The video, “Blue Light Aware”, has been developed by the provider of training solutions for safer work driving and offers simple steps to ensure drivers can stay safe and within the law when making room for the emergency services.
The video (accessible free of charge via www.bluelightaware.org.uk) has received the endorsement of RoSPA, the Association of Chief Police Officers, the Driving Standards Agency and the Institute of Advanced Motorists, as well as many other safety organisations and agencies.
Drive Smarter’s operations director, Andy Turner, says the video offers a simple yet engaging way of ensuring drivers know what to do, and what not to do, if there’s an emergency vehicle approaching on blue lights.
He commented: ‘Emergency drivers have certain exemptions from road traffic rules. They must go through rigorous training programmes in order to undertake response driving under blue light conditions.
‘Good emergency drivers give us time to recognise where they are coming from and where they need to go. In return, we should give them the space they need to make progress in answering the emergency call. They do not expect us to take risks or commit offences in order to make space for them.’
Turner says the safety advice in the video can be summed up in a few simple tips:
- Keep calm.
- Look and listen.
- Give yourself time to plan.
- Look for somewhere to pull over and stop if it’s safe, even if the emergency vehicle is on the other side of the road.
- Use your indicators to show you're pulling over when there’s no risk of causing confusion to other road users.
- Stay off kerbs, pavements and verges.
- Stay behind the white stop line at a red traffic signal. Do not be tempted to cross it, as to do so is both dangerous and illegal.
- Be careful about entering bus lanes, as it may be unsafe or illegal to do so.
- Keep going through sections of solid white line, at the speed limit if it's safe. Find a safe place to pull over and stop once you are out of the solid white line system.
- Look and listen all the time, as there may be more than one emergency vehicle coming.
Downloadable video files of “Blue Light Aware” are available free of charge by contacting Andy Turner at Drive Smarter on [email protected].