Rule change needed for emergency vehicles

According to the latest poll by the IAM almost 50 percent of motorists believe that traffic stopped at an incident should keep a lane space free for emergency service vehicles.  They also agree that those who fail to get out of the way of an emergency vehicle should be fined, but 35 percent of respondents also admitted that they don’t know the current rules on how to deal with an approaching emergency service vehicles.

This is reflected in the results with a quarter of people saying they would go through a red light to let an emergency vehicle through and almost a third say they have entered a bus lane to allow access to an emergency vehicle, both maneuvers often result in fines to the driver. 44 percent of motorists also believe that it is unfair to prosecute someone who crosses a red light to let an emergency services vehicle through. A further 31 percent of people feel that this should be made legal. But, overall the largest group of respondents (41 percent) believes that the law should not be changed in regards to crossing red lights for emergency vehicles.

It is illegal to enter a bus lane during its active hours of operation to let an emergency vehicle past, and 86 percent of motorists believe that this is unfair. Findings reveal that, while most people are aware of the laws surrounding emergency vehicles, around half are willing to flout them to let the emergency services through. IAM chief executive Simon Best said: “Fining people for pulling into empty bus lanes so that  life-saving services can get through is just plain wrong. Most drivers quite rightly want to get out of the way. Simply catching and penalising drivers who break the rules to let emergency vehicles pass will not serve to educate them – people must understand the rules to abide by them. Road users must be on the look-out for emergency service vehicles and move out of the way where possible but laws have been put in place for the safety of all road users. Our survey shows clear support for more clarity and new ways of ensuring police, fire and ambulance personnel get to incidents with maximum speed and minimum risk to themselves and others.”

News supplied by Taxi Cab News