Beaver Lodge Fire Truck (photo by Shaun Penner)

By Liam Verster

Traffic Laws

Beaverlodge Fire Department reminds drivers to obey laws involving emergency vehicles

Nov 14, 2019 | 1:47 PM

After being slowed down by traffic on the way to a collision scene, the Beaverlodge Fire Department is reminding drivers on how to react around emergency vehicles.

On Tuesday, first responders on their way to a multi-vehicle collision on Highway 43 were delayed by several drivers who were not properly adhering to the laws revolving around reacting to emergency vehicles.

Fire Chief Stan Metcalfe says it’s important for people to follow the law, and he feels there needs to be more awareness on how drivers need to react.

“It doesn’t seem to be well known that the expectation is to slow down, pull off to the shoulder, and yield the right of way. And, in fact, you’re supposed to stop, it doesn’t matter if it’s an ambulance, a police officer or a fire truck.”

He adds that many drivers are unpredictable on the road, and they must follow the law, specifically by using their turn signal when pulling over, and coming to a complete stop while emergency vehicles pass.

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Metcalf says they need people to follow the law and allow emergency vehicles to pass right away, as they are doing very time sensitive and vital work, and need to arrive at their destinations quickly.

“(if) somebody has placed a 911 call, they need help right now. We’re not taking into account the time that’s required to have to negotiate our way around other drivers that can’t seem to coordinate their activity on the road. That could be the difference between life and death.”

He says while it’s vital to allow crews through as quick as possible, it’s also very important for traffic to slow down and move to the far lane when passing an active scene. The first responders are moving about, doing their jobs, and shouldn’t be put at risk by other road users. Metcalfe points to a specific event earlier this year, when a car raced past an active scene, hitting a high-visibility cone that was right beside a first responder working on the scene. He says since then, they have increased the amount of high-visibility equipment used, but that’s just a band-aid solution.

“The real solution is having drivers slow down to a safe speed when they’re passing by an emergency scene. Right now, the law says 60 km/h but that doesn’t mean that 60 km/h is really even an acceptable speed to pass an emergency scene. That’s the maximum. There’s going to be times when 30 km/h is an acceptable speed, or even lower, depending on the circumstances and road conditions.”

Metcalfe say first responders are already dealing with dangerous situations and incidents, and shouldn’t also be put at risk by careless drivers breaking the law.