Due to my having been nominated to stand for the County Council elections next year, and
my interest in road safety, I was invited to Southsea Fire Station
for a short demonstration on careless parking in Portsmouth.
Every week fire vehicles are delayed because of careless parking.
The average fire engine is 2.6m (8.5ft) wide and 8m (26ft) long, and needs room
to negotiate narrow streets. Careless parking is causing significant
delays to fire engines attending incidents and where someone’s life could be at
risk and their attendance time is crucial.
So we followed a fire appliance - as they call it - or a fire engine to us, through some rather narrow streets and were horrified to see just how long it could be delayed by carelessly, or thoughtlessly, parked cars. It took this fire engine over 10 minutes to negotiate this gap:
This what the firemen were confronted with when they arrived at the corner and then the driver had to be directed through:
You can see that the drivers of the cars in this photo gave absolutely no thought to how a wide vehicle could get through the gap they had left. It could be their own lives or property at risk.
It must have been very tempting just to push the Ford Focus on the left out of the way, but fire appliance drivers aren't allowed to do that.
Almost through!
And now to the fire! As I said, this took over ten minutes, by which time the fire could have been very much more advanced and it could have been really difficult, or even impossible, to rescue trapped people. I have mentioned thoughtless parking before, but these pictures are a graphic reminder that it can even cost lives.
With this in mind, and as a meber of the Institute of Advanced Motorists, I asked Gary Elston, Road Safety Liaison Officer for Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service, what else concerned them about motorists' behaviour.
"People don't know what to do when they see a fire appliance," he said. "They hesitate, when they should just pull over to let the appliance through. Fire engines are big lorries and should be treated as such. They have to travel quickly and dithering motorists cause the driver to have to concentrate overly on extra hazards.
This is what the Highway Code says:
219
Emergency and Incident Support vehicles. You should look and listen for ambulances, fire engines, police, doctors or other emergency vehicles using flashing blue, red or green lights and sirens or flashing headlights, or Highways Agency Traffic Officer and Incident Support vehicles using flashing amber lights.
When one approaches do not panic. Consider the route of such a vehicle and take appropriate action to let it pass, while complying with all traffic signs. If necessary, pull to the side of the road and stop, but try to avoid stopping before the brow of a hill, a bend or narrow section of road. Do not endanger yourself, other road users or pedestrians and avoid mounting the kerb. Do not brake harshly on approach to a junction or roundabout, as a following vehicle may not have the same view as you.
Gary said there's no need to panic as fire engines can't go fast so there's plenty of time to look for a safe place to pull over. The problem I find is that when I get out of the way for an emergency vehicle, cars behind me just overtake, completely ignoring the flashing lights behind them.
I shall devote another post to defensive driving - being aware of what's going on around you - but this shows tat people don't read the road or look in their mirrors.
