Blue, red and green flashing lights are signals used by the emergency services, along with sirens, to alert us of their presence. The full list of the emergency services entitled to use them is too long to list here, but day-to-day we see police, ambulance and fire services on the road.
Now I don’t know about you, but when I see blue lights behind me, there’s a split-second moment of “what have I done?”. So far I am pleased to report that’s not been the case.
My next thought is then “what’s the best way to react?”. The Highway Code has a few comments to make on this topic and I hope that this article will expand on this advice.
The first thing to do is put yourself in the position of the driver of the emergency vehicle and ask yourself “what are they trying to achieve?”
The answer to this question is typically progress. They will be on a call and are trying to get from A to B as quickly and safely as possible. So the real question is: how can you best help them make progress?
Ask yourself, will they be able to keep their momentum passing? When slowing/stopping, are you positioning your vehicle such that they can smoothly and efficiently pass, or are you creating an obstacle, requiring them to slow down?
If the answer to the questions above are no, you may be better off keeping going with them behind you. They are highly trained so will be aware that in this circumstance that you’re actually helping them rather than hindering.
It is also worth looking at any other signals they are giving, including their vehicle’s body language, do you think they may be turning soon? In which case, just keeping on going may be the best help.
Also consider what oncoming traffic is doing? If two of you stop close together, you may block the carriageway altogether.
When you do decide to pull over and stop, do not forget to signal clearly in advance so the driver of the emergency vehicle knows your intent.
One last, and important, point to note is that the emergency services have certain exemptions to the traffic laws to help them respond quicker. As a civilian, we do not have any such exemptions to break any traffic laws in an attempt to help the driver of an emergency vehicle. Therefore, do not exceed the speed limit, do not cross red traffic lights, do not drive in a bus lane, the list goes on…
Stay safe and if you see blue, think: “am I helping or hindering the driver of the emergency vehicle?”
Stay safe,
David