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Daily Record
Daily Record
Lifestyle
Kate Lally & Nicola Roy

Highway Code mistake that could see drivers fined £1,000 for letting ambulance pass

Drivers have been warned that they must ensure to keep safe when letting emergency vehicles past, as failing to do so could result in a fine.

When you hear the sirens or spot the flashing lights when you're behind the wheel, it's vital that you move out of the way to allow the ambulance, police or any other emergency service to reach their destination.

And even though every second counts in these situations, drivers must ensure that they safely create a space for the vehicle to drive through, avoiding putting any other driver or pedestrian at risk.

Liverpool Echo reports that motorists may find it a struggle to allow ambulances or fire engines to pass when on busy roads, but it is important drivers remain calm and make sure they can move their car safely.

Not only does this reduce the risk of accidents, but letting an ambulance pass incorrectly could land you with a fine of up to £1,000.

The Highway Code says motorists should give way to vehicles with flashing lights, including police cars, fire engines, ambulances and emergency doctors.

But if you do this while entering a bus lane, going into a yellow box junction or driving through a red light, you could be slapped with a fine.

As well as this, drivers are faced with the risk of three penalty points.

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."

The code says drivers should stop before the brow of a hill, never mount the 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."

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