What Should You Do When You Encounter an Emergency Service Vehicle with Its Lights Flashing?

It never ceases to amaze me how many idiot drivers a person can encounter on any given day.

Case and point, the asshat on Monday that was trying to race the ambulance down 57th street. Hello! There's a reason why all the other cars were pulling off to the side of the road to let the medical service vehicle with the siren blaring and its lights flashing pass them, it's called following the law!

The Jeff Gordon wannabe that was driving the Chevy pickup heading west on 57th Monday morning evidently needs a refresher course on Drivers Ed 101.

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In South Dakota there's a little thing called the "Move Over Law." State law requires drivers to reduce speed and vacate the lane closest to official emergency vehicles, which by the way also includes tow trucks and wreckers displaying their flashing amber or yellow lights.

In situations where emergency service responder vehicles are in play they will usually try and pass to the left since you should be pulling to the right. However, distracted drivers, or those blocking intersections or roadways may negate that possibility. When drivers stop directly in front of emergency vehicles, Emergency Responders are forced to find a way to maneuver around them, which delays their response and can possibly result in an accident.

According to the state of South Dakota here are a few tips to keep in mind upon hearing and seeing an Emergency Service Responder vehicle with its siren going and lights flashing:

• Stay calm, signal your intentions, and remember all vehicles must pull over to the right.
• If it is not safe to pull over to the right, stop, but not in an intersection.
• Use common sense, if your windows are up or the music is on, regularly scan your mirrors for emergency vehicles.
• Don’t panic.
• Don’t pull to the left or stop in the middle lane when there is room to pull to the right.
• Don’t race ahead to make the green light before the emergency vehicle gets there.
• Don’t drive through a red light or stop sign when an emergency vehicle approaches from behind.
• Do not closely follow. All civilian vehicles must stay at least 500 ft. behind emergency vehicles.

One more very important thing, in South Dakota a violation of this law is a Class 2 misdemeanor, which is punishable by a fine of $200 and/or 60 days in jail.

Learn it, live it, please practice it!

Remember, as Sgt. Phil Esterhaus from the 1980's police drama Hill Street Blues would say, "Let's be careful out there."