Local News - September 2003

Drivers cautioned on response to EMS units

By ALICE SMITH, Staff Writer

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Emergency workers say many drivers are not yielding to their vehicles, costing them valuable time and putting patients at risk.

“People pull into the turn lane on an angle, people stop on the right and people stop on the left,” said John Watts, training supervisor for Lincoln County EMS. “We have nowhere to go.”

Officials said drivers probably just don’t know the proper moves to make when an ambulance, police car or fire truck is approaching them.

“A lot of people just don’t know where to go,” Watts said.

North Carolina General Statute 20-157 states that when a vehicle is approaching “the driver of every other vehicle shall immediately drive the same to a position as near as possible and parallel to the right-hand edge or curb, clear of any intersection of streets or highways …” and stop until the vehicle has passed.

But that’s not what drivers are doing, paramedics say.

Some drivers continue on in their lane despite the ambulance’s flashing lights and sirens, Watts said.

Or they’ll pull off the road, but not slow down.

“Some will drive on the shoulder of the road doing 60 miles per hour,” he said.

On a road like N.C. 27, it’s common for drivers to pull into the middle turn lane to avoid an emergency vehicle, workers said.

That causes more problems, because crews are not allowed to pass cars on the right.

“We have to pass on the left,” said Kim Green, EMS operations supervisor.

Vehicles traveling in the opposite direction of an oncoming ambulance must also pull off to the right side of the road.

Even if the lane is empty, vehicles are still required to pull off the road, Green said, because a certain distance around the ambulance must be clear.

Drivers who do not obey these laws can be charged with a Class 2 misdemeanor.

Improper movements cost crews crucial time in an emergency situation, endangering them and putting patients at risk.

Each car that doesn’t pull to the right has an effect on how much time it takes crews to get to the scene of a wreck or medical emergency.

“They delay our response by at least three to five seconds,” Watts said. “And sometimes one minute means the difference between life and death.”

The safety of emergency workers has been in the spotlight recently because of a fairly new law requiring motorists to yield to vehicles that are on the shoulder of multi-lane roads.

The law requires drivers to change lanes if they approach an ambulance, fire truck or law enforcement vehicle that is in service on the wide of the road. If changing lanes is impossible, drivers must slow down.

Troopers say they will enforce this law and ticket anyone who does not yield to emergency vehicles.

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Staff writer Alice Smith can be reached at 704-735-3031 or alicesmith@ltnews.com

© 2001 Lincoln Times-News  

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