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 :)

It doesn’t really matter. You were literally in the process of reversing on a clear road after checking it was safe to do so. He sounds like he was driving well in excess of the speed limit and what was safe. You happened to be a car reversing, but you could have been a child on a bike around the bend or a child chasing a ball that rolled into the road. The point is he needs to be driving safely enough in a residential area to stop safely for other road users, including pedestrians.

I bet he’s a bit billy big balls about call outs and races to get there so he doesn’t miss them and get sent home.

For a car to travel 150m in 10 seconds they would be going at 33mph.

I would doubt they are exempt from any highway laws whilst driving privately owned vehicles

Even fire engines, ambulances and police cars get speeding tickets - it is someones job to go through the logs and prove the vehicle was on a 'call' at the time so the ticket is cancelled.
Going to the station is not exempt

Or if he’d taken 5 seconds he’d have been going at 67mph so could be somewhere in the middle of these.

OP left plenty of time to reverse without obstructing anyone, for cars travelling at the speed limit down the road. Not enough time for a car going far faster than it should be doing.

If he chooses to go up a residential cut-through with a 20 mph limit, then he chooses to take the risk that people like you will assume that he will keep at least somewhere near to the limit and operate accordingly. You clearly did nothing wrong.

My understanding is that without blue lights and sirens he has no exemptions and should be driving to normal road rules (I’m a civvy responder for a different service without lights or sirens and if I got caught speeding on the way to a job I would be in big trouble).

whoops double post

This!