Emergency responders: Motorists must pull over for the safety of all
Lt. Rich Burns of the Austintown Fire Department speaks about the importance of following traffic laws concerning emergency vehicles, so that motorists stay safe and emergency workers can keep response time low..
Making the right moves
By Elise Franco
Austintown
Drivers of firetrucks, ambulances and police cruisers have daily run-ins with motorists who don’t follow proper procedure when a safety vehicle is barreling down the road, siren blaring.
Dave Schertzer, an Austintown fire investigator, said it’s important for drivers to understand and follow these laws for the sake of everyone’s safety.
He said under Ohio law, motorists are required to move to the far right and stop to let safety vehicles pass.
A firetruck, ambulance or police cruiser must drive to the left of any traffic. This means that sometimes they’re forced into oncoming traffic to avoid cars that stop in the turning or left lanes, Schertzer said.
“Basically, drivers are supposed to go as far right as they can, pull over and stop,” he said. “You’ll get people who try to race you and stay ahead of the truck, and then there are people who stay in your lane and just stop.”
Firefighters at Austintown’s Station No. 1 allowed a Vindicator reporter and photographer to ride along Thursday on a backup call to the township’s east side.
During the five-minute drive, Schertzer was forced to put on the brakes no fewer than five times for drivers who didn’t move out of the way. The fire crew blew the horn at least six times, counted three cars that stopped in the far-left lane and one that turned left in front of the firetruck.
Schertzer said this type of thing happens regularly.
“I don’t know if it’s that they didn’t pay attention during drivers training or they just panic when they hear the sirens,” he said. “It seems like a lot of the people doing the wrong thing are distracted.”
Schertzer and Chip Comstock, chief of the Western Reserve Fire District, said neither department has had an accident in recent years, but it is always in the back of their minds.
“One of the greatest risks for emergency personnel is an accident,” Comstock said. “Our vehicles are equipped with sufficient warning devices to alert the public. ... We try to encourage our personnel that it’s more important to get to a scene safely rather than quickly.”