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Comment by tetha

3 years ago

You just made me look up the rules in germany. The wording is somewhat particular. "An emergency vehicle following a higher cause can invoke special rights ("Sonderrechte") indicated by blue flashing lights. These special rights authorize the driver of the vehicle to divert from the regular traffic laws as long as done safely." Interestingly, this is separate from the "Right of the way", which can be ordered on top using a siren. This is why they need to run the siren for 2ish seconds before running a red light for example.

So yeah, an ambulance speeding to save a life is breaking the traffic laws, but they are allowed to.

Interestingly, if the ban of vehicles in the park had an additional reason - like a safety concern of unstable collapsing ground - an emergency vehicle in the park would be barred from invoking their special rights to be there, because then the driver would endanger bystanders without good reason.

6 comments

tetha

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snickerer  3 years ago

In fact, in Germany, everyone would be authorized to enter that park with a vehicle if it were necessary to avoid serious danger or to save others from serious danger. This is referred to as 'rechtfertigender Notstand'.

ilyt  3 years ago

> which can be ordered on top using a siren. This is why they need to run the siren for 2ish seconds before running a red light for example.

Pretty sure that's because people need time to notice the siren and take appropriate action, not because of some rule

  • tetha  3 years ago

    It's both of that. It has been determined that 2 seconds of siren should be enough for everyone on an in intersection to realize what's going on.

    And that's why there is a rule for drivers of emergency vehicles to sound the siren for at least 2 to 3 seconds when approaching an intersection with an intent to disregard other peoples right of way. The rule for normal traffic partakers is very much "If it flashes blue and has music, get the hell out of the way as fast as you can without endangering yourself"

    This rule in turn is in contrast with the overall suggestion to keep siren usage low, because it's loud, disturbing for bystanders and not great for the hearing of the people inside the car.