Why would an ambulance have blue lights but no sirens on

[Hiyanice]

Saw an ambulance on my street it arrived with blue lights but no sirens. Is there a reason for this?

They tend to put sirens on when they need to alert people to get out of the way

I've only seen them on if they are actively going through traffic. So they wouldn't need them to arrive on a residential street

Sometimes they don't use the siren if it will cause distress to the person in board.

They were arriving the person wasn’t yet on board as the pulled up and went in a neighbour house

They only put them on when needed, so if the road ahead is clear they switch them off.

Sirens get you through traffic. Maybe there was no traffic hindering them in the street. Also sirens can cause alarm to the person they’re attending, so the last part of the journey they are switched off.

There’s no need for sirens on a residential street, but the blue lights will denote that it’s an emergency.

I’ve been blue-lighted to hospital several times, but only had the sirens once

They legally should have their sirens on. If they don't and are involved in an accident, they don't legally have a leg to stand on. And yes i was involved in an RTC with an ambulance that went through red light with no sirens on

But OP said this was on a residential street, so no lights etc involved.

Would you really want an ambulance to come to the neighbour’s house with sirens blaring at 3 AM?

@PepsiHoover not in all circumstances. Yes when going through red lights.

I had an ambulance called to my house, blue lights, no sirens.

(It was an over reaction by 111 BTW. I didn't need it.)

Putting your sirens on while going down a residential street with no traffic would cause disturbance to those nearby in return for absolutely no benefit whatsoever to the patient or crew. Hence they don't do it.

This is common here (near a hospital).
No lights or sirens - no emergency, ambulance will drive normally
Lights - emergency but roads are clear and ambulance is driving quickly
Lights plus siren - approaching junction, traffic etc and need people to be aware and react accordingly.

Thats the default mode here when leaving the hospital- if that doesn't clear the traffic the sirens go on

Could be for safety reasons, if someone is suicidal or violent or distressed

As PP have said, its to avoid uneccessary noise disturbance. On a straight road with no traffic, we don't need sirens. Traffic, blind bends, red lights, we use the sirens. Many of the jobs we go to are low acuity, but almost all jobs get a blue light response. Its a judgement call on how much you need to rush, but generally we don't need to be waking everyone up at 3am with the siren.
Also on a personal level, its pretty loud in the cab. 12 hours of that would be a bit much!

Although PP is correct that technically we should always have audible warnings on with the lights. And is correct that any accident when we're on lights is generally considered our fault. Which sucks!!

Maybe they no longer needed the sirens as they had approached their destination

I think it depends on the time aswell?

I have just asked DH who used to drive one of those things, and he says blue lights all the time when on a call; and siren to warn other road users to get out of the way. If the roads are empty or it is obvious that other road user has seen you and has taken appropriate action, then no need for siren.

Yes, they only put the siren on to tell other vehicles to move out of the way. I used to live next door but one to a fire station but it was a very quiet road so not once did I ever hear a fire engine siren because they didn’t need to use it.

I was once verbally abused by an ambulance driver (who aslo kicked my car) for not getting out of his way - in my defence it was a pitch black road in the middle of the night, one minute I checked my mirrors and there was nothing behind me, the next time I checked there was an ambulance with blue lights (no siren) so I pulled over at the next safe stop which was seconds later (if I had done it straight away I would have had to pull into a giant hedge - no pavement beside the road).

The ambulance then pulled horizontal in front of me, blocking me, and a man came out screaming at me and kicked my car then got back in and they sped off.

I obviously made a complaint because, other than the fact they stopped on their way to an apparent emergency to terrify a teenage girl in the middle of the night on a deserted road, they should have put their siren on if I hadn't noticed them quick enough to get out of their way. So it is interesting to hear pp talk about them technically having to have sirens on.

Of course when asked both people in said ambulance denied it even happened and it was their word against mine so there you go.

Get really anxious when I see them on the road now.

If it's a high category call then blue lights go on, sirens when needed to alert traffic

Apparently, an ambulance gets faster from A to B with no siren and just blue lights.surveys show,that drivers often panic,hearing an ambulance siren and make the wrong manoevre.apparently this has been tested .

I live opposite a police station, I'm very grateful they only use the sirens infrequently. Blue lights only usually.