Emergency service vehicles must have right of way

Bill Johnston, Northside Chronicle  Quest Newspapers  April 08, 2013 

Drivers need to stop panicking and move out of the way of emergency vehicles.

Last financial year 55 fines were issued for ``failing to give way to police or emergency vehicles in Queensland.
RACQ senior road safety advisor Joel Tucker said it only took one panicked motorist to block the path of police, paramedics or firefighters on their way to or from an emergency.
``It's important to be alert to what's going on around you,'' Mr Tucker said.
``Motorists who have music too loud or headphones plugged in run the risk of not even hearing the siren.''
Chermside Ambulance Station's Anthony Preston said drivers needed to maintain composure, look out for the indication signals of the emergency services vehicles, and merge to the left when it is safe.

But with northside intersections constantly choking with traffic, navigating a busy intersection was always a challenge for an ambulance driver, Mr Preston said.
``If you're stopped at a red light and the ambulance can't access the opposite side of the road they may stay in the right-hand lane and elect to turn off their lights and sirens and not push cars through a busy intersection,'' he said.
``They may elect to try and go down the middle of both lanes and have cars peel off: cars in the left lane peel off to the left, cars in the right lane peel off to the right. Or they may go down the wrong side of the road.''
As well as on the job driver training, paramedics undergo a week-long driving course to learn defensive techniques.