For not driving through red light with ambulance behind me

[User34445566677]

Stuck at red lights in 3 lanes of traffic. I was in right hand lane to turn right, at the front of white line and railings to my right so couldn't pull to the side. Middle lane for straight on. Left hand lane (towards hospital) is always allowed to filter through first via green light to the left, then after a while, the forward and right turn green lights come on. Ambulance comes up my lane whilst red traffic lights on. Blue lights and sirens on, all while the ambulance is indicating left (I am the only car in this lane, other lanes have several cars in). Ambulance leaves sirens on, and even beeps while lights are on red ( though i am not 100% sure this was the ambulance, but don't know who else it would have been?). From what I have read, you should not cross during a red light even for an emergency vehicle, I would have been entering a box junction? Was I BU to not cross the red light? And I think the Ambulance would have been quicker going in the left lane which filtered through first? Very confused. TIA

People have got fines for moving into the wrong places for ambulances so you correctly didn't go through the light.

We had someone who was a paramedic on here earlier this year say "if you have any questions about being a paramedic ask me" and that was the question I asked him as I was stopped at a pedestrian crossing although the people waiting to cross could see the situation and I signalled them to stop with my hands and not cross, before moving my car across the red light so the ambulance that only had lights and no sirens on could get past.

The paramedic on Mumsnet said I was in the wrong when I asked this very question about should i have moved out of the way. In all the years I've been driving (38yrs) I had never had this happen to me or to anyone i knew never knew so I genuinely didn't know the answer and i guess i did panic a bit. Luckily there was no camera on the pedestrian crossing so i didn't get a ticket.

Its one of those things you can go your whole driving life through and never have that happen to you.

You must only move for an emergency vehicle if safe to do so. If not safe to do so it could cause another accident needing emergency help

Its not the fault of the driver in front if the patient deteriorates in transit

This is nonsense.

If you are at a red light in three lanes of traffic as described, there is almost definitely room to pull in front of the car to your left without putting anyone in danger.

It may be dangerous, in which case, don't do it. But there will definitely be circumstances where it is not.

I have seen them go the other side of bollards into on coming traffic to turn right & back across to go left.

I would probably accept the fine if it meant someone got a fighting chance of living and it didn't put anyone else in danger.

See so many people speed through red lights without any need to though so can understand your reticence.

But you would still be going through a red light?

No you don't. The ambulance is supposed to turn off it's lights and wait. Or find an alternative route, on the other side of the road for e.g. They are trained for emergency driving, OP is not, and could get fined or in an accident.

Yes.

And letting an ambulance through.

And maybe involved in a smash as a vehicle that has no idea about the ambulance comes through their green light at the usual speed and finds a car in the junction?

That’s interesting

I always thought you had to pull out of the way no matter what

I’ve always worried about getting a ticket and points if I’m at a red light 🚦 and driving through it to let an ambulance pass

Theres so many selfish people about! Im sure there was room for you to at least try to manoeuvre slightly out of the way.

No, you can get done for going through the red light, ambulance or no ambulance.

No, THAT is nonsense. You cross the line (to get in front of the car on the left) you've gone through the red light and broken the law. If caught you will be prosecuted

I pulled forward a few metres in this situation (on a 2 lane A road which always has lots of ambulances) and then got stuck in the area in front of the lights / island when the rest of the traffic went through the green light. It wasn’t a good position to be in, I felt vulnerable, and so next time I wouldn’t move. It seems like OP made a better choice than I did.

Unfortunately, this isn’t true. I’ve known people also get tickets for moving into a bus lane to let an ambulance go past, they haven’t been able to get the ticket reversed. It’s possible I might still do it, but you will not get a pass for doing it from a points or ticket perspective.

Sorry, did you mean to type a bit more?

Crossing the line is not, in itself, dangerous.

EDIT: OK, you added a bit more.

Breaking the law is not the same as being dangerous.

I don’t think it’s selfishness, I think people really don’t know what the right thing to do is. The reason it is illegal to do it is because you’re not qualified to make decisions on whether or not it is safe to proceed through a red light, for example.

On a red light.

I am blue light trained and you were right, emergency vehicles shouldn’t push drivers through red lights . It’s dangerous, if you’d have pulled into the junction what if a car had been coming?

Crossing the line at a red light is not, in itself, dangerous.

Slightly over the line means slightly through a red light and slightly prosecuted. What if you drive for a living and come across this three or four times a year? That's your licence taken away and your job lost.

The ambulance service here was saying you never go through a red light for them
www.mylondon.news/news/uk-world-news/ambulance-service-tells-drivers-never-31367914

A colleague of mine got fined and three points on her licence for going through a red light to let an ambulance past. She appealed and it was upheld.

It’s been a long time since I passed my driving test but I’m sure the advice at the time was to continue at the speed limit of the road until it was safe to pull over and let the emergency vehicle past. On no account should you go through a red light though.

You were right to not jump a red light to allow any emergency vehicle through and the ambulance driver was totally in the wrong to beep at you to move and to keep their siren wailing while stationary. You should report this to the relevant ambulance Trust for further investigation.