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How are drivers supposed to know what emergency vehicle is ordering them across a red traffic light?
How is one supposed to know if a police officer is ordering them forward at a red traffic light if you cannot see anything obvious in the rear view mirror? Is sounding their siren enough? In these days of CCTV enforcement there are too many risks of falling foul of some law or another. That is illustrated by the comments on the video about not pulling into bus lanes to let an emergency vehicle pass – a ludicrous comment really, when the space is there to potentially help save someone's life.
Asked on 17 November 2012 by JH, via email
Answered by
Honest John
I agree with that. You hear a siren, you see blue lights in our mirror. How are you supposed to know if it's a fire engine, an ambulance or a police car until it's right on you? And a rapid response paramedic's car actually looks like a police car. Meanwhile you are supposed to stay put at a red light until you are absolutely certain you are being ordered to cross it by a uniformed police officer. If that happens at every set of traffic lights the patient could be dead before the ambulance gets there.
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