Emergency Vehicles, is this wrong?

Tr1p

Tr1p

Tr1p

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Joined
20 May 2009
Posts
299
Evening,

Tonight whilst driving home, I encountered an ambulance with flashing lights.

Moving over safely to let it past, a few miles later the same ambulance (which never went above the speed limit) signalled to the left, pulled over and stopped with its lights still on. As it was quiet and safe to do so I overtook. About a mile and a half later the same ambulance then came up behind at a higher speed, I moved over in plenty of time to not hinder progress.

Now, this got me thinking. Was I correct to overtake? Or would you class this as dangerous driving/driving without due care and attention?

I presumed as the vehicle wasn’t speeding then stopped they were carrying out medical procedures etc on a patient.

What’s your thoughts?
 
Oh dear, that's going going to be at least 6 points on your licence and a £400, the front facing camera would have got you as well.
 
Tr1p said:
Evening,

Tonight whilst driving home, I encountered an ambulance with flashing lights.

Moving over safely to let it past, a few miles later the same ambulance (which never went above the speed limit) signalled to the left, pulled over and stopped with its lights still on. As it was quiet and safe to do so I overtook. About a mile and a half later the same ambulance then came up behind at a higher speed, I moved over in plenty of time to not hinder progress.

Now, this got me thinking. Was I correct to overtake? Or would you class this as dangerous driving/driving without due care and attention?

I presumed as the vehicle wasn’t speeding then stopped they were carrying out medical procedures etc on a patient.

What’s your thoughts?
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They have all the experience and training and will get around you if they need to. You should drive normally and within the normal laws of the road.
 
This is what has intrigued me, already two replies and two completely different answers.

A fine and points given the circumstances would seem excessive to be honest.
 
Actually now you mention it, several times when I've been on my motorcycle on a dual carriageway or motorway in heavy traffic.

You can filter of course, but realistically only up to about 30mph, even that's pushing it really.

Anyway, if you get an ambulance coming up behind you, get out the way obviously, then get right up behind it and use it as a blocker.

So satisfying lol.
 
BUDFORCE said:
Actually now you mention it, several times when I've been on my motorcycle on a dual carriageway or motorway in heavy traffic.

You can filter of course, but realistically only up to about 30mph, even that's pushing it really.

Anyway, if you get an ambulance coming up behind you, get out the way obviously, then get right up behind it and use it as a blocker.

So satisfying lol.
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Terrible behaviour, I thought that was a big no no.

Having said that, can’t trace you from the front of a bike.
 
Possibly stuff like high dependency transport or whatever it is - I've encountered it before where the ambulance was leap frogging me every few miles along a dual-carriageway with bits where it slowed right down or stopped with its blues on.
 
Tr1p said:
I presumed as the vehicle wasn’t speeding then stopped they were carrying out medical procedures etc on a patient.
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Exactly this. It was likely a high dependacy patient or one that needed the ambulance to stop moving to carry about some sort of intervention. Nothing you need to be concerned about driving wise tbh.
 
Tr1p said:
Now, this got me thinking. Was I correct to overtake? Or would you class this as dangerous driving/driving without due care and attention?
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It was stopped at the side of the road.

Why wouldn’t you have overtaken it? How could overtaking a parked vehicle be considered as dangerous driving or driving without due care and attention?
 
Been on the A55 in north Wales. Ambulance moved past me at about 80mph, reached Rhuallt hill (anyone who knows the area knows it's a long, steep 3 lane section of the A55). Ambulance didn't have the grunt to drag itself up the hill at speed so I cruised past at 70 then a mile after the top the ambulance passed me again, and all the cars who were near it.

How long would the op wait if the ambulance never mover or doors opened? You were on the right IMHO

FluffySheep
 
I believe what I did was right, it was just a couple of people who I mentioned it to thought it wasn’t the correct thing and could be deemed driving unsafe. This got me thinking.

I suppose some are overly cautions about these things and would sit behind them indefinitely.
 
Tr1p said:
I believe what I did was right, it was just a couple of people who I mentioned it to thought it wasn’t the correct thing and could be deemed driving unsafe. This got me thinking.

I suppose some are overly cautions about these things and would sit behind them indefinitely.
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From your description I don't see anything that would come close to a due care offence.

/Roads Policing Officer
 
The ambulance probably pulled over as the patient in the back was probably in a bad way and the driver had to pull over and go back and help.


You can't expect traffic to just sit behind the ambulance doing nothing, they'd expect traffic to just flow around them normally until they were able to pull off again.


Ignore all the sarcastic comments - you'll be fine.
 
Tr1p said:
I believe what I did was right, it was just a couple of people who I mentioned it to thought it wasn’t the correct thing and could be deemed driving unsafe. This got me thinking.

I suppose some are overly cautions about these things and would sit behind them indefinitely.
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It's easy as well when someone describes an incident to say "Oh yeah, you should do x because that's the safest option", and in reality they'd have done the exact same as you.
 
Only blue lights is probably a category 2 response and usually for stroke patients. They may well have e pulled over so treatment could be made for the poor individual then, if the patient was a higher risk and had deteriorated it became more of an emergency. I know because my partner had a suspected stroke last Sunday.
Only a idiot tags a ambulance on blue lights and is extremely frowned on by the emergency services. If you have an accident whilst doing so that ambulance will not help you.
Stupid, just stupid...
 
Tr1p said:
<the ambulance> signalled to the left, pulled over and stopped with its lights still on. As it was quiet and safe to do so I overtook.
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Tr1p said:
Now, this got me thinking. Was I correct to overtake? Or would you class this as dangerous driving/driving without due care and attention?
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Are you missing some key detail?

Why would you think that passing (overtaking) a stopped/parked ambulance could in any way be considered "dangerous"?

The alternative option would presumably have been for all vehicles to just sit behind it and wait indefinitely for it to move off again.

It feels like there's some detail(s) missing, as what you've written makes no sense. You may as well have asked if it could be dangerous driving to overtake a parked car.
 
div0 said:
It feels like there's some detail(s) missing, as what you've written makes no sense. You may as well have asked if it could be dangerous driving to overtake a parked car.
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I kind of get it - as I mentioned above I did a few miles awhile back leapfrogging an ambulance with its blues on but no siren (except a couple of times when they came up quickly behind me) which kept slowing right down or stopping and in some situations it was like "do I overtake or not?!?". This was around 2am so little in the way of other traffic.
 
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