Emergency Vehicles

She Devil

I was just wondering as i had a near miss with an emergency vehicle the other day, if they were to hit your car and scrape it or damage it while going through traffic with blue lights on .. could you complain to someone or get compensation?!

Fyr.Fytr

Yup, report it, blue lights dont mean they're invincible

MrJoeSoap

She Devil wrote: »

I was just wondering as i had a near miss with an emergency vehicle the other day, if they were to hit your car and scrape it or damage it while going through traffic with blue lights on .. could you complain to someone or get compensation?!

Oh ya, big time. Any sort of an incident and you can claim for the damages.

andrewh5

She Devil wrote: »

I was just wondering as i had a near miss with an emergency vehicle the other day, if they were to hit your car and scrape it or damage it while going through traffic with blue lights on .. could you complain to someone or get compensation?!

The blues and twos are only to warn other road users that they are there. Members of the emergency services are still bound by the driving laws even when using them.

If your vehicle is struck by en emergency vehicle on a call and the driver does not stop they have committed an offence whether they are Garda or not.

BeardyGit

andrewh5 wrote: »

The blues and twos are only to warn other road users that they are there. Members of the emergency services are still bound by the driving laws even when using them.

If your vehicle is struck by en emergency vehicle on a call and the driver does not stop they have committed an offence whether they are Garda or not.

You would of course be entitled to claim for any damage.

That said, you consider it a near miss, but that's only how you saw it. The driver may have come very close, but that's part of what they've to deal with I'd imagine....Squeezing large vehicles through the very little space many road users allow them.

Of course, I'm not saying you were making it difficult for them at all, but we've all seen it before I'm sure - That whole 'deer caught in the headlights' reaction.... What were the circumstances and the other vehicle involved, out of interest?

Gil

timmywex

I know if an ambulance is involved in a minor incident, it is told to continue if it is a serious call, the driver gets out, and the other medic takes the ambulance to the scene and also requests back up for transport, the medic that was the passenger then continues to the scene to stabilise and hands over to the back up crew before returnign to scene of accident! this is the instruction in some areas/stations anyway as laws arent broken, i think, and any patient recieves atention!

TheNog

She Devil wrote: »

I was just wondering as i had a near miss with an emergency vehicle the other day, if they were to hit your car and scrape it or damage it while going through traffic with blue lights on .. could you complain to someone or get compensation?!

It would depend entirely on the incident and witness accounts. If you were pulled over to allow the ambulance thru and it struck you then they are at fault. If they approached a junction too fast and struck a vehicle coming across then again they are at fault. If however the ambulance was crossing a junction and you hit them because you didn't see or hear them then you are at fault.

Tango Alpha 51

She Devil wrote: »

I was just wondering as i had a near miss with an emergency vehicle the other day, if they were to hit your car and scrape it or damage it while going through traffic with blue lights on .. could you complain to someone or get compensation?!

As a member of the HSE National Ambulance Service, I can tell you that if you should ever have the misfortune to be hit by one of our vehicles whilst responding to a "999" call, then the following is what you should do.

The driver of the vehicle in question will more than likely stop. They will explain to you that they are on a "999" call & will/should give you the name of the fleet officer for the particular area they work in. They should also give you the call sign of their vehicle or/and their vehicle reg. They will then proceed to their orginial call unless the RTC between your vehicle & their's resulted in either injury to yourself or themselves or if any vehicle is damaged enough to consider it unroadworthy. Bear in mind, that we will have notified our control via comms radio who inturn will have notified both the gardai & a relevant ambulance officer.

I have hit wing mirrors on vehicles whilst responding to 999 calls etc. Our fleet officer would have no problem in relation to sorting out any damage to any car if necessary.

