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You Can Be Fined £1,000 For Letting Ambulance Past If You Do It Incorrectly
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Drivers can find themselves receiving a hefty fine for letting an ambulance past, if they do it incorrectly.
As all motorists know, if a vehicle such as an ambulance, police car or fire engine comes past with its blue lights and siren on then they must move to make way for it. Whilst most motorists will spot the vehicle in their rear view mirror and move quickly, it now seems they could be fined for their apparently good deed.
If motorists break the law including the Highway Code to make way then they could find themselves being fined £1,000.
Moves such as going into a bus lane or driving through a red light could result in the huge fine via a fixed penalty notice and can even be worse if they end up in court as a result.
The same goes for entering a yellow box junction to make way for the emergency vehicle to get past.
Some moves including running a red light could also earn drivers three points on their licence, which for some could even mean losing their licence.
Other examples that could result in fines include mounting the kerb or not braking in a safe manner.
As CCTV cameras are increasingly being used to fine motorists for offences such as these, the RAC has now also warned that getting out of the way for an ambulance, police car or fire engine won’t exempt you from paying fines.
The Highway Code states: "You should look and listen for ambulances, fire engines, police, doctors or other emergency vehicles using flashing blue, red or green lights and sirens or flashing headlights, or Highways Agency Traffic Officer and Incident Support vehicles using flashing amber lights.
"When one approaches do not panic.
"Consider the route of such a vehicle and take appropriate action to let it pass, while complying with all traffic signs.
"If necessary, pull to the side of the road and stop, but try to avoid stopping before the brow of a hill, a bend or narrow section of road.
"Do not endanger yourself, other road users or pedestrians and avoid mounting the kerb.
"Do not brake harshly on approach to a junction or roundabout, as a following vehicle may not have the same view as you."
Whilst the Highway Code advises drivers how to conduct themselves in the emergency situation, it is where a driver ends up that can land them a fine.
Blue Light Aware, has now confirmed that drivers of police cars, fire engines, and ambulances are trained to avoid situations where they would force another vehicle off the road or into a dangerous manoeuvre.
Via its website, it said: "On most occasions, an emergency vehicle needing to make progress across a traffic light junction would not put itself behind another vehicle in the traffic light queue, but would, where the road layout and traffic conditions permit, move out to present itself and its intention to cross the junction.
"Of course, there will be times when there simply is no room for an emergency service vehicle to get past, or perhaps its crew are activated by their control room to respond to an emergency while they are waiting with everyone else at the traffic lights.
"On these occasions, they know that other motorists are not allowed to 'jump' the red light, and the emergency vehicle would ideally not activate its sirens and lights until it was safe for the vehicle in front to cross the solid white line at the junction.
"On the (hopefully) rare occasions that a blue light vehicle, in ’emergency mode’, is sitting behind another vehicle at a red traffic light, it’s important to appreciate that it would be both very dangerous and illegal for the other vehicle to move across the solid white line.
"The exception to this is that a uniformed police officer can direct a motorist through a red traffic signal."
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