Police cars, fire engines and ambulances take priority on the road when their their lights are on and drivers must move out of the way so that emergency services can quickly respond.
But many may not know that driving dangerously while giving way could lead to a hefty fine as well as possible penalty points.
Safety always comes first, potentially putting others at risk to let an ambulance, police car, or fire engine past could cause another emergency.
Motorists are reminded to remain calm and ensure that they are giving way safely, the Manchester Evening News reports.
Breaking common road laws such as entering a yellow box junction or driving through a red light to let an emergency vehicle pass can land you with a fine up to £1,000, according to the Highway Code.
In some cases, up to three penalty points could also be issued for breaking road laws to let the vehicle past.
What to do when an emergency vehicle needs to pass
The Highway Codes states: "You should look and listen for ambulances, fire engines, police, doctors or other emergency vehicles using flashing blue, red or green lights and sirens, or flashing headlights, or traffic officer and incident support vehicles using flashing amber lights."
It is important to remain calm and pull in if it is safe to do so, if you cannot pull in safely to let the vehicle past, keep an eye out for the first opportunity to do so as soon as you can, but do not rush or break road rules.
The Highway Code says drivers should stop before the brow of a hill, never mount a kerb, avoid putting anyone else in danger and to not brake harshly.
On the Blue Light Aware website, it says: “Of course, there will be times when there simply is no room for an emergency service vehicle to get past, or perhaps its crew are activated by their control room to respond to an emergency while they are waiting with everyone else at the traffic lights.
“On these occasions, they know that other motorists are not allowed to ‘jump’ the red light, and the emergency vehicle would ideally not activate its sirens and lights until it was safe for the vehicle in front to cross the solid white line at the junction.
“On the (hopefully) rare occasions that a blue light vehicle, in 'emergency mode', is sitting behind another vehicle at a red traffic light, it’s important to appreciate that it would be both very dangerous and illegal for the other vehicle to move across the solid white line."
Did you know that you could be fined for driving dangerously to let an ambulance past? Let us know in the comments.
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