Where should you pull over for an ambulance?

A siren tells you something is near. It does not tell you where it is or where it is going. Look and listen first. Check your interior mirror, which shows best what is right behind you, then your door mirrors. Then think about the route it is likely to take, because you can only help once you know that. Rule 219 says the same: look and listen, do not panic, and consider the route of the vehicle.

Pulling over at once can make things worse. If a van is parked opposite you, stopping there leaves the road too narrow, and the ambulance ends up stuck behind you. Look ahead for where the road opens out. Keeping going for a few more seconds to reach that spot gets it past you sooner.

Think about the ambulance’s width as well as your own. It needs a clear path beside your car and whatever is on the other side of the road.

Rule 219 has no MUST of its own, so its wording is advice. That does not switch off the signs around you: you MUST still obey traffic light signals and traffic signs giving orders. Rule 219 also sets out some clear limits:

• Keep complying with all traffic signs while you let it pass.
• Do not endanger yourself, other road users or pedestrians.
• Avoid mounting the kerb. Someone may be walking along the pavement, and you could drive into their path.
• Do not brake harshly on the approach to a junction or roundabout, as a vehicle following you may not have the same view as you.

Practice marks only: on a real test, the examiner decides. How faults work.

• You drove onto the pavement Dangerous fault

  Someone was walking along the pavement, and you drove into their path. Let an emergency vehicle pass without endangering pedestrians or anyone else, and avoid mounting the kerb.

• You stopped where it could not pass Serious fault

  With a van parked opposite, the road was too narrow for the ambulance to get by, so it was held up behind you. Try to avoid stopping at or just before a narrow section of road: pull in where it can pass.

• You did not check your interior mirror Driving fault

  When you hear a siren, look and listen to work out where the emergency vehicle is. The ambulance was right behind you, where your interior mirror shows best.

• Rule 219: If necessary, pull to the side of the road and stop, but try to avoid stopping before the brow of a hill, a bend or narrow section of road.

MUST and MUST NOT are the law. Should is advice, which can still be used in evidence in court.

Top 10 fail reason: not using mirrors correctly when changing direction. DVSA driving skills: Other traffic, Mirrors, Safe positioning.

• What do you do if an ambulance is behind you at a red light?
• Who has priority on a narrow road with parked cars?
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