Driving code / L&S

[the_negro_puppy]

What are the issues and challenges you guys see on a daily basis? An interesting article appeared in our local paper about people being unaware of what to do when an emergency vehicle running lights and sirens is near them. Its worth a read, especially the comments at the bottom with members of the public expressing their problems.

DON'T PANIC: Ambulance officer Andrew Poli is concerned by the actions of some drivers. Picture: Glenn Barnes Source: The Courier-Mail

BRISBANE drivers are mounting footpaths, driving on the wrong side of the road, making illegal turns and driving through red lights to get out of the way of emergency vehicles.

Almost one in three Brisbane motorists - 29 per cent - admit to illegal road use to make room for emergency vehicles, according to research by car insurer Budget Direct.

http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/...raction-by-siren/story-e6freoof-1226135195361

 

[DesertMedic66]

The vast majority will do the right thing I pull over to the right when it's safe for them.

However I've have the usual people don't pull over, pull over into oncoming traffic, go offroading, people stop in whatever lane they are in, I've been passed by a car as I was going code.

We used to have people running red lights to let us through so now whenever there is no way to get around them safely we completely shut down and then code up again after the light turns green and after we are past the intersection.

 

[Shishkabob]

People being stupid.


The ones that don't do the right thing when an emergency vehicle is behind them, in my experience, also tend to be the ones that suck at driving in general and need not be able to be in possession of a multi-thousand pound machine that goes 'vroom vroom' and is fast.

 

[DesertMedic66]

People being stupid.


The ones that don't do the right thing when an emergency vehicle is behind them, in my experience, also tend to be the ones that suck at driving in general and need not be able to be in possession of a multi-thousand pound machine that goes 'vroom vroom' and is fast.

I fully agree.

 

[fast65]

The things that I usually see when driving code are:
-People passing the other drivers who did the right thing and pulled to the right.
-People driving into oncoming traffic
-People slamming their brakes on
-People completely ignoring us
-People trying to drive right behind us

 

[DarkStarr]

We have cut back on the amount of Code 1 driving we do, both from recent protocol updates and as a company policy. We've never really run Code 1 a whole lot to begin with, depending on dispatch information.

 

[Cup of Joe]

Sometimes (and only sometimes) I would blame whoever is driving the ambulance.

Saw a hatzolah ambulance with like 10,000,000 lights on it stuck in traffic on the L.I.E. There was nowhere for them to go and they're in the leftmost lane. But they still have to blare the air horn at drivers and swerve from lane to lane trying to get around with total disregard for everyone's safety....and you know what, NOBODY HAD ANYWHERE TO GO!

 

[Tigger]

I think our biggest issue is responding on the highway during rush hour. On a good day the traffic is actually traffic and not just a mass of stopped cars. The big problem we run into is that there are no shoulders on the Southeast Expressway out of Boston for a fairly long stretch. The left shoulder is taken up by the barrier for the zipper lane and the right side breakdown lane becomes a travel lane during rush hour.

A lot of times if the traffic is moving at a fairly decent speed (at least 25) we just shut the lights off and go with the flow, the last we want is to cause a chain reaction collision with a car in front of us doing the right thing and pulling to the right...into an occupied lane (sidenote: do people just not bother checking blindspots?). It's not like there is going to be much time saved by driving at 30 instead of 25, which is also you can really accomplish in a moving "gridlock."

If the traffic is just outright stopped, we are going to keep responding. Since everyone else is stopped, there is less worry about moving cars halfway into another lane. Plus we would literally not get there. 15mph is better than stopped for an hour, despite there being no studies physically proving that.

I think the real solution is to post a truck closer than 20 miles away from this megalopolis of a "retirement community" that has us on the highway.