Flashing blue lights: should I stop?

Olokia

6am wrote: »

Really good analysis. How did I manage to end up on the lane which goes in the opposite direction if it was DC? I mentioned this little fact in the first post. Did I go through a central reservation? Explain please.

bigjl wrote: »

Though the above comments are more in defense of why I had thought it was a DC, why exactly didn't the OP just say it wasn't a DC?

Don't want to get involved but just had to point this out. He did say it wasn't a DC.

mikey72

Just to let the op know, digging up the old thread, everyone makes mistakes with the emergency services sometimes.

I was just in a line of traffic, about five or six or us, steady 40mph on a quite wide road, fire engine coming up behind at about 55/60, with lights and sirens on.
So we all pull over, apart from the middle car.
They haven't seen the fire engine, so indicate right, and eventually potter out and overtake the stopped cars, having slowed to about 30mph, not having looked in the mirror, or wondering why everyone but them is stopping.
They are then rudely awakened by 13 tonnes of fire engine, now swerving violently onto the other side of the road, lights, sirens, truck horns blaring, flashing past the offside of them. Luckily nothing was coming the other way, as there wasn't a chance of them stopping, and nowhere else to go.

cyclonebri1

mikey72 wrote: »

Just to let the op know, digging up the old thread, everyone makes mistakes with the emergency services sometimes.

I was just in a line of traffic, about five or six or us, steady 40mph on a quite wide road, fire engine coming up behind at about 55/60, with lights and sirens on.
So we all pull over, apart from the middle car.
They haven't seen the fire engine, so indicate right, and eventually potter out and overtake the stopped cars, having slowed to about 30mph, not having looked in the mirror, or wondering why everyone but them is stopping.
They are then rudely awakened by 13 tonnes of fire engine, now swerving violently onto the other side of the road, lights, sirens, truck horns blaring, flashing past the offside of them. Luckily nothing was coming the other way, as there wasn't a chance of them stopping, and nowhere else to go.

I know exactly what you're saying but, had the FE hit the "offending" car as it turned right, whose fault would it have been?.

It's a retorical question of course, the boys in blue would be held responsible for the ignorance or isolated complacency of just another none thinking motorist:mad::mad::mad:

Lum

If it was one lane, not two, and they indicated right then, unfortunately, the fire engine driver was given warning. Part of their job is to expect stupidity like this and deal with it safely.

I suspect that if there was stuff coming the other way, the fire engine driver would not have overtaken the car signalling right.

That said, if I'd been there I would quite happily have been a witness to say that the car pulled out without looking.

mikey72

Lum wrote: »

If it was one lane, not two, and they indicated right then, unfortunately, the fire engine driver was given warning. Part of their job is to expect stupidity like this and deal with it safely.

I suspect that if there was stuff coming the other way, the fire engine driver would not have overtaken the car signalling right.

That said, if I'd been there I would quite happily have been a witness to say that the car pulled out without looking.

He wouldn't have stopped in time, not even slowed from 60 to 30mph.

For all intents and purposes, we'd all pulled over on the left to let him past, then the car driver decided to indicate right and pull out past the cars that had stopped in front.
The car wasn't stopped, but had slowed, and then pulled out in front of the fire engine as it was in the centre of the road about to pass the line of cars.

Lum

Well it's hard to know the exact situation from a description on a forum. Based on the extra information, then perhaps if there was oncoming traffic the fire engine would not have been overtaking at 60, maybe 40ish, in case such muppetry should happen.