DON'T honk at me for yielding to a fire truck!

[Boris B]

OOOH! ARGH! I got honked at today because I yielded to a fire truck. I had a green light; heard a siren. Looked around for the location of the siren, inched forward, pigdog behind me honked. I saw that the fire truck was coming from my right. It went through its red light, partly because I had the good citizenship to yield to it. I mean, what the crap are flashers and sirens for, if not to allow the truck to go through red lights on the way to a fire? Why couldn't pigdog behind me hear the siren? I can't believe it's because the siren wasn't loud enough. Sirens these days can melt flesh. I think it's because pigdog was deaf. Argh! Oooh!

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Nothing I write about any person or group should be applied to a larger group.
- Boris Badenov

[Jodi]

Did you flip the pigdog the International Bite-Me Sign? I believe that's accepted protocol under the circumstances.

[Byzantine]

Some people just don't understand the rules. Or, more likely, he had his stereo up too loud to hear it. I've seen those boom-box cars practically drive into a speeding fire truck or police car because they DIDN'T hear it!

Just know that you did the right thing. For bozos like that guy, hey, just think, it could have been HIS house burning down!


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Best!
Byz

[andros]

Hell, next time just hop out and give the guy a quarter for taking up his oh-so-valuable time. ;)

-andros-

[AzRaek]

There have been quite a few accidents involving emergency vehicles and other cars whose driver didn't hear the sirens or see the lights. Last year (I think) there were two or three here in Denver within a week of each other. Can't they insert a sensor into cars that will light up a dashboard sign, saying that a firetruck is approaching?

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I'll be there
Where I'll teach what I've been taught
And I've been taught...

[yosemite]

This is a major pet peeve of mine. I was raised believing that you ALWAYS GOT OVER to make way for emergency vehicles, (even if you were on the other side of the street - they might need to go on your side.) It was really drummed into me, and my "radar" goes up at the first sound of sirens - I am poised to pull over if necessary. In my native L.A., this never seemed to be a problem - at least not to my notice - people usually got over right away at the sound of sirens.

However, in the Midwestern town I recently moved to, I notice a big difference in attitude. It's almost as if people don't know that they are supposed to get over. I have seen emergency vehicles struggle to get through traffic because all the local yokels blithely ignored them. I want to SCREAM "Asshole!" at them all.

I, too, have been honked at for pulling over. I have been honked at for stopping at a green light for a emergency vehicle. I have almost been rear-ended because I stopped at a green light to let a firetruck go through. Nothing like this ever happened to me in LA. Which seems odd - because I would never claim that LA drivers are the most polite out there. But - I swear - I don't remember it being a problem.

I sometimes do wonder if people can't hear the sirens, but why would people be more deaf in the midwest than in LA? I think it's something more than that. I think it's just ignorance, and utter obliviousness. That seems to be a BIG problem amongst drivers in this town anyway.

[andros]

I dunno, Y-babe. I've never lived in Ellay, but I've driven there many times, and they are by far the best city drivers I've ever dealt with. Try Salt Lake, Denver, Dallas, New Orleans . . . yeeeesh. It's like pulling teeth to get a signal or a proper merge.

Maybe LA freeways have just weeded out most of the bad drivers and terrified the rest into being good.

-andros-

[Narile]

I was actually told by a firetruck driver that he prefered it if on a one-two lane road if the cars didn't pull over, because in most semi-residential areas, because the shoulders are so small on the roads, it actually slows the truck down more if he has to wait for the cars to find space to pull over, than if he just drives at the speed limit like the cars before him. (Thats not to say, go ahead and block him, just don't hunt for a pull over spot and slow him down doing so.) This was for the town I grew up in. The slightly more urbanized town next to ours, the rule was, get the frag out of the way.

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>>Being Chaotic Evil means never having to say your sorry....unless the other guy is bigger than you.<<

---The dragon observes

[yosemite]

You're right, andros - I think that LA drivers are better than many other places. (Of course, as a native Angeleno, I am not biased at all! Not me! ;)) I also think it has something to do with the breakneck speed of the freeways - it's "kill or be killed", and most people not up to the task just stay off the freeways!

