Emergency Vehicle Awareness

When you hear sirens and see flashing lights:

1. Check your mirrors

Look to see if it's giving any signals that might tell you where it wants to go.

2. Slow down gently

Don’t break suddenly. drivers behind you might not react the same way as you do.

3. Pull over and stop if there is a safe place to do so.

• Don’t forget to indicate what you are doing. But don’t pull up onto kerbs, pavements or soft verges.
• If you stop ensure there’s enough space for a fire engine or similar vehicle to pass you, otherwise you’re just blocking the road.
• On a bend or brow of a hill or if there are solid white lines in the middle of the road keep going until you can pull over at a place with better visibility so the emergency vehicle can pass you.
• Don’t enter bus lanes or block yellow hatched areas.

4. Once all the emergency vehicles have passed you can continue your journey

But be cautious, they may have been on their way to an incident like a road traffic collision that’s just ahead. Follow at a safe distance.

While emergency vehicles can go through red lights you shouldn’t. Stay safe behind the white lines, move over if you can but don’t put yourself in danger or break the law.