For the OP who stated that we are bound by the same driving rules as everyone else when we're on blue lights and sirens, read the following:

Exemptions for Drivers of Fire Brigade And Emergency Vehicles...
It is very important for drivers of emergency vehicles to understand a number of points some of which arise from the exemptions below:

1) If you have a crash while breaking one of the following Byelaws you may still be prosecuted for doing so.
2) If you do have a crash and are not prosecuted for breaking a Byelaw then you may still be prosecuted for dangerous driving or failure to take due care and consideration. Remember this carries a heavier sentence than for breaking a Byelaw which you are allowed to do.
3) If you have a crash and have been driving fast to an incident the Judge will obviously take into account your speed and the nature of the incident.
i.e. Driving like a lunatic to a small amount of rubbish on fire/ cut finger is not acceptable whilst driving fast to people trapped in a house fire or cardiac arrest is understandable.

Exemptions for Emergency Vehicles Statutory Instruments No.63 of 1993 part viii
"Prohibitions or restrictions imposed by bye laws 6-13 and 15-22
and paragraph (2) of bye law 25 and 28 and paragraph (A) of sub
article (1) of article 40

(Inserted by the Road Traffic General bye laws Amendment)
Regulations, 1983 (Statutory Instruments. No.275 of 1983) of these bye laws shall not apply to the use by the Driver of a Fire Brigade Vehicle or an Ambulance in the performance of his duties. Whereby such use does not endanger the safety of road users.

Bye Law 6
Stop Signs, Yield Right of Way Signs & Stop Lines
Bye Law 7
Traffic Signs Indicating Directions to be taken at Junctions
Bye Law 8
Dual Carriageway Signs
Bye Law 9
Continuous White Lines
Bye Law l0
Broken White Lines on Centre of Roadway
Bye Law 11
Parallel White Lines on Centre of Roadway
Bye Law 12
Traffic Lane Markings
Bye Law 13
Traffic Lights
Bye Law 15
Use of Footways
Bye Law l6
Use of Cycle Tracks
Bye Law 17
Obligation to Drive on the Left and to Use Traffic Lanes
Bye Law l8
General Obligation Regarding Speed
Bye Law l9
Overtaking
Bye Law 20
Turning at Junction
Bye Law 2l
Entering a Roundabout
Bye Law 22
When Right of Way to be yielded
Bye Law 25
Reversing
Bye Law 28
Cycle track
Article 40 (1) sub article (a)
Motorways

Important
Notwithstanding these exemptions it should be pointed out that the driving of fire appliances and ambulances remains a difficult and stressful job and while these exemptions will help, they must be put into context.
For instance, in the event of a driver, driving through a red light (Bye Law 13), having an accident merely means he / she won't be charged with the breaking of Bye Law 13, but it does not excuse the driver from taking due care. You may still be charged for driving without due care and attention or even dangerous driving. This applies across the board to all of the exemptions


I've stated on this board before, we drive on our own licences yet we are still expected to get to the call fast. We do drive with the utmost care bearing mind we are driving a 6 ton ambulance at speed. We never intentionally set out to hit any vehicle but at times the inevitable will happen due to whatever reason.

Trojan911

buzzman wrote: »

I've stated on this board before, we drive on our own licences yet we are still expected to get to the call fast. We do drive with the utmost care bearing mind we are driving a 6 ton ambulance at speed. We never intentionally set out to hit any vehicle but at times the inevitable will happen due to whatever reason.

It is unfair in the sense that your own licence is at risk & you are open to prosecution in the event of a collision, and as required as any normal driver I am assuming you would be obliged to inform your insurance company of any collisions when you renew your private insurance.

Does this affect your private insurance or is excepted that you were driving in the course of your duty?

wreckless

Well said Buzzman. I hear you loud and clear!!!

I am a member of Wexford Fire Service and drive also. Only our vehicles weigh in about 12 ton when full!

I have raised the issue of a public campaign several times with my station officer, the RSA and Chief Fire Officers too. A tv, radio or magazine campaign to inform and educate the public of how they should react if they hear an emergency vehicle approaching was one of the suggestions I had for them.