(There actually is a book giving "alternative routes" - via surface streets - to get around LA, for those drivers who don't want to deal with the traffic!)

[AuraSeer]

Midwestern drivers suck ass.

I'm a native New Yorker. My dad, who taught me how to drive, was once a taxi driver in Queens. And from my experience, I can trutfully say that even a bad New York driver is far better than an average St. Louis driver.

It's not just St. Louis, either. This weekend, on my road trip to Atlanta, I noted that drivers from here to Tennessee are just as crappy. The worst was after exiting the highway near Nashville, to grab dinner. It turned out there had been an accident somewhere down the road, because when I tried to get back on, traffic was moving really slowly. When the people on the onramp saw this, most of them slammed on their brakes, threw their cars in reverse, and backed up several hundred yards to the beginning of the onramp, narrowly avoiding crashing into the cars behind them! This despite the fact there was an obvious "escape" ramp, where they could have simply driven across to the highway offramp instead. (I have the impression that all the idiots there had Tennessee plates, but I didn't get a very good look, as they flew past me in reverse at 40 MPH.)

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Laugh hard; it's a long way to the bank.

[Mojo]

In one instance where I moved right (into a "right turn only" lane) temporarily to let a fire truck that I could see in my RV mirror go by, the lady behind me did not move over for the firetruck. After it passed she did her best to NOT let me back in to her lane. She then proceded to repeatedly honk at me before moving to the lane next to me where she pulled even and gave me the finger.

I managed to keep myslef cool by imagining that the fire truck was headed to her house.

[Boris B]

AzRaek
That's a great idea! I want one! How much? On the subject of cool accessories for your car that have not been invented yet, I want a tiny chase camera, suspended by a telescoping radio antenna on the back of my car. It would look down from about twenty feet in the air and project its image onto your windshield. I think I might be able to parallel park if I had one.

No, I didn't give the noisy driver the one-finger salute. I used to do that every now and then when somebody really got me, but now I'm afraid the other driver will have a howitzer and know how to use it. :-) What I did do, was open my door and peer behind me, as if looking for some problem. The driver didn't honk after that, but by that time, the fire truck was just about past.

Drivers in Oregon seem pretty safe, but they have two problems: they never use their signals (judging by the thread on that subject that's a pretty universal problem), and they are really passive-aggressive. They always want me to go first, and get all mad if I yield to them, even if the law says they have right-of-way. What is it, people, all those small-batch local beers made you hyper-polite? I got a stop sign! Moveyertail!

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Nothing I write about any person or group should be applied to a larger group.
- Boris Badenov

[AWB]

Chapter 1: I once (quite accidentally) failed to yield to a school bus stopping. I was going the opposite direction on a 4-lane (2 each way) street w/o a physical median. Just before I passed it, its lights went from yellow to red. And a cop was behind me. Busted!

At my court appearance (I didn't contest it, it was just required for me to appear), the judge lambasted me more that the numerous DUI's, red light runners, and other scofflaws. OK, I learned my lesson.

Chapter two (one year later): I was stopped at the same intersection when I noticed the same school bus approaching the intersection and flashing its yellows. Sure enough, just as it reached the intersection, it turned on its red flashers and the signal light turned green. Rather than go across the intersection and stick out into it, I elected to stay on my side of the intersection and wait. Damned if the idiots behind me didn't start honking and flipping me off. Two of them pulled out and went through the intersection and past the still-stopped bus! (Where were the cops this time!?)

Since then, I've notice dozen of times when people pass school buses when they shouldn't (even when they're behind them).

I guess I'm kinda pissed, not because I got caught, but that everyone else seems not to get caught.

[matt_mcl]

See, this is why I take the metro.

[Felinecare]

Along the same lines.....

I had start counting yesterday so I wouldn't get out of the car and make an annoying situation worse. I'm at an intersection, left turn signal on. The car behind me keeps blowing his horn to helpfully remind me the light is green. Yo, what do you think a turn signal means? Perhaps I should just turn into traffic and get broad-sided so you don't waste two minutes of your life (keep in mind this is an intersection with a turn arrow, so I'm going to turn eventually even if traffic is heavy.)

