Speeding driver going to fire station... map attached :)

[flatwhiteinabucket]

I would like opinions on a situation that I just found myself in, and it's got me wondering what would be the right thing to do (and that this might not be the same as the correct thing to do)

I was driving up my street, and indicating that I was pulling into my driveway, when I realised that another driver was rapidly coming up the road behind me. I was reversing into my drive, and so the other driver had to brake very sharply.

I reversed onto my drive, and wound my window down, to tell the other driver to stop speeding. The road is a residential road with a mix of old and young, and quite a few families.

The other driver wound down his window also, got cross with me, and told me he was on the way to a call out at the fire Station.

(I just let him go after that, and have just heard the fire engine siren)

What's the procedure for a fireman on the way to a call out, in a civilian car? Is it ethical for him to speed, or does he need some indication on his car that he was on the way to the Fire Station?

Obligatory map attached :)

Well of course he isn’t allowed to speed just because he’s on his way to the fire station.

My guess is that he was lying. However, I believe you should have stopped to let him pass then continue to reverse.

What do you mean by reversing onto your driveway? You don't normally have the right of way to reverse...people usually let you but you can't assume you have it. If a car is coming, normally it's on you to stop and let them pass before continuing. But I can't work out what happened from your post.

The other driver should also be taking care no matter where he was going.

Was in excess of the speed limit or just going to fast as you were reversing?

How did you measure his speed?

Ethical? Probably, if he was on his way to save some orphans from a burning building.

Legal? No, I don't think so, if he was speeding in an unmarked car with no siren or anything.

I have to reverse into my driveway, but I don't have the right to hold up the traffic whilst I do it. I pull over, let them pass and then manoeuvre. It's also pretty difficult to judge the speed of a car travelling behind you, you can judge how quickly he stopped that's all.

I've no doubt he was a fireman, I recognised him when he wound his window down, and shortly after heard the fire engine siren going.

I had already slowed to a stop (and indicating) I had the vehicle in reverse, and was starting to move, when I noticed him at the end of the road. ( so at least 150m away)

A few seconds later, I was 80% on my drive way, and he was already by the left hand side of my bonnet, he had to brake hard.

He had pulled in to the bottom of the road, and reached my driveway, in between the time I had checked. He must have been going 45 to 50 mph.

If he crashes on the way there he is no good to the emergency.

He needs to drive safe.

I had no way of actually measuring his speed, but the speed limit is 20, and visually he was going way faster than that @Witchonenowbob

Me reversing, I have no idea, maybe 5 mph? He had to brake hard

@Shallotsaresmallonions yes this is what got me thinking. Maybe in these cases there aught to have some indication on the cars that they are on the way to fire/police/ambulance stations.

Every other time I have reversed on to the drive, I have pulled over l/stopped and let the other driver past. This time he was going so fast that one second the road appeared clear, and the next he was by my bonnet

I am fully aware that I do not have the right of way when reversing on to my drive, but on this occasion he appeared so suddenly (due to speeding)

If he regularly gets called out to shouts and uses his car he should have one of those detachable blue light/sirens to use in such cases

It sounds like he was just going too fast. I always let people reverse into their driveways, because I don't drive fast, allow space and anticipate risk.

Thanks all that have responded. I've just called the station (went through to head quarters)

We are a 'retained' station which mean that the first 4 responders that get there go out on the call. She had no idea if they had lights or not, and will look into it and get back to me.

Even if he had a detachable sign saying fire responder on call etc, I would have let him go without stopping. However, because he didn't he was delayed by me anyway.

There has been accidents on our road before, due to speeding and a sharp bend. It's a narrow residential road, and he would have had to mount the kerb to go round me.

I don't know if it's the same for everywhere, but for my local station you have to live or work within 5 minutes of the station (it even specifies travelling at normal road speeds) to be an on-call firefighter. So if he was telling the truth he might've been further away than he was supposed to be while on call? Still not supposed to speed though

Yes this. They’re not exempt from the speed limits when travelling to the station. Suspect he was further away than allowed and thought he’d get away with it as call outs are relatively rare.

Sounds like he was going too fast, didn't see you in time and had to brake hard, then did the usual man thing of blaming someone else for his crap driving.

You would think so but unfortunately these are illegal in private cars.

And fe

Sent to soon..

he was in such a rush that he stopped, wound down his window and listened to you?
Most people in a rush would’ve waited u til you were sufficiently on your drive, driven round you and gone on their way.

Odd!

Your post makes no sense. If you had been reversed onto your drive, he would be long gone by the time you wound your window done to berate him, let alone him bothering to stop and engage in a conversation.

He shouldn't have been speeding, but also it is not your role to be flagging people down to tell them off.

Civilians are not allowed to use blue lights. They can use green ones, but they are voluntary and no one is obliged to pay any attention. I cannot see how you would read a sign saying fire responder on calm while busy reversing either.

A lot of fire stations are manned by volunteer firefighters who have to get there as fast as possible, so I think it is highly likely that's where he was going.

My previous next-door neighbour was a retained firefighter at our local station. When he got a shout he was in the car and 50 yards up the street before he even had time to shut the driver's door.

The fire brigade does not have the luxury of hanging about. Besides, a lot of them have advanced driving training. My neighbour used to drive the fire engine sometimes.

@GuelderRoses yes I think that's exactly what this was.

My car wasn't entirely on my driveway, and I realise that I shouldn't have stopped him.

However, I did not flag him down, he was already stationary.

I only wound my window down, I didn't get our, and neither did he. He had to stop to avoid hitting me, and so wound down his window too. The Exchange was about 10 seconds max before he was (quickly) on his way.

Even with advanced training there is no way of seeing round a very sharp blind bend, so I told him to slow down to avoid accidents. He wasn't too happy about it😀

So you protruding into the road, across the pavement, obstructing traffic?

Sorry that’s not good! Neither was windy g down your window, to shout at him.