"slow down or move over....

I think the states need to focus more on getting traffic under control and these dangerous intersections as there is more accidents due to crazy drivers/intersections etc than there is people in the emergency lane

Pick on me

 

That fed ex truck was going too fast, no matter what the road conditions you must be able to react to what is happening in front of you safely. I have more weight on my trailer most of the time than alot of people gross and I drive in the worst traffic/roads the east coast has to offer, I know how to be safe, it's too bad more people don't. I'm not trying to get in a shouting match, I just think the law is a good one and I do my best to give the guy standing on the side of the road as much courtesy as I would want

 

Have you ever driven an ambulance on a mult lane road???

I have. During an emergency, you must be prepared for everything. When someone is kind enough to pull over on a multi lane, it allows additional room for manuevering the ambulance. There are times, that someone will just make a turn in front and you will need to move over a lane. I have had people in the left lane suddenly see the ambulance and stand on the brakes. If the vehicle in the right lane, had not stopped, there would have been very little room to avoid the stupid driver.

The best way is to avoid sudden moves and stops in the rig. There is someone in the bag using needles.

By the way, I am one of those that will stop on the multi lane. I understand the need for it. Sorry if it upsets you.

 

Seems to me this law has actually been on the books in some form or another for decades. We have too many vehicles on our roads, simply put.

People should slow or move over(if a lane is available) because you never know when some knucklehead will step too far out and get plastered onto a passing vehicle.

I agree that too many simply stand on their brake pedal and that can and does cause problems which weren't there beforehand. Fact is, our entire country is woefully lacking on driver education. When I was in high school, such a course wasn't even offered. People can get a driver license so easily it isn't any wonder why we have so many crashes in America.

Cop cars may be better prepared themselves. Using a set of lights to direct traffic away from the emergency vehicle is becoming more popular and that seems to help.

Biggest issue we have: People commonly just fail to pay attention. Not just cell phones or stereos or passengers... They simply don't pay attention regardless what may be going on around them or inside their vehicle.

Of course, if the cops were mandated to actually patrol for the problems across the board, instead of the speeders and not much else, we may have better drivers across the country. I watched a cop wait behind a car passing me 2 days ago... That woman was holding a cell phone in 1 hand and was wacing the other for conversation purposes... She was running about 1mph faster than me and took almost 2 minutes to fully pass. The cop, directly behind her, was straining himself I'm sure, but after she passed, and REMAINED in the passing lane, he went around her shaking his head... DORK! She should've been pulled over and indeed, ticketed. But he was out for speeders, NOT dangerous drivers clearly breaking other laws of the road.

In essense, I don't think it's the move over law we need to be concerned with. Heck, most of us will move over to pass another big truck on the shoulder without thinking twice. We just do it. Why? Courtesy? Safety? Both? Of course. Everyone should do the same. We need governments to get more serious about the real traffic problems we see causing crashes every day of the yr.

As for people moving right when an emergency vehicle appraoches, that has been the law for at least 40yrs by now. It makes perfect sense. When a cop comes from behind, you are to pull to the right... It's the law. He/she may or may not be pulling you over... How could you know unless you pull over? You can't be sure if all you do is block. When they approach from front or rear or sides, you are to pull over, no matter what you're driving, unless it too is running lights or being escorted by those running lights. Too many people don't move and that really is dangerous.

 

Just thought of something else.

Many of the states have laws about moving over to the shoulder even on multi lane roads.

 

Oregons law was passed several months ago, It was a warning till the first of Febuary, now they enforce it. can't remember the exact fine,something like150 dollars. not unreasonable. too bad they have to make a law for what should be common sense. But then again" common sense is getting more uncommon every day!

 

I dunno - need to look it up, but last time I looked, in most states if an emergency vehicle is approaching you from either direction on a two lane road, you are required to pull over. Period. Has nothing at all to do with anybody else on the road. Try it around my wife's ambulance and odds are better than even that you'll be enduring a visit from a guy with a badge.

Same is true on divided highways (4+ lanes), except in that case, if you are headed in the opposite direction, you need not slow or pull over.

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more generally, the rule to slow and move over for stopped emergency vehicles doesn't mean "go from 75 to 25 in 6 seconds" . It's more a case of "let up on the gas, be aware of the situation, pull as far away in your lane as you can, and be prepared to take evasive action". That could be "stop", or slow further. It's situational.

The problem is, this is one of those exceedingly rare occasions where teh state assumes the driver has some form of commons sense. yeah, right.

The jokers you see jumping on their brakes and doing the nose-dive were probably not paying attention to the road in the first place and are over-reacting to seeing flashing lights - without quite yet realizing that the lights are on the side of the road, not dead center of their lane.
Doesn't make them right, or any less culpable - but we can try to look at the positive aspect - I bet that for the next 10 minutes or so, they're among the most alert drivers on the road.

 

I totally agree. In the Smith System it's called "Aim High". If you look down the road, like you should, then you can avoid any situation that might cause you to make an emergency maneuver. It's not only watch out for the other guy buy know what he or she is going to do. You'd be surprised how many times you're right on what they'll do.