Most bizarre horn-honking experience: I'm driving through a less-than-wonderful neighborhood when I hear an odd slapping noise. Then I realize the noise comes from the running feet of someone being chased on foot by two cops. I accelerate, in case the pursued decides carjacking is an option. In my rear view mirror I notice that the chase has moved from the sidewalk into my lane. The car behind me HONKS, and it's definitely a *hey you, get out of the street* honk. Bet the police loved that!

[voguevixen]

The school bus one drives me nuts too. It even says big as day "ALL LANES MUST STOP WHEN LIGHTS ARE FLASHING" on the back. Another one of my faves is the guy laying on the horn when you're stopped at a red light with a "no turn on red" sign. NO TURN ON RED, DAMMIT! Don't make me get out of my car and point the sign out to you!

[unowat2do]

I'd agree with yosemitebabe that LA drivers are polite, except those on the westside. I've been honked at for actually stopping at a stop sign instead of rolling through it like everyone before me. Sometimes the politeness gets carried away. I pull up to a stop sign, and the other driver waves me through even though he was there first. Even better, are the two times I have been waiting at a sign - yes I do stop, have you noticed? - only to have a car stop to let me go. Hey asshole, you don't have a stop sign! get a clue...

[voltaire]

Can't they insert a sensor into cars that will light up a dashboard sign, saying that a firetruck is approaching?


That function is built into my radar detector. It's supposed to say "Emergency Vehicle Approaching" and "Construction Zone Ahead" but of course that requires that ambulances and construction zones be fitted with a transmitter. So I've never seen it, but I'm sure one of these days they'll catch up to the technology of my 6 year old radar detector and I'll see it flash up on there.

[voltaire]

In one instance where I moved right (into a "right turn only" lane) temporarily to let a
fire truck that I could see in my RV mirror go by, the lady behind me did not move over
for the firetruck.


Depending on the situation, what you did is not usually a good idea.

If there were other cars in your lane, and there were no cars in the "Right Turn Only" lane, by switching lanes you just blocked the one lane the firetruck could have gone down. It doesn't matter if he's going straight and its a right turn only lane, as long as the emergency vehicle has a way to get around you, it will.

Its usually only a good idea to move if you are the one blocking the emergency vehicles' only way through. If he's got another way through, he's a professional and he'll find it, as long as someone doesn't block it off in an attempt to move out of the way.

[Kat]

Well, I dunno about other states, but here in Illinois there's this law about "pulling over to the right and (if possible) stopping to let an emergency vehicle through" (paraphrase). Thus the driver is likely going to anticipate cars pulling to the right.

In any case, most places a right turn lane starts shortly before an intersection and has no corresponding lane after the intersection so it would be difficult (and possibly dangerous) for a vehicle going straight to use it.

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Your Official Cat Goddess since 10/20/99.

"I get along well with everybody." --I.M.F.

[Bucky]

Yo, Aura! You're right, Midwestern drivers do suck ass Lived in the midwest most of my life). But Tennessee is NOT the Midwest! any place south of Illinois can pretty much forget about it. Sure, we talk funny in the Midwest, but we generally avoid drawling and twanging.

By the way, after four years in New York, I can say that New York drivers suck ass, too. Frankly, drivers everywhere suck ass.

By the by the way: everyone driving fater than you is an idiot, everyone driving slower doesn't know how to drive.

Bucky

[knappy]

Yesterday, traffic was stopped due to double parkers a few cars ahead of me on a 2 lane street, when an ambulance approached from behind. As soon as it passed, the cab behind me honks at me or the guy ahead of me (for not following in the ambulance's slipstream, I suppose.) I hate it when people do that.

[voltaire]

In any case, most places a right turn lane starts shortly before an intersection and has no corresponding lane after the intersection so it would be difficult (and possibly dangerous) for a vehicle going straight to use it.


Once in the intersection, the emergency vehicle can easily adjust to go straight, turn left, or right. They don't speed through a red light anyway, so they're going to slow down to manuever. Remember, these guys are professionals. If you can get out of the way quickly without blocking off other possible ways through, do it. If not, and there's a way around you, stay put and they'll find it.

I've seen too many emergency vehicles get slowed down by well-intentioned people who try to help when it's not necessary.

