Not a troll. When I'm driving, I usually pull over and let him/her pass. But once they pass, I go WOT and make sure I position myself 3 - 4ft behind the EMS. Once I get in his draft, I get to fly through traffic with him. It's like a freebie car pool lane just opened up.

Maybe he'll put his "doored" pics back up

I think the reason is that you CONSTANTLY hear the sirens of police cars, fire engines, and ambulances here. We are so used to the routine because there is almost not a single day where you don't have to get of the way for an emergency vehicle.

wow, who woulda thunk it?

I had this one happen the other day. I was on my bike in a downtown area (all buildings are 6-10 stories tall) where sound echoes like crazy and you can't tell where it's coming from. A siren starts wailing and the cars in front of me immediately pulled over. There was no emergency vehicle in sight and it didn't sound very close so I just kept going. It turns out the emergency vehicle wasn't anywhere near us - the siren faded away and I never saw the vehicle.

Maybe being on a bicycle and being able to hear what was going on around me gave me a better sense of where the vehicle was.

First of all, thanks for pulling over. It is very nerve-wracking when driving lights-and-sirens. When people pull over, it provides a welcome extra margin of safety.

Plus, you don't always know where an ambulance is headed. Sometimes people pull over onto the shoulder and keep driving. Sometimes -- not often, but it does happen -- those people make it difficult to make a needed right turn.

You did the right thing. The other riders took an unneeded risk.

Ignore. Sorry.

I agree that it is an important topic. Someday it might be any of us that the ambulance is coming for!

Speedo

Digital_Cowboy, if you were the guy in the back of the ambulance and what do you want the guy not driving to do? Be in back with you and stop you from bleeding out or provide whatever you need to keep you alive or should he be up front entering car/license plate information in a database?

Yeah I pull over and stop for emergency vehicles.

There are some sketchy places I've run into issues. Narrow lane w/high curb and no turn outs.

Worst was crossing a one way one lane bridge (under construction) with a K-rail to my side and and no shoulders. Do I stop and hop the Krail or keep going as they lane was too narrow to share w/firetruck. I kept going for 200yrds more until there was a pullout and slowed the firetruck down. Probably no more than if I had stopped and lifted bike over krail, which would have also been more dangerous if they fire truck thought they could squeeze by.

That's a tough situation. You probably made a good call. FWIW, I think you made a good call.

When I'm driving, I prefer that people pull over safely. If you need time to slow down or move ahead to a safe location, that's perfectly fine. I will wait patiently. I purposely leave a big cushion of space ahead of me for just that very reason.

Construction zones are not fun either. Equipment and people are all over the place. Their configuration can change from day-to-day. There may not be room to pull over--as in your case. Sometimes there is one-way traffic for a few miles at a stretch. You have big bumps, uneven pavement, shifting lanes. Lots to worry about in a construction zone.

IMHO, given the situation on the bridge that you describe, it is the duty of the EMS driver to a) not enter the zone without a plan for getting through it safely, and to b) protect you and anyone else who might already be in the zone. Your safety is the EMS driver's responsibility.

At least the motorists pulled over.

Several years ago when I was still living in Tampa I was down on Base and one the Base's emergency vehicles came down the street with it's sirens and lights going. And no one pulled over for it.

One would think that in an environment where the laws/penalties can be and often are more severe then their civilian counterparts that the drivers would pull over. But the only one who did was the person on the bicycle.

Much to my embarrassment and distress, a couple of times I have been backed up in traffic waiting to turn left and unable to get over the right when I heard a siren. In that case, it's best to sit tight rather than risk a belated trip across the traffic lanes to reach the curb or the shoulder, IMO, anyway. I hope I wouldn't get a ticket in that case.

Sorry, I was referring mainly to when they are first responding to the call.

Yes, if I was in the back of the ambulance I would want the "shotgun" to be concentrating on stabilizing me. Also see where I had mentioned about having a video camera/laptop combo.

I think that in that situation that that is probably the best course of action.

I was in similar situation once. Had merged across two lanes of 45mph busy traffic to get in LTOL. Was only driver in LTOL, traffic lights turned red 4-way. Fire truck came and to my concern they also wanted to turn left into the tiny side street. I edged to far left of LTOL. Firetruck very closed passed me at speed and turned.

In retrospect the better action would haven been for me to complete my left turn against the red light and pull over on the side street.

Strange. In Austin, even the local Critical Mass rides will rapidly get out of the road when an ambulance is heard. Sometimes the ambulance never even appears ... it's not clear were it went.

(It's one of those hypothetical situations that people like to beat up on CM about `what if there's an ambulance?' ... but ultimately, the ambulance is seriously slowed by rush hour no matter who's stuck in it -- but the CM cyclists are far better able to get out of the road than the cars can, so they slow the ambulance less than cars would.)

I rode in an ambulance last night, but not by choice. Apparently had a crash a few minutes earlier, but I don't remember a thing about it. I came to about halfway to the hospital.

thanks ambulance driver dude whoever you were!

Best wishes for a smooth and complete recovery followed by many years of good riding.