Rush hour traffic & fire engine on an emergency
Discussion
Not sure if this is the correct forum to post this but on my way home from work at 5 the traffic was bumper to bumper on a major a road about 1 mile outside a local village, completely normal as it leads to a major town for this area.
There is a fire engine in the distance trying to work it's way through the queue I was in when a car coming towards us just stops and expects us to move up so the fire engine can get around him. We can't as it's bumper to bumper so I drive into the grass verge on my left as much as possible without ripping my bumper off. The driver behind starts to do this, but then decides it's better to drive on the wrong side of the road and a few others join in!
I just admit I haven't seen this before and you wouldn't get far before meeting another car coming the other way, he tooted so I guess he saw people in front as the problem but nobody could move. Is this genuinely acceptable if they think it will help? I thought you had to tuck in left as much as possible to create more room? The fire engine could get through but it was a tight gap.
Absolutely no idea what happened when they met cars coming the other way...
There is a fire engine in the distance trying to work it's way through the queue I was in when a car coming towards us just stops and expects us to move up so the fire engine can get around him. We can't as it's bumper to bumper so I drive into the grass verge on my left as much as possible without ripping my bumper off. The driver behind starts to do this, but then decides it's better to drive on the wrong side of the road and a few others join in!
I just admit I haven't seen this before and you wouldn't get far before meeting another car coming the other way, he tooted so I guess he saw people in front as the problem but nobody could move. Is this genuinely acceptable if they think it will help? I thought you had to tuck in left as much as possible to create more room? The fire engine could get through but it was a tight gap.
Absolutely no idea what happened when they met cars coming the other way...
Can't make much sense of that.
Was it a single carriageway A road? Traffic solid in both directions?
How was the fire engine getting past traffic as it approached you?
It happens a fair bit on the road in and out of town for us - thankfully it's fairly wide and all you have to do is pull to the side, but there's a whole load of crossing islands and people stop close to those which makes it very tricky - usually the vehicle coming the other way realises and stops short so the emegency vehicle can go on the wrong side of island.
Was it a single carriageway A road? Traffic solid in both directions?
How was the fire engine getting past traffic as it approached you?
It happens a fair bit on the road in and out of town for us - thankfully it's fairly wide and all you have to do is pull to the side, but there's a whole load of crossing islands and people stop close to those which makes it very tricky - usually the vehicle coming the other way realises and stops short so the emegency vehicle can go on the wrong side of island.
Sheepshanks said:
Can't make much sense of that.
Was it a single carriageway A road? Traffic solid in both directions?
How was the fire engine getting past traffic as it approached you?
It happens a fair bit on the road in and out of town for us - thankfully it's fairly wide and all you have to do is pull to the side, but there's a whole load of crossing islands and people stop close to those which makes it very tricky - usually the vehicle coming the other way realises and stops short so the emegency vehicle can go on the wrong side of island.
Yes single carriage A road, A418 that goes from Oxford to Milton Keynes direction so wide enough for lorries etc and traffic was only solid on my side of the road heading into this village, the other side was busy but flowing at 40-50mph.Was it a single carriageway A road? Traffic solid in both directions?
How was the fire engine getting past traffic as it approached you?
It happens a fair bit on the road in and out of town for us - thankfully it's fairly wide and all you have to do is pull to the side, but there's a whole load of crossing islands and people stop close to those which makes it very tricky - usually the vehicle coming the other way realises and stops short so the emegency vehicle can go on the wrong side of island.
Fire engine was doing its best to drive on the opposite side of the road and squeeze through on coming traffic and the over take those in the traffic jam (me)
It's not ideal conditions but I thought everyone is supposed to tuck into your left as much as possible trying to create room down the middle ( that's how it passed me) and when the other side of the road is clear then it can make good progress.
If it was one person who decided to drive on the wrong side of the road to make room then I could put it down to a brain fart etc but 3 cars did it! With 1 of them beeping at us for being in the way. Never seen it before in all the years I have been driving.
That's what made me question if it's more common than I think or perhaps done in other countries? I would feel like a right pr!CK for effectively queue jumping though and potentially blocking the whole road when you meet the oncoming traffic...
There's an A-Road round my regular that people fail so spectacularly at that the emergency MO now appears to be to turn off lights and sirens for the mile and a half of hedgerow and resume full beans back out the other side.
