SIREN AND EMERGENCY LIGHTS MERELY SEEK THE RIGHT OF WAY, THEY DO NOT GIVE FIRST RESPONDERS THE RIGHT OF WAY

Police cars, firetrucks and ambulances when running hot calls must exercise extreme caution when approaching any intersection

Some first responders seem to think that when running a hot call they can blast through intersections with reckless abandonment. Not so fast there. That siren and those emergency lights merely seek the right of way, they do not give first responders the right of way.

It is not too infrequent that one can read about an emergency vehicle colliding with a car at an intersection. And occasionally one can even read about two firetrucks or police cars colliding with each other at an intersection – how embarrassing!

I really feel sorry for the poor schmuck who has a green light while driving through an intersection when suddenly – crash – his car is broadsided by a cop car or he collides with the cop car. Although the cop disregarded the red light, the luckless driver is sure to get cited for failure to yield the right of way. If anyone is to be cited, it should be the cop who blasted through the red light.

I’m sure that cops will be quick to slam me for suggesting they be cited for running a red light while on a hot call if they collide with a vehicle for which the traffic light was green. With the windows rolled up and the air conditioning or heater running, a driver is unlikely to hear a siren until the emergency vehicle is almost upon him. That means the driver of an emergency vehicle must be extra cautious when running hot, and even more so when approaching an intersection.

On many occasions in Houston, I’ve observed police cars, firetrucks and ambulances – running hot with siren and emergency lights on – come to a complete stop at an intersection in which the traffic light was red for them and wait until all the cross traffic had stopped before proceeding on through the intersection. That’s the right and safe way to do it!

TWO RESPONDING ATLANTA POLICE CRUISERS COLLIDE

By Ellen Eldridge and Ben Gray

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
May 7, 2016

Two Atlanta police officers collided in Midtown while responding to a shots fired call shortly after 9 p.m. Thursday, police said.

Officers in Atlanta’s Zone 5 responded to reports of shots being fired behind Suite Lounge, which is located at 375 Luckie Street, Officer Lukasz Sajdak, a spokesman for Atlanta police, said.

A police SUV and a patrol car en route to the shooting collided on Spring Street at North Avenue.

A witness said neither officer slowed down in the intersection.

“We heard all the cops coming this way,” Carolyn Royal said. “When they got right here, they hit each other.”

Royal said she was at work across the street at Goodfellas Pizza and Wings when she heard the crash.

Both cars had their lights on, heading in opposite directions, Royal said. The collision spun the SUV around and damaged the patrol car’s driver side door so fire officials had to cut the officer out.

Both streets were shut down while the fire department got the trapped officer out of the patrol car, Sajdak said.

The officer, whose name has not been released, was taken to the hospital in good condition and no serious injuries were reported.

“They were just speeding and neither one of them stopped and they collided into one another,” Royal said. “No one knows why. We just seen them and all of a sudden boom!”

Officers at the scene where shots were reportedly fired did not find anyone who had been shot, Sajdak said.

An investigation into both incidents is ongoing.