One such advert is on english tv i think on itv? about the ambulance drivers, surely we could have the same type ads over here too? It would help both the public and the emergency services througout Ireland.

shakin

andrewh5 wrote: »

The blues and twos are only to warn other road users that they are there. Members of the emergency services are still bound by the driving laws even when using them.

If your vehicle is struck by en emergency vehicle on a call and the driver does not stop they have committed an offence whether they are Garda or not.

bound by them but cant they still break them?

timmywex

wreckless wrote: »

Well said Buzzman. I hear you loud and clear!!!

I am a member of Wexford Fire Service and drive also. Only our vehicles weigh in about 12 ton when full!

I have raised the issue of a public campaign several times with my station officer, the RSA and Chief Fire Officers too. A tv, radio or magazine campaign to inform and educate the public of how they should react if they hear an emergency vehicle approaching was one of the suggestions I had for them.

One such advert is on english tv i think on itv? about the ambulance drivers, surely we could have the same type ads over here too? It would help both the public and the emergency services througout Ireland.

good idea id say, the amount of drivers who have no idea what to do is outstanding, they go into a kinda shock and just stop dead, thats where the advantage of garda escorts comes in For ambulances anyway, fire brigade dont get them too much unfortunately!

boomer_ie

timmywex wrote: »

good idea id say, the amount of drivers who have no idea what to do is outstanding, they go into a kinda shock and just stop dead, thats where the advantage of garda escorts comes in For ambulances anyway, fire brigade dont get them too much unfortunately!

Eh fortunately you mean, escorts are the most dangerous things going and indeed in the UK I believe they are specifically forbidden due to the higher risk of crashing while being escorted. What has often happened is that the motorists see the first emergency vehicle pass, dont check the rear view mirrors or side mirrors and just pull straight out infront of the second emergency vehicle.

Im sure ive seen a Youtube video on this before

timmywex

boomer_ie wrote: »

Eh fortunately you mean, escorts are the most dangerous things going and indeed in the UK I believe they are specifically forbidden due to the higher risk of crashing while being escorted. What has often happened is that the motorists see the first emergency vehicle pass, dont check the rear view mirrors or side mirrors and just pull straight out infront of the second emergency vehicle.

Im sure ive seen a Youtube video on this before

Yes, but used right with the right distances between the vehices, they can be efective! Only in certain cases of emergency though!

Tango Alpha 51

Trojan911 wrote: »

It is unfair in the sense that your own licence is at risk & you are open to prosecution in the event of a collision, and as required as any normal driver I am assuming you would be obliged to inform your insurance company of any collisions when you renew your private insurance.

Does this affect your private insurance or is excepted that you were driving in the course of your duty?

Trojan,
You are correct. Also bearing in mind that if we are prosecuted for dangerous or careless driving we will get the points like any other driver resulting in an increase in our own private vehicle insurance premium.

Tango Alpha 51

wreckless wrote: »

Well said Buzzman. I hear you loud and clear!!!

I am a member of Wexford Fire Service and drive also. Only our vehicles weigh in about 12 ton when full!

I have raised the issue of a public campaign several times with my station officer, the RSA and Chief Fire Officers too. A tv, radio or magazine campaign to inform and educate the public of how they should react if they hear an emergency vehicle approaching was one of the suggestions I had for them.

One such advert is on english tv i think on itv? about the ambulance drivers, surely we could have the same type ads over here too? It would help both the public and the emergency services througout Ireland.

Wreck,
Has to be one of the best idea's I've heard in a long time. Kudos to you my friend if you can get it done

Tango Alpha 51

timmywex wrote: »

Yes, but used right with the right distances between the vehices, they can be efective! Only in certain cases of emergency though!

