Just listened to a discussion on the radio. The topic was "being fined for breaking traffic rules when making space for emergency vehicles
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I think they are allowed to go through red lights, as I was nearly hit by a police car doing this. It was on a corner where you can't see if it's safe to turn or not, hence the lights. My light went on green, so I turned the corner, as you do, and the police car was speeding along the main road that I was turning into. Scary!
Emergency response vehicles are not exempt from traffic law at all. It's just they're generally ignored. They still don't get away with dangerous driving though
They are, however, generally above the highway code. It being advice rather than law. (ignoring the Highway Code generally qualifies as 'sans due care & attention' or 'dangerous driving', but assuming the emergency vehicle is doing neither, they are ok)
The training that Emergency response drivers are given is meant to teach them when they can _safely_ break traffic laws. However, they're except from the law when doing so. As it stands, the police [b]will[/b] turn a blind eye to any offenses committed by an emergency vehicle when responding to a call, however if they cause an accident they are subject to the full letter of the law. As such you'll usually see that they're relatively slow through red lights and generally being very careful when doing so.
Aarently there's been a spate of ambulance drivers being disciplined for breaking the speed limits and stuff.
Only police cars are allowed to break the rules of the road at all, and only when they have their lights and sirens on, and only when they are in pursuit of another vehicle.
When an emergency vehicle is approaching with lights and/or sirens, you should slow down and if it's safe, pull aside within your lane to make room for it to overtake you if it can.
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They are, however, generally above the highway code. It being advice rather than law. (ignoring the Highway Code generally qualifies as 'sans due care & attention' or 'dangerous driving', but assuming the emergency vehicle is doing neither, they are ok)
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Only police cars are allowed to break the rules of the road at all, and only when they have their lights and sirens on, and only when they are in pursuit of another vehicle.
When an emergency vehicle is approaching with lights and/or sirens, you should slow down and if it's safe, pull aside within your lane to make room for it to overtake you if it can.
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