It must feel like Miss Daisy but an even 40mph beats navigating the apocalyptic scenarios the 'helpers' and 'panic rabbits' conjur up.
It must feel like Miss Daisy but an even 40mph beats navigating the apocalyptic scenarios the 'helpers' and 'panic rabbits' conjur up.
EmailAddress said:
There's an A-Road round my regular that people fail so spectacularly at that the emergency MO now appears to be to turn off lights and sirens for the mile and a half of hedgerow and resume full beans back out the other side.
It must feel like Miss Daisy but an even 40mph beats navigating the apocalyptic scenarios the 'helpers' and 'panic rabbits' conjur up.
They are supposed to do that when there’s no where for traffic to go. My dad was a fireman and he said people just stopping in front of them in awkward places was a nightmare - far better if vehicles continue and pull over when it’s clear.It must feel like Miss Daisy but an even 40mph beats navigating the apocalyptic scenarios the 'helpers' and 'panic rabbits' conjur up.
I can understand if the cars pulled over onto the opposite side of the road to create a clearing on the left, but that would take some impeccable teamwork when you consider the traffic jam was about 2-3 miles long.
Instead 1 car that drove the wrong way just overtook about 6 cars before forcing his way back in, the other 2 carried on overtaking the stationary cars and must have filtered back in past the corner ahead of us.
There wasn't any street lights abd being pitch black I didn't see any obvious gaps in this traffic jam ( it was stop start for 10 minutes before the fire engine appeared)
Instead 1 car that drove the wrong way just overtook about 6 cars before forcing his way back in, the other 2 carried on overtaking the stationary cars and must have filtered back in past the corner ahead of us.
There wasn't any street lights abd being pitch black I didn't see any obvious gaps in this traffic jam ( it was stop start for 10 minutes before the fire engine appeared)
On single carriageway roads, I find that as soon as I pull over as much as I can, and stop for the emergency vehicle, the amoeba driving towards me will stop next to me so that we are both blocking the carriageway, instead of stopping before me so that the emergency vehicle can negotiate us as a chicane.
Recently retired London firefighter here, 32 years service, 20 years as an appliance driver. Best bit of advice I received on my Brigade driving course was to always expect cars to stop in the worst place possible, next to islands, opposite other cars and any where they can that leaves plenty of room for a Nissan Micra to get through but not a full size Fire Appliance.
This advice served me very well and even helped a little when encountering the worst type of driver, the ones who poodle along completely oblivious to the presence of an emergency vehicle approaching from the rear and will slam on the brakes when they eventually realise you are behind them and the source of the deafening noise drowning out the latest episode of the Archers on their radio.
Be assured if you pull to the left safely you will have done the most expected thing in front of an appliance and be less of a hazard than people choosing to pull to the right or even trying to out run us on whatever bit of road they see.
This advice served me very well and even helped a little when encountering the worst type of driver, the ones who poodle along completely oblivious to the presence of an emergency vehicle approaching from the rear and will slam on the brakes when they eventually realise you are behind them and the source of the deafening noise drowning out the latest episode of the Archers on their radio.
Be assured if you pull to the left safely you will have done the most expected thing in front of an appliance and be less of a hazard than people choosing to pull to the right or even trying to out run us on whatever bit of road they see.
Edited by Miles Safer on Friday 15th November 11:44
Miles Safer said:
Be assured if you pull to the left safely you will have done the most expected thing in front of an appliance and be less of a hazard than people choosing to pull to the right or even trying to out run us on whatever bit of road they see.
Pfft, what's the point of living if we can't outrun an ambulance.
Ive just passed my bus driving test and started on local bus routes. It's a nightmare even in that when people "helpfully" position themselves to let you out/in/past and inevitably become a blockage, so added blue lights and sirens must make it a real PITA as they have to make decisions even faster to get out of the way, with terrible outcomes each time.
Far too many people panic around emergency services.
Seen driver stop in 4 way junction to 'let police on blue lights through' - completly ignoring that there are 3-4 vehicles now trapped behind them between them and the blue lights - if they just carried on across the junction (as they eventually did) then the police car would easily pass in 30ish m when they passed the queue for lights going opposite way.
Equally had fire engine flick on sirens behind when out with cycle club; Rather than pulling into the industrial estate entry way (big enough to let HGV's do a u-turn before gate, so easily big enough for entire group and presumably why fire engine flicked siren on when it did), lead rider stopped just before it - Leaving the riders 3 behind trapped at the pedestrian refuge lead rider had just passed).
