Community Safety & Education

There are some simple rules to follow when you are on the road and encounter an emergency vehicle:

Do:

• Stay calm
• Pull to the right and come to a complete stop.
• If you are traveling on a high-speed road or if there is no room to stop, slow down as much as possible.
• If you are in the left lane, pull over into the right lane as traffic in the lane to your right moves over.
• If you cannot move to the right because of another vehicle or obstacle, just stop. Your action will let the driver of the emergency vehicle know what you are doing and allow the driver to anticipate where to drive.
• When an emergency vehicle approaches you from behind while you are stopped at an intersection, stay where you are unless you can pull to the right.
• On a 4-lane highway or street without barriers, both sides of traffic should pull to the right.
• Be careful when driving by or around a motor vehicle accident or any situation where emergency vehicles are parked and the firefighters are working.
• Drivers should stay at least 500 feet behind emergency vehicles.
• If the emergency vehicle is traveling on the opposite direction of a divided highway or street, you do not need to pull over.

Don’t:

• Don’t panic.
• Don’t play your radio so loudly that you are unable to hear sirens.
• Don’t stop in the middle lane when there is room to pull to the right.
• Don’t pull to the left in the center lane or left turn lane.
• Don’t race ahead to make the green light or turn before the emergency vehicle gets there.
• Don’t turn quickly to the left onto a street or driveway.
• Don’t drive through a red light or stop sign when an emergency vehicle approaches from behind.
• Don’t disregard the presence of the emergency vehicle by continuing to drive.