Emergency vehicles have the right of way.

When you hear the sirens blaring and the lights flashing in your rearview mirror, it’s sometimes disconcerting.  We all get caught up in “Oh, shoot, don’t pull me over!  I’m not doing anything wrong!  What do I do??” rather than think of the rules of the road. 

According to Mississippi and Tennessee state laws, any emergency vehicle giving you visual or audio signals must be given the right of way.  Both states advise that you move to the right of the roadway if at all possible, and slow to a stop until the emergency vehicle has passed – of course if you can’t move to the right, move to the left, since it all boils down to making way for that emergency vehicle to get to its destination as quickly as possible.

The driver is held accountable for proceeding with due caution and ensuring the safety of all drivers.  But ever since I saw an ambulance crash into a car that didn’t heed its sirens at 45 miles an hour at Poplar and Kirby I try and remind everyone that they have a duty, too, to keep alert while on the roads and make way for those sirens – they’re not always after you!  And remember the Golden Rule and think how much you would be hoping for the ambulance to get to you at top speed if you were the one in need.  We’re all in this together!