After a car ran into the side of an Airdrie Fire Department fire engine over the weekend, while crews were responding to an accident on Yankee Valley Boulevard and 8 Street SW., Airdrie’s Fire Department is putting out a call to the public to educate Airdronians on road safety etiquette, especially when there is are emergency crews in the vicinity. 

Deputy Chief Garth Rabel of the Airdrie Fire Department said that in his many years of service, he has witnessed numerous near-miss collisions. He could not elaborate on many details with regards to the most recent incident that transpired over the weekend as it is still under investigation, but he did underline that no one was injured. 

“A private vehicle did contact the side of responding emergency apparatus in an intersection. What that means is that apparatus had to stop [and] another secondary apparatus had to be attached to the call to make up for that lost apparatus,” he said. "These near misses happen on an ongoing basis. If we can educate people to make them aware to give us room to work, [that] allow[s] us to do our job and return home to our family safely."

Deputy Chief Rabel explained that there are certain technologies at the fire department's disposal, but that only goes so far. 

“[What] traffic preemption does is when the [fire] apparatus leave on lights and sirens, they'll hit that light and that gives us the opportunity to turn that light green and hold it green for a predetermined period of time,” Deputy Chief Rabel said. “When that system is implemented, it's meant to safely increase the overall efficiency and response times of our emergency vehicles.” 

This system is installed on all traffic lights throughout Airdrie and Rabel underscored that emergency crews understand that the approach of an emergency vehicle can sometimes elicit a panic response from motorists and that this system is meant to provide an opportunity to safely disperse and move forward. 

“We know as emergency operators, that moving traffic is safer traffic. Because if you're moving, and you see us in your rearview near and you're moving, that allows you the opportunity to actually continue to move forward to a safe spot, pull to the right or to the left, and allow us passage.” 

However, Rabel underscored that this alone doesn’t allow safe passage, which is why he is reminding Airdronians of being aware of their surroundings when on the road. 

“This is really, really important; When a fire apparatus is responding anywhere within our city, there's the probability of a second piece of fire apparatus, possibly coming from a second direction. We don't just send a single truck to a house fire,” he said. “The public just needs to know if you see one piece of apparatus; be advised that there could be a police car coming, an ambulance coming, or by-law coming.” 

And as far as the signage on the back of the fire trucks? Rabel said they’re not just there to be read. 

“If you're too close to the truck, it acts as almost a blind because when it makes a maneuver and you're right on our tailboard, now you could be in the middle of a problem. If you stay back the distance when you see the lights and hear the sirens, when that truck moves left or right or continues to move forward, that opens up your field of vision as well.” 

Other safety and road etiquette tips include: 

  • Yield the right-of-way 

  • Safely move their vehicle to allow the emergency vehicle passage 

  • Drive as close as possible to the right curb or edge of a two-way roadway 

  • Move right or left to the nearest curb 

  • Stop and remain stopped until the emergency vehicle(s) have passed, and it is confirmed that no other emergency vehicles are approaching 

  • When the emergency vehicle(s) have passed, please be courteous and let drivers ahead of you return back into traffic. Use your turn signal 

  • Do not drive within 150 meters of a responding emergency vehicle (nearly 1.5 times the length of a football field) 

And when passing emergency vehicles, including tow trucks, motorists must: 

  • Reduce speed to 60 km/h or the posted speed, whichever is lower 

  • This law applies to the lane(s) immediately next to the stopped vehicles 

  • If you are not in the lane next to the stopped vehicles reduce speed and leave lots of space between yourself and emergency personnel/ equipment on the scene 

  • Remain aware and attentive while passing through any emergency scene 

"This is just a way to reach out to our public, to help them understand that [when] we're on the way to help someone that needs assistance and we all as a community, we care for each other. The public as a whole does do their best to safely get out of our way, and allow us to go on with our work."

 

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