It means someone is trying to help others
Let’s say you’re driving on a local road and you suddenly see a vehicle behind you with a flashing green light in their front window. What do you do?
If you can, safely pull to the right, Town of Highlands Ambulance Corps President Jeff Gathers said this week. That flashing green light is either an EMT or a volunteer of the ambulance corps who is most likely trying to get to the Ambulance Hall so they can go out on a call. If they aren’t heading toward the hall, Gathers said, they’re heading directly to a call in the community.
“Pull over, it’s a courtesy,” Gathers said. “The courtesy is really to the sick, injured or in trouble person. We aren’t just trying to get past you.”
The lights are to be used by THAC members only in an emergency, he said, and the majority of the corps members have them.
“Be aware of what is happening behind you when you’re driving,” Gathers added.
New York State’s Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee’s website notes that personal vehicles with green lights “are not emergency vehicles and their drivers must obey all traffic laws”, and “you need not yield the right of way to these vehicles”. However, it also states “if you can do so safely, you should yield the right of way to vehicles with blue or green flashing lights as a courtesy.”
Unlike the fact that it’s a simple courtesy to pull over for personal vehicles with a green light, it’s the law that when an ambulance is behind you with its lights on you must yield to it.
According to the state’s Vehicle and Traffic Law: “When approached (from the front or rear) by an emergency vehicle whose lights and siren are activated, the driver of every other vehicle must yield the right of way.
In yielding the right of way, the driver must immediately pull over to the right hand edge or curb of the roadway, parallel to the roadway, and clear of any intersection. (In the case of a one-way divided highway, three lanes or more in width, the driver may pull to the left or right edge of the roadway, whichever is closer, for an emergency vehicle approaching from behind only.)
The vehicle shall stop and remain stopped until the emergency vehicle or vehicles have passed, unless otherwise directed by a police officer.”
NYS also has a law pertaining to emergency vehicles stopped on the side of the road. Drivers must use care when approaching those vehicles — which includes police vehicles, fire trucks, ambulances, construction and maintenance vehicles and tow trucks. The Move Over Law applies to both sides of the roadway, not just the shoulder on the right.
“We thank you for your cooperation, and I’m sure the person we are trying to help, and their family thanks you,” Gathers says.
