TelBoy

Must be, right? What would the offence be though?

Saw some nutter doing this at the weekend behind an ambulance, couldn't believe it. He might have been a paramedic or something, but from the car i doubt it. Madness.

iain atkins

He may have been a relative of the person in said ambulance

Just a thought



Iain

TelBoy

Possibly, but does that make it legal and or advisable?

ozzy

It's not legal, but I guess the police would turn a blind eye if it was a Paramedic, Doctor or relative.

Certainly ain't very clever.

Corpulent Tosser

I don't tailgate, but have been known to pull over to let an ambulance pass, then get back on its tail to get through traffic. Sometimes works, sometimes a prat deliberately pulls out to stop me, then again maybe I am the prat !

barge

I was in an old ford granada once doing the tailgating thing behind a fire engine, it was so much fun we did not see its brake lights when it screeched to a halt we ramed the bloody thing, smashed the crap out of the car only scratch the paint on the fire engine


fortunatly fire men saw the funny side

DjacK-uk

Its called Surfing, and its illegal, if seen.. Specially if you overtake all the cars that pull over for it!

flat4

i better stop doing it then

DjacK-uk

im off to ibiza in 6 days, whooop!

Puff The Magic Wagon!

iTrader: (2)

I wouldn't have thought it was illegal as long as you do not break any laws in so doing (speeding/lights/weaving etc). If an ambulance/fire engine is doing 65 in the outside lane then no reason not to follow it legally.

yoza

Ive seen this loads of times, the cars, if you look closely have Claims Direct or similar written on them.

speedking

So what are you supposed to do? In the countryside, let an ambulance past with blues on, follow him. If a single car pulls to the side and stops and the ambulance goes past, should I stop from 60mph and wait while the car sets off? or carry on. What are vehicles behind me going to expect? Answers on a postcard please.

BTW I have followed an ambulance all the way from Bala to Wrexham.

Could have got past but didn't Can't see how it would be illegal. Each case has to be judged on its own merits.

ozzy

he said tailgating, not just following. If you sat 3ft off the Ambulances bumper then that's illegal regardless of speed.

If an Ambulance/Fire Engine passed me at 65mph, I'd happily follow them at a safe distance.

If other cars pulled over and stopped, I'd pass them too if it was safe to do so. Problem is, once the Ambulance has passed them they might just pull out expecting everyone else to have stopped.

Stefan

Poor Guy

My grandma collapsed at home and we called for an ambulance and they said it was fine to follow.

Never seen a 35 year old car being driven so fast!!!

Many Humbug Returns

Ive seenn this loads in London and in a busy city it is bloody dangerous full stop.
Different on an empty rural road.

PG

Trust me this aint a good idea!!

You should see the chaos that goes on infront of a fire engine on the way to a turn out !!

1/2 the folk dont know where to go so just stop and I mean STOP !! frightening ! mobile chicane antone
1800 ltrs of water sloshing about behind you when you break hard is no joke !

The_Lizard

I think it's funny when I see the lights far off in my mirror ... and they are not catching up to me.

Gidney&Knowlesy

Usually the crews give relatives a warning "do not try to keep up with us or keep near to us as this is an emergency vehicle!"

misty

I drive fire engines for a living, don't mind what goes on behind me. But, the tossers who don't use their mirrors and overtake someone who has seen us, really grip my s**t. It takes an age to get back up to speed!
dave

[Edited by misty - 8/18/2003 2:42:16 PM]

pugoetru

get a ppp then misty

Figment

Must admit I used to follow in the slipstream if an emergency vehicle came past on the way out of London - but not so close as to be dangerous.

Gave up when they jumped a red light though.

*Sonic*

What about overtaking a fire engine/ambulance when its on call

I was behind one a few months ago, and out of courtesy did not overtake it

It was doing 50 in a 70 mph dual carriageway, and I had just moved out of its way slightly earlier

I think Ambulances in particular when blues are on, go as fast as they can, as sometimes they might have a critically ill, dnagerous to move patient on board

and the blues are on just to keep the flow, and to avoid braking etc

Ian Griffiths

Most of the time the issue isn't going to be with the emergency vehicle itself, but the traffic who have moved out of the way. They will want to pull back in and your zipping past will probably annoy them immensely - assuming they have time to react.

Not sure whose fault an accident would be though?

Ex_Pug

I posted here a while ago to vent my anger at someone who was following in the wake of an ambulance. I'd pulled over, as had traffic on both sides of the road to make a gap down the middle, and after checking my mirrors to insure that the guy who'd pulled over behind me wasn't about to over-take (because that's also happened to me), I pulled out, only to be greated by the screeching tyres of an idiot who'd been chasing. He stopped about a meter from my door. After mouthing 'wtf do you think you're doing', or some such, I continued 30 meters up the road to the next set of lights... which were red. He's now stopped behind me, and decides to get out of his silly little white van and have a go at me for not checking my mirrors. I suggested the fault lay elsewhere, and he went back to his van, only to tailgate me for the next couple of miles. I was furious. It's absolutely asking for trouble, particularly when the road is busy, as it was in this case.

misty

EX_PUG This is just what I was saying earlier, its not the considerate driver we have to worry about, It's the Sunday driver with the french can can dancers going across his pea sized brain!
Does anyone remember that advert! or am I the only one here over 45?
dave

Boro

iTrader: (1)

The procedure for pulling over to let an emergency vehicle passed should be part of the driving test if you ask me. Its not surprising some people panic or stop dead when they have no idea what to do.

As for tailgating.... tailgating ANYTHING is illegal. Imagine this, your tailgaiting an ambulance on way to hospital with a small child who needs life saving surgery and QUICK!!! You slam into the back of the ambulance and render it immobile. How would you feel?

David_Dickson

There was a thread like this on MIGweb a while ago and the general consensus is that its illegal, and you can face quite stiff penalties if caught.
There were also rumours about how serious the charges could get (ie. manslaughter) if you hit the ambulance and it cant attend a life-theratening situation and someone dies as a result, as mentioned above.

TelBoy

David, although i assume it's illegal, what is the actual offence? Speeding? Due care and attention?