You may have experienced it. You are standing in front of a traffic light or you are driving on a road and suddenly you see a police car, fire truck or ambulance with optical and sound signals arriving in your rear-view mirror. You decide to go red and / or to speed up, so that the emergency vehicle can pass it easier and faster. A few weeks later you will receive a fine on your doormat because you have passed a red light or have exceeded the maximum speed. Is this fine justified and how could you have prevented this fine?
Making room for emergency services
It turns out that many people don’t know what to do when emergency services want to pass. Many people think that they currently do not have to obey the traffic rules. In 2013 a study was carried out by the Institute for Physical Safety. 2100 drivers took part in this survey. About 73 percent of the motorists surveyed think that a driver may drive through a red light if emergency services want to pass. More than 53 percent think you can drive faster than the permitted speed. However, you are not allowed to drive through red lights or speed up if emergency services want to pass you.
Letting the emergency services pass
When the emergency services want to pass you, it is important that you remain calm and do not panic. You should not perform unexpected maneuvers such as braking, swerving to the cycle path or driving through a red light. You endanger yourself and other road users. However, there is one exception when you are allowed to drive through red. This is when the police or military police give directions for this.
Passing at traffic lights
When emergency services want to pass you, you are not allowed to drive through a red light. Doing so will create a dangerous situation that puts yourself and other road users at risk. You can ensure that you do not have to drive through a red card. You can do this by keeping enough distance from the stop line or your predecessor. When the emergency services have to pass, you have plenty of room to maneuver. You keep a sufficient distance from your predecessor if you can see the entire rear bumper of your predecessor.
Pass on the highway
If the emergency services want to pass you urgently on the highway, it is important that you keep the same speed and do not change lanes. If you are driving in the right-hand lane, try to drive on the right as much as possible. In the left lane you can keep as much left as possible, so that the emergency vehicle can drive in the middle lane. You must always leave the emergency lane clear so that the emergency services can use it in a traffic jam.
Passing on single carriageways
It is often difficult for an emergency vehicle to pass on the single carriageway roads. Stay at the speed limit on a single carriageway and clear space for the emergency vehicle if possible. You can create the space by looking for a refuge or bus stop. You can also choose to take a turn so that the emergency services can pass you. When approaching a roundabout, it is best to drive a circle to let the priority vehicle go.
Lodging an objection to a fine
You were flashed because you passed a red light while an emergency vehicle was approaching urgently. You disagree with the fine you received at home later. You can try to remit a fine by submitting an objection to the public prosecutor. Justify your objection by explaining why you drove a red card. It is possible that the emergency vehicle that you passed has also run through a red card and you can state this with your objection. The public prosecutor will ultimately determine whether the fine will be waived. To avoid the risk of a fine and to lose a lot of time when submitting an objection, it is better to stop in front of a red traffic light.
Warning system Flister
To take into account an approaching emergency vehicle, experiments were carried out in 2013 with the Flister warning system. The Flister is a radio transmitter that has a range several hundred meters around the emergency vehicle. The warning system can break into the programmed transmitters, alerting drivers that an emergency vehicle is arriving urgently. The purpose of the Flister is to improve the flow of emergency services. The warning system caused some problems. For example, the signal could also be heard in homes and some radio stations had difficulty with their radio program being interrupted. Later on, an alternative came up, namely the siren radar app.
Siren radar app
The siren radar can download your to your phone. The app warns you of an approaching emergency vehicle. You will see a white moving dot on the screen, which indicates where the emergency vehicle is. The white arrow on the screen is where you are. In addition, the distance to the emergency vehicle is also shown, so that you can make a good estimate when the emergency vehicle will pass you. At a red traffic light, you can take into account well in advance an emergency vehicle that may pass you urgently. You can improve the traffic flow for the emergency services and possibly avoid a fine for ignoring a red traffic light.