And I think their reason is a bit more important than your reason!
It only takes 10 seconds, if that, to pull over while they go past you to either get to a patient that needs help or get to the hospital so a patient can get additional help.
Whenever I see an Ambulance, or Firetruck, or Police Cruiser, or even a volunteer, I move over. The main reason? What if they are responding to someone I care about? Or its my house that is on fire? If I don't move over, I could be causing them to waste precious seconds trying to get there. How would that make me feel if when I found out later that it was something of mine, that had they gotten there a few seconds sooner, all would be alright....
The other reason? I don't want to be the one that was in the way of the EMS crew getting to their destination. I don't want to be the reason they couldn't save the patient, or give the fastest care. I couldn't live with that being on my conscience.
You may think, "That won't happen to me", or "I always know what's going on in my life", but .... what IF? You can't possibly know EVERYTHING that is going on.
You could also think, " But I don't live around here so I don't know anyone here". Are you completely sure of that? Do you know EVERY road trip someone you know is taking??
Or maybe you're just a heartless twit, that doesn't care about anyone but themselves and figures, why should I get out of the way? There's nothing in it for me.....
While driving, you should always be aware of what is around you anyway, so there should be no excuse of "But, I didn't know they were behind me...." for not pulling over when they have been right behind you for miles, or blocks with their lights and sirens on. And " It wasn't in a safe area" is not an excuse either. Um, the Ambulance isn't pulling YOU over, they are just trying to get past you.
Ambulances and Firetrucks aren't allowed by law to use their sirens for non-emergency reasons. They can not turn on their sirens just because they don't want to sit in traffic, or because they are hungry and are in a hurry to get food. If you see them sitting in traffic, and they all of a sudden turn their lights and sirens on, more than likely the patient made a turn for the worse and they now need to hurry.
Next time you see an ambulance coming with their lights and/or sirens on, just pull over. Put yourself in their shoes, they need to get to the patient, or get the patient to the hospital, before its too late. Or better yet, put yourself in the patient's loved ones shoes. Imagine what it would be like watching the ambulance going down the road as fast as they safely can, with your loved one in the back, and NO ONE is moving out of the way for the ambulance.
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