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City Hall175 East 200 NorthSt. George, UT 84770(435) 627-4000
| March 20, 2010 |
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Emergency Vehicles I was returning from a recent trip up north and had Tom doing the driving ( my cruise control was set) and was listening to a book on tape. I had made it through the gauntlet of several highway patrol officers by American Fork and Nephi, well you know the places, and I was cresting a hill to see another set of flashing lights ahead. I changed lanes to give the officer more room to conduct his business making the roads safer for me to travel on. I couldn't tell if he was on a traffic stop, if he was clearing the road of debris or if it was a stranded motorist that he was assisting, but from my experience as an officer at the scene of a crash almost being hit on several occasions by rubber-neckers, I moved to the left lane. I was kind of surprised and upset at the semi in front of me not doing the same. And then I looked in my rear-view hoping that I had left enough room for the cars in back of me to also see the flashing lights hoping that they would follow my lead and move over. They didn't! How I wished that I had been in my patrol car. I later saw some highway patrol officers at the police department and asked them for ideas for safety issues that they would like to see addressed publicly. I received a letter from one the next week that I will reprint here in it's entirety. It's written by Lt. Lee Pyper of the Utah Highway Patrol: "I'm sure most of you are aware of the requirement to yield to emergency vehicles while traveling on our roads and highways. In the Utah Traffic Code (Section 41-6-76) it states that "the driver of a vehicle, upon immediate approach of an authorized emergency vehicle using audible or visible signals shall yield the right-of-way and immediately move to a position parallel to, and as close as possible to the right-hand edge or curb of the highway and remain stopped until the emergency vehicle has passed." That is the law that most of us are familiar with, but within the last 2 years another part to that law has been added to protect officers that are stopped on the side of the road with their lights on. This includes officers stopped on motorist assists, crashes, violators, road debris removal, or any other reason that might require an officer to stop on our freeways and highways. When the operator of a vehicle approaches a stationary authorized emergency vehicle that is displaying flashing red, red and white, or red and blue lights, they shall: A. Reduce the speed of their vehicle: B. Provide as much space as practical to the stationary authorized vehicle; and C. If traveling in a lane adjacent to the stationary authorized emergency vehicle and if practical, with due regard to safety and traffic conditions, make a lane change into a lane not adjacent to the emergency vehicle. Lt. Pyper continues: "I would hope that to most of us, it would make good sense to slow down and move into an open lane when possible, to give the officer and others that are on the side of the road as much distance and safety as possible. In general, drivers are pretty good about being careful while passing parked emergency vehicles, but just the other day I stopped a motorist that would not move over into an open lane while I was stopped on the freeway. I motioned to the driver to change lanes but she did not respond. I was able to pull her over and she did not have any idea that it was the law to change lanes, if possible, when passing an emergency vehicle with flashing lights. I'm sure that there are many others that are not aware of this law because it's relatively new. We, as emergency responders, would greatly appreciate anything you can do to help us be safer out on our roads and highways! I can assure you that there isn't anything more dangerous and alarming than being on the freeway with cars and trucks flying by at high speeds with little room to perform our duties. We have had several officers hit and a lot of near misses in the past few years and would very much appreciate your cooperation... It could save a life! Lt. Pyper attached a note to the article: "Craig, feel free to change or edit for your newspaper article. Thanks, Lee" . I don't think I have to. Very well written, Lee, and thank you for the timely note. Craig Harding Public Information Officer St. George Police Department |
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