Right on Red
This is one of the simplest things you can do to help make the city as a whole safer – when you see flashing lights from an emergency vehicle get out of the way. The old rule of thumb is “Right on Red” which means pull off to the right when you see the red lights. Most of the time this is exactly what you should do. However, I realize there are some streets in town that are pretty wide, such as 3rd Ave on the east side of town. You can’t just pull to the right if you are in the left most lane. Instead pull as far to the curb as you can, as if you were parking, and get out of the way – everyone else should shift to the right.
Not only is getting out of the way a good suggestion to improve safety it is the law. The more people who actually get out of the way the easier it will be for the driver of the emergency vehicle to navigate. Imagine if the firetruck were trying to get to your house, or the ambulance were carrying you – you’d want it to be able to reach it’s destination as quickly as possible. Well, the person who needs that emergency responder that is stuck in traffic behind you wants the same thing so please, let the emergency crews do their job by getting out of their way.