The Queens District RCMP would like to remind the public that emergency personnel risk their lives every day to help us in our time of need. Sometimes they face that risk just getting there. When you're driving and you see emergency vehicles with their lights and sirens on, time is of the essence - move over quickly and carefully.
Emergency vehicles include ambulances, fire department vehicles, police vehicles, and privately owned vehicles for firefighter or life support agencies.
As a motorist, the first way to protect emergency workers is to stay alert behind the wheel.
*Scan your mirrors periodically to check for flashing lights and have your stereo volume low enough to hear sirens.
*If an emergency vehicle approaches you with lights flashing or sirens engaged safely pull over to the right side of the road as quickly as possible. On one-way streets, motorists should pull over to the nearest curb.
*Emergency vehicles have the right-of-way and take precedence over all other traffic. Keep to the side of the street until they have safely passed and watch closely for additional emergency vehicles approaching from behind.
*Don't enter an intersection until the emergency vehicle is completely through it, even if you have a green light. The only exception to this rule is when a peace officer gives you other directions.
These rules also apply when meeting an emergency vehicle on the highway.
*If an emergency vehicle is stopped on the side of the road with its lights flashing, you must slow to 1/2 the posted limit unless you're driving on the opposite side of a divided highway.
*Failing to slow down puts emergency workers and other motorists at risk of serious injury or even death.
We all need to do our part when it comes to safety. Watch for emergency vehicles, yield the right of way and slow down when passing personnel on the highway. It's that simple, and it can mean the difference between helping in one emergency and causing another.