January 18, 2010

Emergency!


I was recently driving on a divided highway and met an ambulance. I'll admit it, I almost panicked. I couldn't remember if I was supposed to pull over or slow down or do anything. So, being the conscientious driver that I am, I decided to investigate this situation for all of us.
According to the Iowa Department of Transportation, when approaching a stationary emergency vehicle with lights flashing, you must pull into the opposite lane and if this isn't possible you must slow down to pass it. When an emergency vehicle (an ambulance, fire truck or a police car) is coming towards you, you must pull over on the side of the road and stop until the emergency vehicle has passed you. However, as in my situation, when you are on a divided highway you don't have to yield to emergency vehicles that are going the opposite direction from you.
Hopefully this will give you a mental refresher of Driver's Ed and what to do when you see emergency vehicles.


photo credit