Had drivers abuse me for carrying on cycling down wide cycle path rather than hoping up kerb - completely incapable of grasping the idea that I can sprint down the hill at ~25-30mph and pull into the side road at the bottom then u-turn with far less delay to ambulance than stopping to lift bike onto footpath would lead to...
Seen driver stop in 4 way junction to 'let police on blue lights through' - completly ignoring that there are 3-4 vehicles now trapped behind them between them and the blue lights - if they just carried on across the junction (as they eventually did) then the police car would easily pass in 30ish m when they passed the queue for lights going opposite way.
Equally had fire engine flick on sirens behind when out with cycle club; Rather than pulling into the industrial estate entry way (big enough to let HGV's do a u-turn before gate, so easily big enough for entire group and presumably why fire engine flicked siren on when it did), lead rider stopped just before it - Leaving the riders 3 behind trapped at the pedestrian refuge lead rider had just passed).
Had drivers abuse me for carrying on cycling down wide cycle path rather than hoping up kerb - completely incapable of grasping the idea that I can sprint down the hill at ~25-30mph and pull into the side road at the bottom then u-turn with far less delay to ambulance than stopping to lift bike onto footpath would lead to...
Edited by qwerty360 on Friday 15th November 19:56
Miles Safer said:
Recently retired London firefighter here, 32 years service, 20 years as an appliance driver. Best bit of advice I received on my Brigade driving course was to always expect cars to stop in the worst place possible, next to islands, opposite other cars and any where they can that leaves plenty of room for a Nissan Micra to get through but not a full size Fire Appliance.
This advice served me very well and even helped a little when encountering the worst type of driver, the ones who poodle along completely oblivious to the presence of an emergency vehicle approaching from the rear and will slam on the brakes when they eventually realise you are behind them and the source of the deafening noise drowning out the latest episode of the Archers on their radio.
Be assured if you pull to the left safely you will have done the most expected thing in front of an appliance and be less of a hazard than people choosing to pull to the right or even trying to out run us on whatever bit of road they see.
Useful stuff, cheersThis advice served me very well and even helped a little when encountering the worst type of driver, the ones who poodle along completely oblivious to the presence of an emergency vehicle approaching from the rear and will slam on the brakes when they eventually realise you are behind them and the source of the deafening noise drowning out the latest episode of the Archers on their radio.
Be assured if you pull to the left safely you will have done the most expected thing in front of an appliance and be less of a hazard than people choosing to pull to the right or even trying to out run us on whatever bit of road they see.
Edited by Miles Safer on Friday 15th November 11:44
EmailAddress said:
Miles Safer said:
Be assured if you pull to the left safely you will have done the most expected thing in front of an appliance and be less of a hazard than people choosing to pull to the right or even trying to out run us on whatever bit of road they see.
Pfft, what's the point of living if we can't outrun an ambulance.Gary C said:
Miles Safer said:
Recently retired London firefighter here, 32 years service, 20 years as an appliance driver. Best bit of advice I received on my Brigade driving course was to always expect cars to stop in the worst place possible, next to islands, opposite other cars and any where they can that leaves plenty of room for a Nissan Micra to get through but not a full size Fire Appliance.
This advice served me very well and even helped a little when encountering the worst type of driver, the ones who poodle along completely oblivious to the presence of an emergency vehicle approaching from the rear and will slam on the brakes when they eventually realise you are behind them and the source of the deafening noise drowning out the latest episode of the Archers on their radio.
Be assured if you pull to the left safely you will have done the most expected thing in front of an appliance and be less of a hazard than people choosing to pull to the right or even trying to out run us on whatever bit of road they see.
Useful stuff, cheersThis advice served me very well and even helped a little when encountering the worst type of driver, the ones who poodle along completely oblivious to the presence of an emergency vehicle approaching from the rear and will slam on the brakes when they eventually realise you are behind them and the source of the deafening noise drowning out the latest episode of the Archers on their radio.
Be assured if you pull to the left safely you will have done the most expected thing in front of an appliance and be less of a hazard than people choosing to pull to the right or even trying to out run us on whatever bit of road they see.
Edited by Miles Safer on Friday 15th November 11:44
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