What you should never do when emergency vehicles flash their lights on a motorway

Drivers sometimes panic when they see emergency vehicles approaching in their rear-view mirror.

Even the most experienced drivers can sometimes panic when they see the flashing blue lights and sirens of police, ambulances and fire engines behind them.

Emergency vehicles approaching on the motorway While drivers will always try and get out the way, sometimes their actions can do more harm than good and even land them on the wrong side of the law.

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A policeman in Sheffield recently shared footage on Twitter of an emergency vehicle responding to an incident on the motorway.

In the video, the driver in front of the emergency vehicle can be seen slowing down to a complete stop in the fast lane.

He tweeted that this is ‘not what you want to happen’ for emergency vehicles.

‘If you see blue lights behind you, move over. If the emergency vehicle is going to a job, it will pass you,’ he tweeted.

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He said: ‘If it wants to stop you, it will follow you onto the hard shoulder. NEVER stop in a live lane!’

There are some simple rules to keep in mind next time you hear sirens approaching behind you.

Rule 219 of the Highway Code states that drivers should ‘look and listen for ambulances, fire engines, police, doctors or other emergency vehicles using flashing blue, red or green lights and sirens or flashing headlights, or traffic officer and incident support vehicles using flashing amber lights.’

Drivers should not panic when this happens and consider the route of the vehicle in order to take appropriate action.

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Emergency services also likely to use the hard shoulder on the motorway if the lanes are slow moving.

So, if you hear the blues and twos approaching, don’t use the lane and instead pull over to the inside to wait for the emergency vehicle to pass. It is worth noting that drivers are still liable for any offences committed if they break the rules of the road to let an emergency vehicle pass more quickly.