I’ve been in that situation myself, second in line at a stoplight, no possibility of changing lanes or pulling over from current position, police car behind me running lights and sirens. Both the driver in front of me and I cautiously proceeded forward to make room. I’ve since verified with drivers of emergency vehicles that at least in California this is the correct response. Priority seems to be: don’t get into a crash yourself, get out of the way of the emergency vehicle, worry about traffic lights.
But there’s very obvious reason that law would not explicitly say “you can run a red light if you hear a siren”. Explicit legal “permission” to do so would be dangerously abused, and it would lessen the burden on the driver to do this only with great caution when it’s absolutely safe to do so.
I think it makes perfect sense that this should remain something that is legally a gray area; but that common sense and not being a dick says you should do when circumstances allow no better option, taking full personal responsibility for being completely safe.
For those arguing that in CA, drivers are supposed to run a red light when a fire truck is behind you, that’s incorrect. From a California cop:
“There are some situations where there are barriers and medians where the emergency vehicle absolutely can’t go around and that situation the emergency operator may choose to try to split between traffic in order to get to the front of the intersection,” he said. “In that situation, it’s recommended that the drivers will inch to the left and to the right to make room for the emergency vehicle to get to the front of the intersection.”
“Regardless of the situation, it is not an excuse or a reason for you to run a red light,” Pennings said.
And from Smapti’s"Ask a Cop" link [bolding mine]:
If you can’t move safely, DON’T move at all. Although you want to get out of the way, we definitely don’t need you to present a safety hazard, run out in the road and cause a traffic crash.
I’ve always instructed motorists to turn on the right signal and when it’s safe to turn right …. DON’T run a red light TURN RIGHT at the light!
And…
I NEVER encourage anyone to run a red light, for according to the Texas Transportation Code, the only person who can authorize any motorist to disregard a red light is a police officer.
TL;DR: DON’t run a red light if an emergency vehicle is behind you, cops say.
It’s illegal in the UK, and people can and have been fined for it. The left and right side of the road are obviously reversed here.
I think this bears repeating:
(using a strobe light on the front of the emergency vehicle.)
I’m sure this is also true in other cities.
I’ve been in the exact situation as described in the OP. When the firetruck came up behind me with lights and sirens, I made a space for the firetruck to get through by moving forward and to the right so I was in front of the car that was first in line in the lane to my right.
The firetruck could proceed through the intersection, I entered the intersection the minimal possible amount to make a gap. At that point, I was blocking the crosswalk, and cross traffic could have moved without hitting me.
This takes a few seconds to work, as the currently green light has to cycle through its yellow phase to red before the emergency vehicle’s light can turn green. I believe this is what happened in my case, as shortly after the firetruck passed the light turned green, and I was able to pull back into my original lane, and proceed through the intersection.
Incidental side note. It turns out that around here, fire trucks have a third device in addition to sirens and a very loud air horn – a very loud PA system! I was in the middle lane in a traffic jam once and a fire truck pulled up behind one car that was blocking the left lane, everyone else having managed to make way for the fire truck. He continued to ignore the horn because the light was still red and he legally had nowhere to go, until suddenly a blaringly loud “Pull over! Now!” was heard from the fire truck. And suddenly, he did find a way to pull over – I think he pulled into the intersection and veered right in front of the other traffic. One got the impression that the fire truck driver was just about ready to ram him out of the way.
In NY and in several other states it is permitted to make a left on red after a stop if traveling on a one way to a one way street.
I’m wondering what needs to be explained to you. You seem to be under the impression that cars sitting at an intersection can always make room for a firetruck without breaking any traffic laws.
I have been driving or riding in the right front seat of fire apparatus for the last 28 years. I feel I can speak with some authority here.
In the two states I have worked on - Massachusetts and Rhode Island, it is against the law for a non emergency vehicle to enter an intersection contrary to a traffic control device, unless directed so by a police officer. Period. A fire engine or ambulance cannot legally grant you authority to run a red light. If you run a red light, you can be cited. If you run a red light and cause an accident, you will be found at fault. The operator of the fire engine will have culpability, but it’s on you - saying the fire engine pushed you through is not a defense, because they aren’t allowed to do that.
My visibility from the seat of a fire engine is far better than that from a passenger car or truck. I can see over you, and over the 15 cars in front of you. Before I got to the intersection, I already had a plan as to how to get through it. I might be on the left, might be on the right, or might be in the center of the road (the “Red Sea approach”). What the cars in front of me are starting to do is going to guide my pathway. 95% of the time, it works well. For that 5% of the time, someone pulls in an unexpected direction (and they’re usually from New York or Connecticut - sorry, but it’s true).
I have a very busy 4-lane state highway running through my community, with many traffic lights - including a T intersection with another 4-lane state highway. At the intersections without an esplanade (mini median), I will very often cross the centerline - slowly and making a ton of noise - if the two lanes in my direction are packed. If there is an esplanade, I am often going to pull up on the right side without laying on the siren or air horn (so no one pulls to the right) until I get to the intersection.
I have another 4-way intersection with four lanes in each direction, each with protected left turn lanes. I can often get into the protected turn lanes (often no cars) and cut around the two lanes of stopped cars. The way that light is timed, the left turn lanes go first - I can go around the stopped cars quietly on the green arrow.
If I am stuck with packed cars in front of me with nowhere to go, lay off the siren and wait for the light to change.
We do have Opticom (a light-based system that changes a traffic light to green in one direction and red for all others) at a fair number of our signalized intersections, which is nice but is not a guarantee. Drivers will run red lights in front of me (I see it happen about once a month). People do stupid things when they hear sirens.
The operator of a fire engine has four rules:
- Don’t hit anything
- Don’t get hit
- Keep all wheels on the ground at all times
- Don’t scare or hurt anyone inside or outside of the truck
Following those rules, you don’t push people into an intersection - it scares the driver and the officer. If I or my driver causes an accident, we are not continuing to the original call - we have a new one to handle (or could be cited for leaving the scene of an accident if we are involved). It is in no way in my best interest to save six seconds by having someone run a light in front of me.
The lights, siren, and air horn are tools. The judicious and careful use of those tools allows me to get to an incident faster.
All of that to say - do not pull into an intersection against a red light unless a police officer told you to do it.