Protect those who’ve pledged to ‘protect and serve’

We are in what is annually a peak time for traffic accidents.

People are taking time off work. Some are spending more time on the road traveling to visit friends and relatives. Some are drinking.

So it’s a pretty good bet that sometime in the next few weeks an inordinately large percentage of us will have to pull over to make way for an ambulance, police car or fire truck with lights and sirens blaring.

Having navigated Mat-Su Valley roads for years now, we feel comfortable saying some of our neighbors could use a refresher course on what to do when they see a vehicle approaching with its lights and sirens on.

“Lights and sirens are our way of requesting that people yield, and typically they’re supposed to pull to the right when they have that available to them,” said the borough’s deputy director of emergency services, Clint Vardeman.

But it’s more than just a request. Commander Tom Remaley with the Palmer Police Department said the penalty for not yielding to an emergency vehicle is a $250 fine and six points off your license. Twelve points in a year or 18 points in two years means your license is suspended.

Like a lot of things in life, the rule about pulling over for emergency vehicles is simple on its face, but has a number of nuances that make it more complicated.

For one thing, it’s not enough to just pull over. You also have to stop. Which seems like a no-brainer, but there are those who thumb their noses at this rule of the road.

We’re reminded of a fire chief who told us recently about a driver who kept moving after pulling onto the shoulder, nearly wiping out a bank of mail boxes, then swerved back onto the road.

That sort of behavior is illegal, rude and dangerous.

And it isn’t just traffic traveling the same direction as the ambulance that must yield; it’s also oncoming traffic.

Sometimes it’s not an option to pull to the right. If, say, a police car comes screaming up behind you on the Parks Highway in the section with a center divider, sometimes pulling onto the left shoulder is a better bet.

Vardeman said you should use common sense, but the right shoulder, if you can get there safely, is preferable.

Devotees of local television have likely seen the Alaska State Troopers’ public service announcement regarding giving a wide berth to emergency vehicles pulled to the side of the road with their lights flashing.

If you come up on an accident scene or a traffic stop, you must, so long as it’s reasonable and prudent, vacate the lane closest to the emergency vehicle.

We did some digging into the traffic law manual and found that the relevant statute actually requires drivers to yield to an “emergency vehicle, fire vehicle, law enforcement vehicle, tow truck in the act of picking up a vehicle or an animal control vehicle being used to perform official duties.”

If you can’t get out of the lane, you still have to slow down. And there are penalties here as well — Remaley pegged them at a $150 fine and two points off your license. If you fail to yield and an accident with injuries ensues, that penalty becomes a misdemeanor offense requiring a court appearance.

Police officers will tell you that even though they are tasked with hunting down bail absconders and apprehending murder suspects, driving is the most dangerous part of their jobs.

So, please, don’t make it any harder for those who’ve pledged to protect and serve.