any Blue light panickers | Motoring discussion | Back Room Forum

Thu 8 Jan 2015 19:17

any Blue light panickers - bazza

Driving home tonight, busy 2 lane A road. Traffic ahead of me, behind me and a stream of traffic coming the other way. Coming towards us in the distance, blue lights flashing. Car in front stops dead in the road, I of course have to stop. Resulting chaos.

This is the second time it's happened. I was always taught to continue as normal and if blue lights are behind me to pull over when safe, eg a lay by, but not to stop. The gentleman in front of me nearly caused a pile up. Discuss please!

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Thu 8 Jan 2015 19:28

any Blue light panickers - Bobbin Threadbare

I hate this so much!

This has happened on the motorway to me once; the car in front must've panicked and instead of moving lanes he hit the brakes.

I was taught to keep moving as normal, but try to let the emergency vehicle past as soon as it was safe to do so.

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Thu 8 Jan 2015 19:32

any Blue light panickers - jgrahampo

Straight from the BIB

content.met.police.uk/Site/drivingschooladvice

www.bluelightaware.org.uk/?p=239

Edited by jgrahampo on 08/01/2015 at 19:33

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Thu 8 Jan 2015 20:28

any Blue light panickers - Bromptonaut

The Met's page says it all in final para:

We would however, appreciate your co-operation by looking well ahead and choosing sensible places to pull over.

Looking well ahead seems beyond the capacity of too many drivers.

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Thu 8 Jan 2015 21:41

any Blue light panickers - slippy118

You must be travelling too close / too fast.

The traffic coming towards you should slow down and pull over. If the blue light overtakes at speed it is easier to get through the space left if the vehicles are slow moving or stationary.

The blue light may suddenly need to come onto your side of the road to overtake or turn right or do a U turn or need more road at a bend .

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Thu 8 Jan 2015 22:22

any Blue light panickers - focussed

"Car in front of me stops dead in the road"

Obviously a paid-up member of that well known road safety charity Brake-the one that is the problem, not the solution.

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Thu 8 Jan 2015 23:56

any Blue light panickers - brum

A big problem is at traffic lights on red. Most people refuse to move forward and aside until the lights change, and the box ahead clear. I know people have been done for passing red in these circumstances but surely an emergency vehicle with blue lights and siren should allow a passage to be opened and this minor infringement ignored.

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Fri 9 Jan 2015 00:02

any Blue light panickers - Galaxy

I think it's high time that the law was clairified regarding this issue.

I don't know why they won't do it.

Edit.................I guess that, in this day and age, there should be a switch in all emergency vehicles which, when operated, will set all traffic lights in their intended path to green, so being in their favour. It's now 2015 and what I've described isn't particulary difficult to do, it isn't rocket science.

I don't understand why this hasn't been done, either.

Edited by Galaxy on 09/01/2015 at 00:07

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Fri 9 Jan 2015 08:55

any Blue light panickers - Bromptonaut

A big problem is at traffic lights on red. Most people refuse to move forward and aside until the lights change, and the box ahead clear. I know people have been done for passing red in these circumstances but surely an emergency vehicle with blue lights and siren should allow a passage to be opened and this minor infringement ignored.

The police advice above (Met) is 100% clear that they don't expect drivers to pass red lights or even enter bus lanes. IMO lights are a matter of safety and passing a red even for a vehicle on blues/twos carries a risk. Bus lanes OTOH are a convenience thing and enforcement should use discretion according to circs.

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Fri 9 Jan 2015 09:25

any Blue light panickers - Galaxy

That all sounds fine and excellent advice. However, I'm afraid, from what I've seen on the road, I don't think that some members of the emergency services are aware of that.

For an example of this behaviour have a look at:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5fcZJOGbhQ

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Fri 9 Jan 2015 11:54

any Blue light panickers - RT

The problem in congested traffic is that virtually everyone stops too close to the vehicle in front - two lanes of stationary traffic could easily manoeuvre apart to leave a lane up the middle IF drivers left a proper gap to the car in front.

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Fri 9 Jan 2015 12:03

any Blue light panickers - NARU

> For an example of this behaviour have a look at:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5fcZJOGbhQ

That is intimidation!

Edited by Marlot on 09/01/2015 at 12:04

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Fri 9 Jan 2015 12:07

any Blue light panickers - NARU

A big problem is at traffic lights on red. Most people refuse to move forward and aside until the lights change, and the box ahead clear. ....

I agree, As Brits, we used to be good at knowing when to obey the rules, and when not - but automated enforcement has taken that sensible discretion away.

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Fri 9 Jan 2015 12:00

any Blue light panickers - NARU

Until recently, I lived a few hundred yards from a major hospital. I saw so much bad driving when people saw (or move often didn't see) the lights and sirens.

By thinking ahead, I was often able to facilitate flow during ruch hour - sometimes by keeping going, sometimes by stopping the traffic my side so the ambulance had a clear run to overtake a line of stationary/slow traffic.

