Or was I driving like an idiot? (Diagrams included)

[Bridgeofpies]

Right, so fully expecting to be flamed and told I was driving like an idiot but something happened a couple of days ago which shook me up and I’m keen to get others perspectives on if I was an idiot and, if so, what I should have done.

Sorry it’s a bit long winded!

So here’s the scene: Rural fast road, single carriageway in each direction with no verges or hard shoulder of any kind. Traffic is heavy enough to be a continuous stream on both sides of the road but light enough that everyone is travelling at 50-60mph with decent gaps.

I was driving along with 2 small DC in the car. An ambulance appeared in the rear view - blue lights, sirens etc. There was nowhere to pull in and my car is a 7 seater so with oncoming traffic coming around the corner ahead it would be hard / dangerous for ambulance to get past. So I drove along for a few seconds with the ambulance behind me. Then, the road widened as we approached a right hand turn with a space in the middle of the road for those turning right and there was a gap in the oncoming traffic (we were past the corner and could actually see) so I pulled in as close as I could and slowed to allow the ambulance to overtake. The oncoming traffic also hung back. I think this was all ok. I allowed the ambulance to pass me as soon as it was safe to do so, a matter of maybe 5 seconds with them behind me.

Once the ambulance had passed me I sped up again and continued on my way. The ambulance was quicker than me so was swiftly a good distance ahead - probably about 50m which is where the car in front was.

Now, the car in front was looking for somewhere to allow the ambulance to pass. There was a little driveway on the left which led to a farm gate and this car pulled into that to let the ambulance past. So far, so good. BUT he immediately swung out onto the road again behind the ambulance, forcing me onto the other side of the road to avoid him. LUCKILY there was nothing coming but I was really shaken. I wasn’t all that close to the ambulance, as I have a thing about cars travelling too close together but I was travelling around 50mph so it didn’t take long for me to cover the distance and this car just pulled out immediately without looking!

So, should I have expected him to do this and stopped?! I would have done if he had just slowed but remained in the road. I guess it took me by surprise because he totally left the carriageway and then immediately rejoined it. I wasn’t intending to travel on the ambulance’s coat tails and sneak through but I feel like maybe I did... and if there had been oncoming traffic we could have all been killed!!

I guess I should have been travelling slower but AIBU to think he should have checked the road before pulling back out??

Either way I will be more cautious in the future when people are getting out the way for emergency services!

Crap diagrams below which I don’t think adds much... (NB distances not to scale! )

[dreichuplands]

The other driver should have checked that you were going to safely let him rejoin the traffic. I suspect the reason he didn't is because that is the standard convention in these situations to let everyone rejoin the traffic line where they left it, so he wouldn't have been expecting you to try and steam past him.
These things happen OP.

[MadSweeney]

I pulled over once to let a fire engine pass. Huge red thing, big flashy lights, loud sirens. Car at junction up ahead failed to see this, assumed I'd just pulled over and pulled out right in front of the fire engine.
How it missed i'll never know but 12 tonnes of engine screeching to a halt inches from their door hopefully gave them a wakeup call to actually look in the future.

No harm done OP, you've learned from it and will probably do it differently next time.

[Disfordarkchocolate]

I think they were entirely in the wrong. You never pull put and assume you can join a road, even if you think it is empty you check before you rejoin a road. I saw something very similar last week were a car pulled into a layby to let an ambulance passes, they then pulled straight back on the road and nearly caused a crash.

[Bridgeofpies]

Stawp - well obviously I didn’t consciously think that but I mean that I found it quite stressful when I was trying to figure out how the hell to let the ambulance pass safely so once it was gone I was relieved and I guess was just focused on that. Not about what was about to happen up ahead. Not an excuse I know but trying to explain my “odd” thinking.

[BeanTownNancy]

The other driver tried to pull onto a main road without checking that it was clear - he had no idea if the car behind had seen him pull off and should not have assumed that you would stop for him, as legally you had the right of way.

That said, you should probably have forseen the hazard and made reasonable adjustments to avoid a potential collision. Next time I'm sure you will. :)

[Bridgeofpies]

I really appreciate all the feedback. It’s given me some real food for thought. Particularly in terms of my reactions instinctively swerving and my mindset in general when I’m behind the wheel - particularly when I’m tired because the baby is keeping me up at night or children are squabbling / crying in the back and I’m rushing to get from A to B.

Good to remember that driving is a really important skill and that every time we get behind the wheel we are responsible for what can potentially be a very dangerous machine! Think I might look into an advanced driving course!

[Bananasarenottheonlyfruit]

To me it is just a basic courtesy that you let other vehicles that have pulled over for emergency services come out ahead of you, so everyone is similarly impacted and everyone rejoins in the same order, as it were. Otherwise, in a steady flow of vehicles, if no one lets anyone else out, you could be waiting ages. I therefore always moderate my accelerating to allow for this rather than roaring back to full speed. And sometimes, it will also mean consciously and deliberately slowing down to let them out.

[Arnoldthecat]

I find that a lot of people think there is this imperative to either stop/pull over but often its safer to just keep driving until it is safe for the EV to overtake you. I think this is exactly what the other vehicle shoul have done, i.e kept on driving at the speed limit or whatever speed up to the limit that was safe to do so. The EV will hang back if necessary and/or choose when THEY decide its safe for them to overtake. you are responsible for driving your own vehicle only,not anyone elses and it is not for you are a driver to dictate the actions of others.

This applies equally to all drivers.