Timmywex,
Have to disagree with you up to a point. Garda escorts are usually frought with danger for the simple reason is that joe soap public pull in for the garda vehicle, then pull straight back out again, not realising we're there. People are used to having the F&R travel in pairs or even in three's so are more observant.
The only time a Garda escort is worthwhile is when you have the Traffic Corp Motorcyclists escorting you. You will nearly always have a minimum of three bikes (I've even had six bikes) escorting you. They are very effective.

We drive 6 ton Day Glo yellow ambulances with a million and one flashing lights on the front. It shouldn't be that hard for motorists to observe us coming up behind them.

Eru

andrewh5 wrote: »

The blues and twos are only to warn other road users that they are there. Members of the emergency services are still bound by the driving laws even when using them.

If your vehicle is struck by en emergency vehicle on a call and the driver does not stop they have committed an offence whether they are Garda or not.

Where do these guys come from? I mean I dont answer question about nuclear power stations or quantim physics. Why? Because I would be making a tit out of myself!

There is no law that states you must give way too emergency vehicles, certainly not one I am aware of or can find. A joke considering the amount if road traffic acts that have been brought out.

shakin

but wouldnt holding a garda car up be perverting the course of justice?

Tango Alpha 51

Karlitosway1978 wrote: »

Where do these guys come from? I mean I dont answer question about nuclear power stations or quantim physics. Why? Because I would be making a tit out of myself!

There is no law that states you must give way too emergency vehicles, certainly not one I am aware of or can find. A joke considering the amount if road traffic acts that have been brought out.

Your quite right Karlito. There is no specific law which states that you must give way to emergency vehicles but I would hope that common sense would prevail amongst road users when they see an emergency vehicle being driven in an emergency situation. All the information I have posted on this topic is fact taken from the Irish Statute Book.

Eru

buzzman wrote: »

Your quite right Karlito. There is no specific law which states that you must give way to emergency vehicles but I would hope that common sense would prevail amongst road users when they see an emergency vehicle being driven in an emergency situation. All the information I have posted on this topic is fact taken from the Irish Statute Book.

I know, wasnt refering to your posts and your right, most people do have enough common sense but I would still like to see the whole thing cleared up in law.

TheNog

shakin wrote: »

but wouldnt holding a garda car up be perverting the course of justice?

Possibly careless driving or driving without reasonable consideration or obstruction of a Garda

Trojan911

buzzman wrote: »

There is no specific law which states that you must give way to emergency vehicles but I would hope that common sense would prevail amongst road users when they see an emergency vehicle being driven in an emergency situation.

No specific law but at least the message is out there on reputable websites.
Here &
Here.
So there is really no excuse for any drivers not to know.

She Devil

He didnt really do any damage .. just clipped the mirror of my boyfriends car (which i was driving) It cost €120 to fix, I don't mind having to have to fix it IF there was a genuine reason why they were going through lunchtime traffic with blue lights flashing and not just trying to get out of traffic!
I've all the respect in the world for emergency vehicles, and I dont panic when i see them i know exactly what to do, i was just curious as to what the stance was!

Tango Alpha 51

She Devil wrote: »

He didnt really do any damage .. just clipped the mirror of my boyfriends car (which i was driving) It cost €120 to fix, I don't mind having to have to fix it IF there was a genuine reason why they were going through lunchtime traffic with blue lights flashing and not just trying to get out of traffic!
I've all the respect in the world for emergency vehicles, and I dont panic when i see them i know exactly what to do, i was just curious as to what the stance was!

She Devil,
I don't know where it happend or when but if you get in contact with the relevant ambulance control centre & look for the fleet officer, you won't have any problem getting the mirror fixed (if your not sure, pm me & I'll give you the relevant contact details). It would help if you could remember the reg no of the ambulance. Oh & it's a myth that we use the blue lights to go for lunch & to get around traffic when not on an emergency. I've often sat in busy traffic only to get notified via radio of a 999 call. It might look like we're skipping the traffic but definitely not. I've also had the misfortune to get the same message, start responding & a couple of yards down the road, receive another radio message to say that the call was cancelled.