Rules of the Road: Lights and sirens, oh my! When to pull over for emergency vehicles

Q: Do the cars on my side of the road need to pull over when an emergency vehicle is approaching from the opposite direction? Are there different rules for two-lane versus multi-lane? How about if there’s a median?

A: I’d like to believe that when we see an emergency vehicle approaching with lights and siren, we all want to do the right thing. But as I’ve experienced, and likely you have too, when an emergency vehicle does appear, not all drivers do the same thing, which suggests that we don’t know what the right thing is.

So thank you for asking; it’s easy to misunderstand even simple things. Take song lyrics for example. Remember the band Starship’s hit “We Built This City”? Some listeners thought they built the city on sausage rolls instead of rock and roll. Or the Dylan fans who misheard “The answer, my friend” as “These ants are my friends, they’re blowin’ in the wind.” In their defense, Bob Dylan has written some unusual lyrics. Maybe when Jon Bon Jovi sang, “It doesn’t make a difference if we make it or not” you heard, “if we’re naked or not.” And there are Swifties who have sung along to the lyrics “Got a long list of ex-lovers” with “All the lonely Starbucks lovers.”

Like I said, it’s easy to misunderstand things. So I’m going to start with the law, which thankfully is pretty simple (and simple is good in emergency situations), and then I’m going to simplify things even more with an explanation I picked up in a conversation with a first responder.

The law requires that “upon the immediate approach of an authorized emergency vehicle” all other drivers shall yield the right-of-way by pulling over to the right side of the roadway clear of any intersection, and remaining stopped until the emergency vehicle has passed. You’ll notice that the law doesn’t specify the direction of travel of the emergency vehicle or have varying rules depending on the number of lanes. Coming up from behind or approaching from the front, two lanes or six, the same rule applies.

That is, until you get to roadways divided by a median. And this isn’t an exception to the law; it’s more of a consistency. The law we’re discussing applies to drivers on a roadway , which is defined as the part of the highway “ordinarily used for vehicular travel.” Or more simply, the part between the fog lines. When lanes are separated by a median, the law considers them separate roadways.

Now the simple interpretation I learned from an emergency responder: If pulling over creates more space for an emergency vehicle, you’re required to pull over. If pulling over will not create more room for the emergency vehicle, you’ll be fine staying in your lane.

Ultimately, that’s the goal, right? We want to give room to the people equipped to help in an emergency so they can get to their destination quickly and safely. Pulling over, even when you’re on the opposite side of the roadway, gives them a wider path (and room to navigate around that oblivious driver in front of them that hasn’t pulled over). If there’s some sort of barrier separating you from the emergency vehicle, pulling over isn’t going to create space for them, so you’re free to carry on. Just watch out for the folks who aren’t clear on the rules yet.

I’m realizing that in the process of clarifying the rules about pulling over for emergency vehicles I may have ruined the lyrics to one or more of your favorite songs. Sorry about that.