When I took driver’s ed, I learned that the proper response to hearing a emergency vehicle’s siren or seeing its flashing lights was to pull over to the right-hand lane and stop. These days, I see people simply stopping right where they are, which sees like a really poor idea. Did something change in the last 40 years, do I mis-remember, or are people just morons?
You can not fix stupid
Proper etiquette is still to pull over to the right side and stop, and that’s what people do around here (Maryland, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia areas). When you get into the big cities (Baltimore, DC, Pittsburgh, etc) then pulling off to the right often isn’t practical, as there often isn’t a shoulder to pull onto and there’s so much traffic that you can’t get to the right. If you can’t pull off to the right, you should at least stop.
But if you can get to the right and you just stop where you are, you’re doing it wrong.
I haven’t seen anyone just stop where they are when they could get to the right in any areas where I drive.
Daughter recently finished driver’s ed. Ideally, you are supposed to pull over to the right shoulder and stop. If that’s not possible, you are supposed to pull over as far to the right as you safely can and stop. Sometimes, that might mean stopping where you are, but that is the least ideal option.
Yes, pull to the right and stop. If you can’t pull to the right, stop. The main thing is, get out of the way in a predictable manner.
When I lived in LA I used to see police cars following the ambulance with their speakers blaring “When you hear the sirens and see the lights, pull to the right” (something like that, it’s been awhile).
I also saw someone nearly hit a CHP officer a few months ago when they did NOT stop when the office was doing the swerve back and forth across lanes to do a traffic break. The officer got that driver stopped (ahead of all of us, and the debris in the road), then he came back, cleared the road. Then the officer pulled that driver off to the side. When last seen he was leaning in the side window for a little chat. Good idea to stop. They’re not always too busy to deal with non-compliance. 
The only case where I see people merely stopping in place is at four-way intersections with traffic lights. And in that case that’s the best thing to do. The emergency vehicle slows down and merely goes where ever it has to to get though (even including oncoming traffic lanes). To ‘pull to the side’ in this case would involve moving forward or backward and with everyone trying to do that it’s just a mess.
Here in NY State they enacted a law where when you come upon a police car on the right shoulder (having pulled someone over) you must slow down and* swerve to the left* (or stop if necessary) to leave them plenty of room.
Well, that’s what I remembered, but I would say less than 10% of drivers out here pull over. They just stop right where they are, blocking the road.
Idiots.
Where is “here”?
Generally, you pull off to the right, but I have seen a number of ambulances driving between lanes of cars. So the cars in the right lane move right, and the cars in the middle/left lanes move left, and the ambulance goes in between.
This normally happens in areas without a good shoulder.
When I see an emergency vehicle coming behind, me, I either move right, or figure out where the vehicle is heading in traffic and do my best to get the hell out of the way.
I live in the Boston area.
And you move over? Whoa.
The location field of his post says “Scottsdale, more-or-less”.
So I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say he’s near Scottsdale. Probably the one that’s part of suburban Greater Phoenix in Arizona.
Joining the chorus–yes, you should pull to the right and stop. That said, I once rode in an ambulance in rush hour traffic where no one pulled over until the driver took to the shoulder. Predictably, one person finally got it right, pulled over and blocked the shoulder (and to add insult to injury, we were called off just before arriving–the patient decided they were ok.)
You pull over to the side of the road and stop, if you can. You stop in place, if theres no other place to go, though 99.9% of the time if Im in the middle or left lane, I usually can find a way to wedge myself to the right at least a LITTLE bit to give the emergency driver more room.
Biggest douche move? After everyone has pulled over, and the EV makes it pass, the vehicle behind you overtakes you before you have a chance to pull back into traffic. Happened more than once to me, making me wish once more for a dash cam so I can shame them on the Internets! :mad::mad::mad:
Overall, I drive 50k a year and its seems more and more drivers understand the proper etiquette than 10 years ago, just a feeling I have.
I’m from away.
You got it right in your last sentence. The moron factor.
The older I get, the more I realize this universal truth.
OK, this brings up this ?.
4 lane major arterial, not a freeway, but a surface street. Busy traffic, I am in the left lane because I am turning left in 1/2 mile. Emergency vehicle approaches. I KNOW I’m supposed to get over to the right, but there’s cars there, lots of them. Am I really supposed to endanger myself and others trying to get over while there’s mild confusion for everyone? If there’s vehicles to my right, isn’t it OK to just stop where I am in the left lane?
If everyone else has moved to the right, and you’re blocking the only remaining lane of traffic, don’t stop where you are. Pull to the right.
If the ambulance would have to swerve around you to the right to proceed rather than continuing in its lane, don’t stop where you are. Pull to the right.
If both the ambulance and the clear lanes are already on your right, and you would have to pull across their path to get to the right, stop where you are.
If it might be confusing to the ambulance driver when everyone else pulls to the right and you stay in the same place, pull to the right and leave as much space as possible on your left.
People focus way too much on the fact that it will slow them down by 30 seconds to pull to the right, when the concern of the people inside the ambulance is vastly more important than an extra 30 seconds on the road. 
I generally see people doing fine with ambulances - you pull to the right if you’re moving and can, pull rightish if you’re moving and can’t get all the way over, stay where you are if you’re already stopped unless the ambulance is coming up behind you and you’re clearly blocking it. Sometimes you do see an asshole or somebody who panics.
I figure the point is “do something predictable”. Don’t surprise anybody. Get out of the way but don’t cause another wreck doing it.
The last time I saw a firetruck here in Eugene, Oregon, was yesterday. I was going west on 11th Ave, which is a one-way street with 4 lanes. The firetrucks (two of them) had their lights and sirens on. All the cars in the left two lanes pulled to the left and stopped. All the cars in the right two lanes pulled to the right and stopped. This opened up a huge hole in the middle of the street. The firetrucks went on through and then everyone calmly returned to normal a few seconds later. In the last eight years, I’ve probably seen 100 ambulances or firetrucks here and never seen a single car refuse to pull over.
I have no idea WTF is wrong with the cities you people are describing. No such problems here.
If I remember correctly, there are two exceptions to the pull over to the right rule. One of them is if you’re already stopped at a red light; you’re supposed to stay put, as attempts to move over can end up putting you even more in the way. The other exception is if you’re going around a rotary; you’re supposed to keep going, take your exit, and then pull over out of the way, because large vehicles might need the entirety of the circle to make it through, and stopping within the circle will just be an impediment to them.