Why is baffling.
Pulling over, changing lanes, moving to the side of the road, they’re all simple things to do, yet, for some it is the last thing that they will do when an ambulance, fire truck or some other rescue vehicle, lights blazing, moves into view.
Call it stubbornness, ignorance of the law or just total disrespect for those trying to save someone’s life, the fact remains it’s a problem and one that could be so easily corrected if people, themselves, would just use common decency as their guide.
While there are laws in place that require motorists to pull over or change lanes when an emergency vehicle is pulled off the side of the road at a call or traveling in either direction, its lights indicating that it is responding to a call, there are some who flat out refuse to get out of the way.
And that puts lives in danger — those of rescue personnel as well as those with whom emergency responders are attempting to reach.
Two local firefighters, quoted in an Oct. 20 Sampson Independent article, detailed a recent incident in which they arrived late to a fire call because a motorists simply would not yield the right of way to the oncoming fire truck.
In their description, the firefighters said the motorist simply stayed in their way, never attempting to allow them to pass.
Why anyone would refuse to let an emergency vehicle pass is beyond comprehension. It’s ridiculous, it’s dangerous, it’s irresponsible and it’s against the law.
But none of that appears to matter to stubborn drivers, who for some reason, believe they have the right to hold rescue personnel back from doing their job. If they think it’s funny, it’s not; if they think it makes them look big and bad, it doesn’t; if they think they are above the law, they’re not.
Perhaps these motorists have gotten by with this behavior in the past; perhaps they’ve not been ticketed yet, but we are sure their day is coming. We can only hope it is.
In our view, refusing to pull over for an emergency vehicle is as much a crime as breaking into someone’s home or holding someone hostage because, in reality, delaying rescue personnel from getting to calls could mean the difference between life or death.
We urge motorists to exercise good judgment and show a little compassion when they drive, being mindful of emergency vehicles and allowing them to pass when the need arises. One day, the rescue vehicle traveling on Sampson’s highways might be responding to one of them, and you can best bet on that day, that motorist will be hoping others don’t have the same attitude they’ve had.
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