in reasonable time theres not a lot else you can do.

Woody – Member
LOL I find they are usually quite keen to let me overtake too

So are we!

I wouldn’t worry about other peoples’ ignorance. Seems to me you did the right thing.
There seems to be a trend of getting stroppy and getting offended at the tiniest thing on the roads at the moment.

I’d have done what the OP did.

In Oregon if an emergency vehicle is coming towards you on the opposite carriageway, even on a dual carriageway, you have to pull over to the right and stop.

Mind you, in Oregon they wont even allow you to pump your own petrol.

randomjeremy – Member

I feel pretty bad about what happened but I don’t really know what else I could have done. If I had mounted the kerb I could have saved the ambulance probably 10 seconds; enough to make a difference in an emergency for sure, but would have been left facing a potentially large bill for damage to my car, which I am certain I could not have claimed back from the ambulance service / NHS / council.

What would Singletrackworld have done?

FFS! Save the car … 🙄

There seems to be a trend of getting stroppy and getting offended at the tiniest thing on the roads at the moment.

3 too many words.

you did the right thing, i along with a few already posted on here drive emergency vehicles and so far including me, when asked NONE of us would throw our car up a kerb.

re: red lights, emergency vehicles SHOULD turn off sirens as it can account to bullying and harassing and some people take undue risks and consequently drive through red lights….. the sirens go off with lights still on and if a driver chooses to drive through, its their decision and fault if something happens.

the unfortunate reality is from personal experience, most ambulance personnel would indeed be embarrassed to tell you what we end up going out to in an “emergency” and you can tend to tell, from my locale anyway when its a REAL emergency as the ambulances tend to be pretty blatant if they are in a hurry! you do get some dickheads driving them but generally we are going to nan downs and drunks down 3/4 of the time, and when its a proper poorly youll know! lol

i digress, you did the right thing, screw the abuse!

ed lights, emergency vehicles SHOULD turn off sirens as it can account to bullying and harassing and some people take undue risks and consequently drive through red lights….. the sirens go off with lights still on and if a driver chooses to drive through, its their decision and fault if something happens.

Don’t switch your sirens off when if you choose to go through a red light that’s just foolish.

the unfortunate reality is from personal experience, most ambulance personnel would indeed be embarrassed to tell you what we end up going out to in an “emergency”

I bet we wouldn’t.

i didnt mean turn sirens off when going through, i meant when stuck behind cars at red lights, and yeah your prob right, we wouldnt as most ppl need to know the S*** we get called for tbh

i didnt mean turn sirens off when going through, i meant when stuck behind cars at red lights,

Ah champion. Sorry.

i always find it funny that the ppl with off road cars refuse to bump up kerbs and little old ladies in rickety old minis choose to!lol

I seem to attract emergency vehicles coming past with sirens going every time I drive anywhere. And I always seem to be somewhere complicated, like negotiating a double roundabout or heading for a junction on a 6-lane road!
I did a survey once: out of 1 week’s driving, I had 9 separate instances of emergency vehicles! And I don’t live in a city!

nan down

Never heard this before, but like it.

How do you know the abuse has anything to do with you trying to get out of the way of the ambulance?

What would Singletrackworld have done?

We would all have pulled over to the kerb, dismounted and lifted the bike onto the pavement to allow the ambulance sufficient room to pass. 😀

How do you know the abuse has anything to do with you trying to get out of the way of the ambulance?

He he he, they saw a cock-mobile going slowly and grabbed the opportunity to abuse the driver while they had the chance. 😉

Fire engines aren’t that quick.

Its a bit like a supertanker though. I wouldn’t want to get in the way of it.

Was quite impressed by how short the stopping distance can be though.

Some dumb blonde ambled on to pedestrian crossing in Innsbruck, in winter, slightly slushy road. So engrossed in fondling smartphone or something that she didn’t notice 2 fire engines in a city, blues+twos going.

Top driving skills though. Stopped 2m short of impact.

My rule for getting out of the way off blues and twos is do what is necessary to make them room unless that act in itself unreasonably endangers another road user. What anyone thinks of that choice who is NOT the driver of said emergency vehicle is of no consequence at all. I would chance 3 points for an ambulance to make a space to possibly save a life. £60 and a small insurance hike for a human life. It’s a decent compromise.

Thankfully I have never been put to the test on the latter point because I have normally managed to create the space long before the vehicle has got to me because I use my mirrors and ears. Of course if more people used their mirrors properly these drivers jobs would be easier. Drivers on the m27 this morning being a prime example of not moving over until the ambulance was slowing down even though the traffic flow allowed them heaps of space to get over before that.

I’m with the consensus on here and would have done the same as the OP – though given I don’t drive an emergency vehicle my opinion probably doesn’t count!

I’ve accelerated before now to get out of the way of an ambulance – unlike most dimwits I’ll look for the best place to pull over, not the first (and given I tend to notice them coming earlier than most seem to – often before the car between me and it has – that doesn’t mean it’s sitting on my backside waiting). Our walk to school takes us along a main road so I regularly get to see the antics of other drivers – a few times I’ve seen them so oblivious that they’ve held up an ambulance whilst overtaking the car in front who’s pulled over.

He he he, they saw a cock-mobile going slowly and grabbed the opportunity to abuse the driver while they had the chance.

Been thinking of getting an “It’s OK, I’m gay” sticker for the car to stop the poor darlings from feeling inadequate and threatened by the “pussy wetter” as one of my female friends so delightfully calls it 😉

I’ve heard horror stories about people getting points for this and not being able to have them taken off despite the circumstance

Not much of a horror story, is it? :p

I havent read any more than the OP and I also have a low slung German penis extension and would have done the same thing.

I was on a longish winding country lane near where I live when I saw an Ambulance behind the car behind me. He immediately braked and tried to pull over to let it past. The Ambulance then had to brake, lost a few seconds as he negotiated the almost stationary car! Ambulances are relatively slow given all the important life saving kit they have on board so I simply accelerated keeping ahead of him (I only had to drive at around 45mph) and when the road widened and he sped up and I moved out of the way.
Simples!

Police response driver here. I’d have no issue with your actions. Training now is that whilst the blues give you ability to go through lights etc, it’s made clear that you are not meant to drive in a manner which would force another road user to commit an offence to allow your passage (such as running a red light) . The correct approach being to hang back from the traffic and let it sort itself out to create gaps. Racing up th chuff of cars makes for a less progressive drive often as people panic

When riding my motorbike I am able to hear the sirens much earlier. Getting back into the flow after its gone past can be interesting. People are such competitive knobs behind the wheel, they MUST get to he front.

When I am cycling, I slow down and get onto the Pavement simply because I know that I will have been aware of the Sirens well before any Driver does and they will then panic and not expect a cyclist to be there…..

I will stop and wait or go slowly on the Pavement if no Pedestrians.

Another thing to bear in mind when driving and being stationary in traffic is to leave enough space between yourself and the vehicle in front so that space is available to move over.

” tyres and Tarmac ” is a phrase used meaning you can still see the vehicle in fronts tyres and a bit of Tarmac

Go on TJ enlighten us with the make and model of the so called “pussy wetter”?

RJ is not TJ