Every second counts when emergency response personnel are responding to an emergency. People’s lives may depend on your cooperation when an emergency vehicle needs to pass.
When you see an emergency vehicle with lights and sirens on, you should steer to the right of the roadway, stop or slow down, and wait for the emergency vehicle to pass.
Vehicle collisions are the second leading cause of firefighter fatalities. According to the United States Fire Administration, 12 percent of on-duty firefighter fatalities occur each year while responding to or returning from incidents, with most fatalities resulting from vehicle crashes.
Emergency vehicles sometimes use the wrong side of the street to continue on their way.
Remember the following when you see an emergency vehicle with lights and sirens on:
- Steer to the right of the roadway, stop or slow down, and wait for the emergency vehicle to pass.
- Yield the right-of-way to emergency response vehicles with active lights and sirens when they approach you at intersections.
- When the emergency vehicle has successfully passed you, pull back into your lane and resume your course of travel with caution.
Help keep everyone safe by always being alert to what's going on around you!