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getting passed while running lghts and sirens?
Last night while enroute to a field fire we almost got passed on the highway by an 18 wheeler. Only until he got almost in front of me did he realize what we were. Guess the loud sirens, and brights flashing ligths were not enough to know?? Maybe he just needed to read the door of the fire engine to know?? Has this happened to anyone else? How did you handle it? I called dispatch and let em know but not sure if they got him or not.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Matthew on
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In Alabama I don't think it's illegal to pass an Emergency Vehicle...
We've never really had that problem though, a lot of the folks around here are mighty nice about pulling over. The only time I really feared of being in an accident was one time on the way to a brush fire in the middle of the day. I was climbing a large hill in the right lane (this stretch of highway has 3 lanes, only one is on-comming) when a person in one of the crappiest cars I have EVER seen, instead of passing me in the left lane, got so close to my bumper that I lost them completely in ALL of my mirrors. Keep in mind our Brush Truck is not a large vehicle, they stayed back there for 2-3 miles, I just kept on driving, humming along at 50mph praying that I wouldn't have to slow down for anyone pulling over and that no animal would run across the road. Thankfully after a few very tense few miles they backed off...
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Permalink Reply by Tony P on
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Happens to us all the time. But then, it's not illegal here. As long as a road user doesn't impede us, or do something stupid, they can pass. Our trucks don't climb hills that well, so to have a long line of cars behind us is just pointless. On the freeways? We can't keep up with cars and large transport vehicles anyway, so why not let them pass. When we are in a position of not being able to keep ahead of traffic, we stay in one lane and turn off the siren.
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Permalink Reply by lutan1 on
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I guess it boils down as to whether it's illegal or not?
We had a truck that used to struggle to match the speed limit on a down hill run with a tail wind- we often switched everything off until we had to pass through intersections, etc.
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Permalink Reply by Fire Capt. 1304 on
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We run into this all the time. When we run mutual aid calls we often joke that we could jog faster than the tanker drives. We always get passed on the interstate because the speed limit is 70 and everybody is doing 90 and our tanker is governed at 65 and will not go any faster than that. We usually just stay in the left lane and let traffic pass us on the right. Most people will slow down and not pass but then you have the A$$holes that just cant seem to wait and go flying right on by.
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Permalink Reply by Paul Young on
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You can't read text? It's a whole new language.
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Permalink Reply by John on
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We have been told that at highway speeds we out run our lights and sirens, but no We haven't had it happen yet.
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Permalink Reply by Scott T. on
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I have a video of us responding to an injured child call in one of the reserve ambulances and we get passed by a pickup truck. He didn't care what or who we were. We were in his way of getting home. Plus it's BS that MD hasn't yet adopted the slow down - move over laws. And they wonder why we still get runover but motorists.
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Permalink Reply by kenny goines on
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Of course it happens. My question to you is why were you running hot to a brush fire to start with? Unless there are structures in danger there is no need and it is just plain too dangerous. The fire service as a whole needs to rethink it stance on emergency response. When is it truly needed to run priority one to a scene, when priority three will sometimes get you there just as fast, and a whole lot safer?
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I really hope you are joking, if not you have NO buisness driving a BRT!
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There are several things to remember here.
1) At highway speeds, you basically outrun your siren. I have started really paying attention, and at 65 mph you begin to hear a siren about 3-4 car lengths behind you....about 100 feet. Thats close.
2)What color lights are you running on the rear of your apparatus? Like'em or not, the amber lights are the most visible in daylight or night.
As far as taking up more than one lane, do what it takes to keep your crew safe. I would much rather explain to my boss or one of our Blue Brothers (or sisters) why I am trying to keep my crew and apparatus safe, rather than explain an accident. On the subject of calling dispatch, your cops must be less busy than ours. Driving 65-70 mph, by the time dispatch gets an accurate discription and have a unit to send,.......the offending driver is long gone. Stay safe and take care of your guys.
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Permalink Reply by brittany (phire saint) on
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there only one word in that that was not spell properly and one letter was cut off
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Permalink Reply by Donnie Hood K14 on
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Being in a rural area with only one hiway we rarely get moving very fast but even oncoming traffic sometimes doesn't pay us much attention, and county deputies are most of the time not close enough to do much good. You just have to watch out and never expect anyone to yield.
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