[PunditLisa]

1) Having ridden in an ambulance with my 18 month old daughter who was being rushed to the hospital, let me say that I appreciate all the people who pull over for ambulances and fire trucks.

2) Re: school buses: here in Ohio, you only have to stop for school buses going in the opposite direction on a 2 lane road. (1 lane going in each direction). If there are more lanes than that, only the cars traveling in the same direction need to stop.

Check your state law. But of course, if you err, err on the side of caution.

[HeadlessCow]

In the area around my town many of the stoplights are fitted with a blinking red light to signal when an emergency vehicle is coming. It also quickly cycles the lights so that the emergency vehicle has green lights by the time they get to the intersection. These features are activated by a sensor on top of the lights that picks up a pattern of strobing from a strobe light on the top of the vehicle. A few years back this caused a problem because many of the towns in the area use the same pattern so that they can change the lights in each other's towns when responding to calls that necessitate it. On this particular day a firetruck and another vehicle were both responding to calls and were coming to the same intersection from different directions (perpendicular-like) and had both turned on the strobes. Both strobes were registered and the lights for both directions turned green and both drivers assuming that everyone would stop for them and the redlights didn't slow down as much as usually and ended up colliding in the center of the intersection. Needless to say after this the lights controller was fixed to only allow one direction to turn green and both departments were told to only use the strobes in another town when the town knew they were responding to a call.

[Patty O'Furniture]

I live a few blocks away from a station, and the trucks always have their lights & siren on when returning from a call! I figure they must have left dinner on the table and were in a hurry to get back. I have also seen police abuse their right-of-way power by turning their lights on to get thru a red light, only to come to a stop at the next intersection and sit there through the cycle. I guess the call could have been cancled, but it sure happens a LOT. In DC, most of the red lights with no siren or lights- they're not going fast enough to be on a silent call, they just don't feel like waiting at the red light with the rest of us ordinary serfs. (I live on a traffic circle, and can sit on my front step and watch this happen all day & night long).

After 10 years of watching this, I sometimes hesitate to yield to sirens- I wonder if they're just late for dinner. That's awful I know, but they've so conditioned me.

[Patty O'Furniture]

Missing some words from that post; here is the proof-read version:

I live a few blocks away from a station, and the trucks always have their lights & siren on when returning from a call! I figure they must have left dinner on the table and were in a hurry to get back. I have also seen police abuse their right-of-way power by turning their lights on to get thru a red light, only to come to a stop at the next intersection and sit there through the cycle. I guess the call could have been cancled, but it sure happens a LOT. In DC, most of the cops just cruise past red lights with no siren or lights flashing- they're not going fast enough to be on a silent call, they just don't feel like waiting at the red light with the rest of us ordinary serfs. (I live on a traffic circle, and can sit on my front step and watch this happen all day & night long).

After 10 years of watching this, I sometimes hesitate to yield to sirens- I wonder if they're just late for dinner. That's awful I know, but they've so conditioned me.

[melanietarrant]

ok, i admit it, it was me, i beeped
i'm sorry, i was the third car in the row, there was a building blocking my line of sight and my kids were fighting so i turned up the radio. i didn't hear the siren.
but i was very embarrassed when the fire truck passed
once again i'm sorry

[Boris B]

I forgive you melanie. Just as long as your kids don't fight within earshot of me, and your burning house doesn't start mine on fire....

[AWB]

PunditLisa: Re: school buses: here in Ohio, you only have to stop for school buses going in the opposite direction on a 2 lane road. (1 lane going in each direction). If there are more lanes than that, only the cars traveling in the same direction need to stop.

In Virginia, if there's not a physical median, both directions have to stop. A painted one doesn't count.


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I looked in the mirror today/My eyes just didn't seem so bright
I've lost a few more hairs/I think I'm going bald - Rush

[PitBullDawg]

If the government would just approve my plane to have a death ray vaporizer mounted to my car I could solve this counties bad driving habits in less then a month plus thin the herd out a little. The vaporizer would reduce the car and its inhabitants to a mere ash. Sounds like a good plan to me. :-p

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The ever insensitive, politically incorrect PitBullDawg.
Political correctness is a disease. Cure it with the truth.