You permitted the EV to overtake by slowing a little and moving left. The Driver of the EV deemed it safe to overtake and did so.

IMHO the driver of the other vehicle over reacted and dived into a gateway and stopped. At that point,to me its the same as if they had turned left into a junction and they should therefore have taken all precautions before driving out again.

Equally you may have planned for the other driver coming out which indeed they did.

We dont live in a perfect world and driving is not an exact science.

The important thing is there was no collision.

As i say, there is no major imperative to stop or pull over for an EV and sometimes its safer to just keep moving until you reach somewhere where they can pass you. There is also no requirement or absolution from breaking the law if you enter an EV and speed/jump a red light or cause an accident. Its their EV so let them drive it.

[PuppyMonkey]

Agree with the majority here. When it’s an ambulance trying to get past, I think the thing to do is safely get out of its way ASAP, but also stay slow and keep your eye on what other cars are doing to get safely out of the ambulance’s way before you start driving along as normal again. Hope you’re ok, anywaY OP.

[RevRichardWayneGaryWayne]

It really pisses me off when people try to use emergency vehicles to beat traffic - I would have pulled out in front of you too!

[Bridgeofpies]

Thanks Arnoldthecat that’s a good way of thinking about it. Also good to know!

I’m ok thanks puppy - feeling a bit ashamed of myself but determined to do better and not to replay the horrific “what if” scenarios in my head but to learn from it instead.

Me too RevRichard - I definitely wasn’t intentionally trying to do that but I have had people do that to me before! I didn’t set out to overtake this other car. It was more that I didn’t clock what they were doing until they were right there. Which is bad, I know!

I think if I’d been the other car I would have sworn at me but there was nothing behind me so I would have just waited and then pulled out.

[Notthemessiah]

I also get quite flustered when I see blue lights so I can see why it was more likely you'd make the wrong choice or not be thinking as clearly as normal. The other driver may well have been the same so hopefully you've both taken something useful from the incident and no harm was done.

[Dotty1970]

Do you know what, I was going to reply going on about how dangerous that was and it was your fault etc etc but your attitude has completely changed my mind about doing that and instead I want to say you made a mistake and are definitely learning from that and I feel this will make you a better driver and most likely a safe one because your attitude is fantastic

[Dotty1970]

I think I might sound a bit condescending but I mean well op.
(I think everyone has a mini panic when we hear sirens)

[NicoAndTheNiners]

I can be an impatient driver but even I would have the courtesy to allow someone to rejoin the road after they've pulled in for an ambulance without trying to barge past them. But lesson learned I guess.

[pineappletower]

If you were pretty sure his sole intention was to let the ambulance past, then you should have held back and let him rejoin. Ultimately, he was rejoining the road, so should have been looking to see he was clear.

As for the swerving. I've done it too (once to avoid an already dead badger on the road!!) I don't know how you stop it being instinctual. Scares me too.

[formerbabe]

I think you were in the wrong. If someone pulls over to allow an emergency vehicle to pass, I'd wait for them to rejoin the traffic.

[Bridgeofpies]

Thanks so much Dotty. No point being in my high horse about this. A high horse is no good to anyone if you’re dead because you caused an accident! I posted to get some other perspectives and to learn from them so I’m trying to do that!

[Arnoldthecat]

The truth of the matter is that the very small amount of time that an EV saves on its typical journey by bypassing other traffic that is already moving is negligible if you do the maths. The only time when EVs would make genuine progress would be if the traffic were at a standstill i.e traffic lights/long queues in rush hour etc.

It then follows that if the traffic is moving at normal pace, do not panic and just keep driving. A circumstance will arrive eventually when it can safely overtake you and it can be on its way. Blue lights do not mean a mass panic and an implied demand for you to get the fuck out of the way or i will smash you into the gutter..

[Drogosnextwife]

He was pretty stupid to just pull out Infront of you without checking. He had no idea what was behind the ambulance do he should have waited. Manners are all very well but manners on the road are irrelevant, people should stick to the rules of the road for safety. I disagree with most people here, I don't think you were in the wrong at all, he should have waited until the road was clear. He would have failed his driving test for pulling out Infront of you.

[Pengrin]

Yeah it was really bizarre of you to not let the other vehicle rejoin after it had pulled over for the ambulance, just had you had done seconds earlier. Imagine if the car behind you did the same to you and you then had to wait for someone to let you in to rejoin the traffic

[SleepWarrior]

You could have done better in terms of predicting a hazardous situation ahead of you, and maybe being courteous.

But that other driver was downright dangerous. Anyone who joins a road without checking if it's safe to do so is the one responsible for the ensuing crash. Courteousness doesn't even come in to it.

There's always ways to improve our own driving and hazard awareness, so good on you OP for being open to doing so.

[Purpleartichoke]

You shouldn’t restart fast enough that you are encountering cars still pulling over for the ambulance. You didn’t leave enough room between

[Bridgeofpies]

Pengrin - you’re absolutely right that I should have let him back in, or at least been more mindful / aware of what he was doing but it wasn’t quite the same - I slowed and pulled towards the left but never left the carriageway, he pulled right off the road completely and had to do a bit of a u-turn to get back on the road. If he had slowed and just moved over a bit I would have been fully expecting him to pull back and speed up and would never have tried to pass!

[AlpacasAreLlamas]

You were driving dangerously in my opinion. If anything had happened, and someone had died, you could have been held liable.
But you've learned something since it's playing on your mind.