Drivers getting more reluctant to move to let emergency vehicles on blues and twos through

I’ve never noticed this. I find cars move out the way very quickly. You get the odd car who doesn’t notice but surrpunding cars beep or flash.

I fear a lot of people don’t use their mirrors very often.

Unfortunately that message hasn’t got through to the people who just stop on an A road, not thinking about how completely unsafe it is, plus the fact that stopping traffic actually prevents the ambulance coming through anyway.

The article says the fine was cancelled when challenged, so not a great example.

I'll only move over if there's a safe place for me to pull over to and I won't be breaking any rules like going into a yellow box etc.

It annoys me sometimes when emergency vehicles have the lights flashing, sirens blazing when there's nowhere for the traffic to go without breaking the law. Pointless. Especially as the sound seems to paralyse some drivers so they just stop which isn't helpful to anyone including the emergency vehicle.

But surely you would see the blue flashing lights in your mirror? If not your mirror is not positioned correctly.

I've noticed for a good while now that many drivers don't even notice the ambo/police car until it's right on their bumper. Which is weird considering the pitch of the siren and the fact that you can see the lights for miles. General inattention, I suppose.

I watched two lanes of solid London traffic today part and let an ambulance through with real thought and speed.
I didn’t think it would get through but cars moved quickly, went up curbs and the ambulance moved quite fast. It must have been at least 50 cars.
There are A LOT of emergency vehicles rushing around my area and people always move.

I have not noticed that in my town

This is it. Near me the Council planners in the their wisdom have closed most side streets and limited them either to residents/deliveries or made them school street (cannot enter during peak school hours). Both types of road have sharp cameras fixed on their entrance and exit mouths.

They’ve also installed those lovely dividers in the road to create a physical barrier between cyclists and cars.

The result and reality of these measures is that ALL traffic now sits on narrow main roads with traffic in both directions cheek by jowl.

Emergency vehicles don’t stand a chance in this scenario, and I imagine there are many delays to responses to emergencies.

Always?!? Even in heavy rain or wind or at 70 on the motorway? How
bad is your hearing you need your window open to hear a siren?

Also noticed, I've pulled into lane 1 and watch people carry on until last minute.

I think driving etiquette in general has changed. People dont wait anymore and force there way through. Even if youve not moved over they drive at you forcing you to move. Tractors dont seem to pull over anymore, I've been in queues of over 20 cars.

Agree that many people seem totally oblivious to what is going on around them - my route to work is also the route to a major hospital so see ambulances trying to cut through the traffic reasonably frequently and a surprising number of people don’t seem to notice and/or move. I do see a lot of drivers with airpods in and their phones in a cradle (so technically hands free) on Facetime or watching YouTube…

Where I live the pulling over is almost competitive. Cars are hurling themselves out of the way.

Almost as stupid as cycling in busy traffic with headphones in… which I see all the time!!

Might be a case of once bitten, twice shy.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4gr1ewd1w0o

Not noticed but a mate pulled to the left in heavy traffic to allow an ambulance on blues through and got a fine for breaching a special lane (which no one was using).

It isn’t usually a deliberate refusal, though that does happen. It is a complete lack of situational awareness and observational skills, plus that people do not leave enough room between their car and the car in front in queues of traffic so physically cannot move until everyone else in front has moved first. They squeeze so close bumper to bumper. If people just left a bit of room and increased their awareness and ability to use their mirrors it would be a lot easier.

I can tell when a driver hasn’t seen us by the way they are driving. Quite a few years ago now, a colleague and the patient they were conveying were killed and another colleague seriously injured because a driver lacking in those skills pulled out to overtake the car in front that had noticed the ambulance lit up like a Christmas tree coming up behind them and stopped. Forced the ambulance off the road and hit a tree. You can tell when drivers like that just haven’t noticed you….you can almost hear them muttering expletives about the people in front who have ‘stopped for no reason’ and see them pulling to the centre of the road even before they fully commit to it without checking their mirrors.

In every encounter I've had everyone has always moved over. However there have been times the past few years some idiots coming from the opposite direction have beeped because I had to stop in a junction box/crossing and the lights had turned red. I was in the wrong place of course but ffs you've just seen an ambulance go through so use some common sense and patience to let me move forward out of it!

Ill move for an ambulance or fire engine - but I wont absolutely fuck my cars wheels/hubcaps/low suspension to move for a police car. I'd still move - but im not mounting any ridiculously high kerbs.

Central London. Cars comply, zombie pedestrians "plugged in" don't. Saw one yesterday: lights were green, everyone pulled over for two ambulances and a police car - she just walked into the road.

I know the tune but I’ve never heard anyone call it ‘dolly hours’ before. Is that op’s personal saying perhaps?

Already taken over on the roads that have barely enough space for it with paving to narrow the roads combined with bollard-dotted lanes for Deliveroo and Uber Eats bikes - oh, sorry, I mean sustainable transport initiatives.

Caused havoc when the bus broke down just as it had pulled out from the stop. Nowhere for vehicles, nowhere for emergency vehicles (to deal with the traffic chaos from three major routes all being blocked by it and the trapped traffic behind - and then there was an accident on one of those that they couldn't get to, either). But People still got their pizzas. I guess, as the e-bikes were fine.