A
male
age
30-35,
anonymous
writes:Tifu accidentally held up an ambulanceAccidentally held up an ambulance, feel awfulSo today as a fairly new driver, I was driving along in the left hand lane, in rush hour. traffic in the right lane queued up at some temporary lights that only let one way traffic through at a point. Could see the traffic in front of me moving to the side, followed suit assuming although no sirens, eventually saw the blue lights of an ambulance approaching towards us in the middle of the roadCars on both side had moved up on to the kerb leaving space for it to get through, as it approached the cars in front of me crawled off, as it approached my car I pulled further in and stopped to let them through, expecting it to go past The ambulance however just stopped in the middle and my brother who was with me also said why are they not going through. The passenger paramedic then began screaming and waving at me to move and keep going so i overtook and keep going. On reflection I guess they wanted the traffic to keep moving to avoid the point of the temporary lights getting clogged. Now feel awful for holding the ambulance up, albeit with the best intentions of letting them through. those moments could have been critical, Getting screamed at by a paramedic also not nice, and as an already not so confident driver questioning whether I should be driving as I didn’t have the common sense to do the right thing even when cars in front of me had moved off Reply to this Question
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female
reader, YouWish  +, writes (23 October 2019):
 If your 25 second delay of an ambulance was THAT important, the patient would more likely be being airlifted by helicopter instead of ambulance.
Ambulances inside are giving patients care already, whether its CPR or IV fluids or assessment or starting tests. If your patient was already inside the ambulance, he or she wasn't being held up by you, but was already getting attended to while on the road.
And if the ambulance was on its way to their patient, chances are the dispatcher at the end of the emergency is still on with either the patient or whoever is with them, and they are already starting lifesaving measures or tests, so you didn't hold up much. The patient was already getting their attention, and the hospital will eat up 25 seconds registering the patient in the first place.
Just treat it as a learning experience and do better next time. You didn't kill anyone by your delay, so let go of the anxiety. If it creeps in, just breathe and tell yourself that next time, you know better what to do.
A
female
reader, CindyCares  +, writes (22 October 2019):
 I want to reiterate something which , I think, is being overlooked :
everybody is telling you to not beat yourself up if , as a new driver, you make a small mistake. These things happen, nobody is perfect, mistakes are part of becoming a good, expert driver.
True. Undeniable.
But in this specific case, you did not do anything wrong. Read the UK Highway code, rule 219 and rule 31.
IF there was a mistake, it was the ambulance driver 's. In case of incident or blockage, it's °only° up to the police or traffic officers to give directions about how to deal with it. Rule 282.
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A
female
reader, Youcannotbeserious +, writes (22 October 2019):
 Oh sweetheart, you need to stop being so hard on yourself. I understand that as a fairly inexperienced, not to mention nervous, driver, you WANT to get it 100% right, but NOBODY EVER does. Every situation is different. Everyone occasionally misreads what is best. Even after years of good driving, you can get is wrong. (I was being a bit impatient on the road once and overtook some very slow moving vehicles, only to realize I was overtaking a funeral procession! Completely didn't see that one. Mortified at the time. Learned a lesson from it and moved on.)
Take it from someone whose OH was an emergency driver for 30 years, this IS an everyday occurrence for emergency drivers. Don't take the ambulance driver's shouting at you as anything personal. HE will have forgotten about the incident virtually as soon as it was over. To him it was just another day at work. Chalk it up to experience and just do your best. I am sure you will be fine.
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A
reader, anonymous, writes (22 October 2019): The silver-lining is, now you know better than to stay in the path of an approaching emergency vehicle. When you hear a siren, find a clear place to pullover!
You can beat yourself up; but time doesn't go backwards! People make the same mistake you did every second on the clock. If you didn't hear it on the news that a patient was dead on arrival due to a negligent-motorist, you're in the clear. A driver screaming from an ambulance is cause for termination...there's a patient on-board! Stay cool and focused! Road-rage isn't professional!
It's nice to be conscientious; but you weren't pulled-over and given a ticket, or didn't cause an accident.
Take an extra-strength chill-pill, and forgive yourself. Try not to do it again, if you can help it. I too echo the sentiments of Code Warrior..."bleep happens!"
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A
female
reader, anonymous, writes (22 October 2019): I was always told you're meant to pull in for an ambulance so i'm not sure what happen there but it doesn't sound like your fault. if they were really in a rush they would have gone through instead of wasting time shouting at you.
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A
female
reader, mystiquek +, writes (21 October 2019):
 In total agreement with everyone else. You didn't do anything wrong OP. It sounds like the driver was very stressed out and frustrated but I'm sure he wasn't just yelling at you and even if he was..you did what was required of you. Just an unfortunate occurance. FORGET ABOUT IT. Don't question yourself in this situation.
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A
female
reader, Honeypie +, writes (21 October 2019):
 Yep, I'm with Code Warrior.
YOU did what other drivers were doing, so YOU were not the only one holding up the ambulance. It made sense to do as other drivers.
They weren't just screaming at YOU.
Them trying to get traffic moving is actually more dangerous than pulling off to the side.
You did fine, OP
I know it's stressful but these situations happens.
Chin up.
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A
male
reader, N91 +, writes (21 October 2019):
 Why are you questioning whether you should be driving because you made a mistake? Should you quit your job if you make a mistake there? End your marriage if you make a mistake? Why beat yourself up over it? It’s happened, it can’t be changed, why dwell on it?
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A
female
reader, CindyCares +, writes (21 October 2019):
Code Warrior is absolutely correct . Actually, file what happened under " shit happens " , and keep in mind, though, that this one did not happen because of you ;you did not do anything wrong , based on rule 219 of the UK Highway Code.
Go read it, it's a bit longwinded, but basically it says , when an emergency vehicles is approaching, take action always still complying with all traffic signs , and if necessary, pull to the side of the road and STOP until the emergency vehicle has gone through.
Nothing more, nothing fancy.
No " creative solutions " ( and , as a matter of fact, it's not even the paramedics's job or business to worry about making it easier for the cars behind them, or making sure the traffic does not get clogged. Their job is to bring their passenger to destination , not to direct traffic ).
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