BTW, since they have this on video did they cite the driver of the vehicle that didn't pull over? Probably not. The firefighters were wrong to lose it but the other guy should have been fined at the very least since his actions actually precipitated the incident.
Firing this guy is a little harsh. Take him down from his driver’s job and put him on the back step, with his lieutenant.
I had a guy once who wouldn’t pull over and decided to run ahead of the Apparatus, He ran ahead until he hit Georgia Ave. stop light and met a bus coming through on the Green.
To say you cannot hear a big rig today, when that rig is blowing a Federal siren and blowing an air horn is impossible unless you are deaf.
I would have gone around this idiot on the right, but it is a move that has to be made cautiously as the idiot is likely to turn right at the same time you do.
As Wagon Driver for 17 years in a big city I encountered practically everything. The idea is to get to the fire fast with the least amount of danger to your crew.One rule is to never get right on the bumper of a car that may at any time jam the brakes on and make you eat his back end. When you do that you are just increasing your chance’s of hitting that car and you minimize your options of taking another path. Driving a 14 ton Piece of equipment and tailgating a car is asking for trouble.Flipping the bird to civilians isn’t bright move either nd I never did it. Actually I was more intent on looking for the next idiot, and getting to where I was going ,than taking my hands off the wheel to use one to flip some idiot off.Driving Fire Apparatus is a job that requires your full attention at all times while responding.It’s enough to be thinking of the location,position due, where is the alley if due in the rear, Which side of the street is the building on especially when you are due in the rear. Being on the wrong side of the street in an alley across the street from the fire is not only embarrassing, but it puts you out of the picture. Where is the plug, what other equipment responding uses a route that may cross your own.
Many things are going through a Wagon Driver’s head, more than most people can imagine, there is no time for getting pissed off.
I drove a fire truck in Central Florida years ago and the thing weighed so much, we could barely get it up to 50mph. Out in the boondocks, we would be on our way to a call with the pedal to the metal, and people would be passing us on long 2-lane stretches of highway, because we were not going fast enough.
I see a lot of drivers who don’t pull over for emergency vehicles, and nine out of ten are on their $%^& cell phones. Dumb people are everywhere.
I drive an emergency vehicle. This driver is an idiot.
Bad reporting. The law in Florida says nothing about pulling over to the right curb. It talks about yielding “right of way” but that’s the only reference to ‘right’.
If an investigator did, indeed, say that then he or she needs to go back to school for a few hours and refresh their knowledge of Florida law and yielding to emergency vehicles.