The ambulance drivers were always good at acknowledging with a wave or thumbs up.

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Fri 9 Jan 2015 19:48

any Blue light panickers - alastairq

It really is about time the Govt. started a high profile tele ad campaign to make drivers aware of how to correctly deal with a blue light vehicle.

The way people over-react [thinking they are 'doing the right thing'] to the presence of a blue light creates endless problems for the blue light drivers themselves.

No blue light driver really wants to be screwed to a halt, simply because the car in front has stopped.

Equally, no blue light driver likes to be compelled to overtake, in the face of oncoming traffic, because those in front have [panicked?]. and slowed down too much.

Ambulances, especially, on the open road, can often be quite legally outpaced [they aren't the fastest of vehicles]....

But there will be no convincing the average driver that what they think is right, can be very wrong.

So now, when I see a blue light coming , regardless of direction, I am very alert to sudden panic actions from drivers in front.

Edited by alastairq on 09/01/2015 at 19:50

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Fri 9 Jan 2015 23:15

any Blue light panickers - brum

The ambulance drivers were always good at acknowledging with a wave or thumbs up.

Thats surely the last thing ambulance drivers should be doing on blue lights!?

Met advice is probably irrelavent outside London Met area?

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Sat 10 Jan 2015 09:41

any Blue light panickers - Bromptonaut

Met advice is probably irrelavent outside London Met area?

Why would ounsel against running reds or entering bus lanes be different outside London?

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Sat 10 Jan 2015 18:45

any Blue light panickers - galileo

Met advice is probably irrelavent outside London Met area?

Why would ounsel against running reds or entering bus lanes be different outside London?

Advice re reds obviously applies everywhere, but bus lanes outside London tend to have less/no camera coverage; also, many local bus lanes only apply at peak times and Monday to Friday.

In spite of the hours that apply being clearly shown every 200 yards, 9 out of 10 drivers fail to read or understand the signs and religiously stay out of the bus lane. (Suits me, as out of the hours I can make progress using the lane).

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Sat 10 Jan 2015 19:36

any Blue light panickers - Bromptonaut

Advice re reds obviously applies everywhere, but bus lanes outside London tend to have less/no camera coverage; also, many local bus lanes only apply at peak times and Monday to Friday.

I nearly posted that camera enforcement of bus lanes was rare outside London but wasn't sure if I was mixing up with box junctions. In fact bus lane cameras are rare outside GL rare but London is only place in England where cameras police box junctions.

In spite of the hours that apply being clearly shown every 200 yards, 9 out of 10 drivers fail to read or understand the signs and religiously stay out of the bus lane. (Suits me, as out of the hours I can make progress using the lane).

Limited hours bus lanes are present in London too. Kingsway is but one example. OTOH Northampton has 24/7 bus lanes but no 24hr busses. You're spot on about drivers not reaing/understanding the signs though. Try Weedon Road in Northampton. Bus lane is Mo-Sat 07:30 to 09:30 but car drivers stay out 24/7/365.

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Sun 11 Jan 2015 08:47

any Blue light panickers - NARU

In spite of the hours that apply being clearly shown every 200 yards, 9 out of 10 drivers fail to read or understand the signs and religiously stay out of the bus lane. (Suits me, as out of the hours I can make progress using the lane).

There's one in Guildford which is limited hours, but around the corner goes to 24hr. But the signs are too small to inform you in time to merge back into the main traffic easily. Nasty.

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Sat 31 Jan 2015 16:39

any Blue light panickers - grumpyscot

I seem to recall that in some European countries, the law says you must STOP. (IIRC Poland is one of them). So just because the vehicle has UK plates doesn't mean the driver was taught or passed the test in the UK. The driver's natural reaction would be to simply stop!

My best on ever was being on a single track road, with an cop car on blues & twos behind - what a great opportunity to welly it until about 3 miles further on there was a farm gate which I pulled into. Got a thumbs up from the crew!

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Sat 31 Jan 2015 21:58

any Blue light panickers - Ben 10

If there is a queue of traffic waiting at red signals and the blue light vehicle is obstructed by traffic on other carriageway or reservation, the onus is on that driver to stop, and turn off siren until the lights turn green. They will then turn it back on hoping the front lines of traffic make enough forward progress to allow the blue light vehicle to manoeuvre through the gaps provided. The siren should be turned off to stop drivers going through red lights or panicking.
As has been said earlier, don't stop dead, if you cannot pull over to let pass drive normally. At least the blue light vehicle can travel with you rather than stop. Nothing worse in having to make up speed from a stop, especially a large vehicle like a fire engine.
Never stop opposite a pedestrian refuge.
I might be right in thinking that in certain European countries, the onus is on the civilian driver to yield and make way, by law. Unlike here.
Lastly, there was a trial in the 80s in the NW for fire engines to change traffic lights on route. Which for whatever reason was abandoned and not rolled out.

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