These top five hints can help you safely make way for an emergency vehicle when you’re on the road.
The advice comes from road safety organisation GEM Motoring Assist.
And with school half term approaching, it might just help to keep you and other road users safe during the busy holiday period.
The guidance covers a number of different scenarios, from traffic lights and roundabouts, to Smart motorways where there’s no hard shoulder.
GEM chief executive Neil Worth says:
“Every driver wants to help and do the right thing, but the approach of a blue light vehicle can take them by surprise. We hope that our tips will minimise confusion and reduce risk.”
At traffic lights
An ambulance won’t want you to go through a red traffic light. So don’t break the law or take any risks by moving past the light. If you’re first in the queue at a red light, stay where you are, and leave the ambulance to find its way around you.
Roundabouts and junctions
If you're approaching a roundabout or a junction and you see an ambulance, look at its position, as this will let you know where it wants you to go. If you’re already AT the junction, be patient and wait for it to come past. There may be more than one emergency vehicle approaching the junction, so check before moving off.
Solid white lines
On a road with a solid white line system, an ambulance will probably switch off its siren as it follows you. This is because overtaking is not allowed. So keep going – at the speed limit if it’s safe – until you’re clear of the solid white lines. When the siren goes on again, that’s your cue to let the ambulance go past.
Motorways and dual carriageways
On motorways and dual carriageways, move to the left to allow an ambulance to pass in the outside lane if it’s clear. In slow and stationary traffic, emergency vehicles usually use the motorway hard shoulder, so you should only go onto the hard shoulder if you have an emergency of your own.
If there’s no hard shoulder, make way for emergency vehicles by creating an ‘emergency corridor’. When you’ve let an emergency vehicle through, stay where you are, as other vehicles are likely to be coming through.
Smart motorways
On a smart motorway, one or more lanes may be closed because of an incident ahead – you’ll know because of red X signs above the carriageway. Emergency vehicles will use these lanes if they can. Keep out of these red X lanes. If no lanes appear to be closed, be prepared to help create the emergency corridor.
There’s a handy ‘Blue Light Aware’ video on the GEM Motoring Assist YouTube page, which talks you through all of these steps.
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