I’ve lived in Hawaii all my life and will be driving in the mainland soon. Here, when emergency vehicles come by, people move to both sides. I’ve heard people on the mainland only pull to the right so I don’t wanna be doing something crazy and get in anyone’s way. Thanks
42 comments
Unless you’re stuck in traffic or on a divided highway, yes, pull to the right.
Yup, pull to the right. Definitely don’t go left, especially if there’s traffic flowing the opposite way
Pull over to the right.
Do not pull over on the left.
Yes, we pull to the right because otherwise we would crash into people
People here always pull to the right for emergency vehicles.
Yes
You have to yield on a bi-directional city road or an undivided highway
If there is a median or barrier separating traffic, only the traffic going the same way as emergency vehicles has to give.
If the road has two-way traffic on it, pull right. If it’s one way traffic, pull to the closest side. Generally, go with the flow.
If you can safely do so, then pulling over to the right is strongly preferred, yes. If you’re in a situation where moving to the left is the much better option (like you can see the emergency vehicle already trying to roll through to the right of you, etc), then that’s usually okay. But it is definitely a situational awareness thing. Some states may have very specific laws I am unaware of, though, fyi.
Depends. Some people do. Some people ride the tailgate of Fire/EMS through traffic and red lights.
r/NissanDrivers
I live near a hospital where there are a lot of emergency vehicles. You get out of the fucking way — usually that means pulling to the right, but not always.
Yes, we pull to the right. I think in Hawaii because so many roads are small without a lot of shoulder, people just pull over where they can to get out of the way. On the mainland, there are a lot more roads with shoulders and multi-lane roads, so we just pull to the right, which gets us out of the way faster.
The only way we pull to both directions is if the two lanes are going the same direction and there’s no opposing traffic. Otherwise, we pull to the right.
Yes, pull to the right, and as far as is safe, off to the side of the road, but don’t get stuck or run onto a soft shoulder. I’ve seen people panic and run into things and cause an accident. Stay calm.
If I’m in the left lane, I pull onto the left shoulder (if there is one) rather than cut across in front of the emergency vehicle. If there’s a curb to my left then I pull to the right. Main thing is to get out of the roadway to make a clear path for the emergency vehicle.
They are *supposed* to, but in reality they just scatter. People go left, right, come to a dead stop in the middle of the road, or just fail to yield all together more often then you’d think.
We pull to the right unless for some reason it’s physically impossible or the emergency vehicle is already passing you on the right.
Pull over to the right unless it’s a multi-lane divided highway and you’re in the far left lane, you can go there if there’s room.
It depends on location.
When I lived in Oregon, everyone pulled to the right. It flows so smoothly when everyone has the same goal – get as far right as possible.
I am in Indiana now. It is the law to move to the right. Nobody cares. You’re lucky if they move over at all, and half the people move to the left even when there is PLENTY of space to move to the right.
It drives me insane.
They also don’t stop at red lights. Or buckle their seat belts. Or use car seats.
I mean, some people do, obviously. Maybe even most people? But not the overwhelming majority of people. It’s *normal* to see kids hopping around in the backs of minivans on the highway here.
If it’s safe, out in the country without shoulders we just do our best. Some cities it’s not possible and/or would cause a cluster fuck (looking at NYC)
To the right where it is safe and available. For stopped emergency vehicles you will generally go left to give space.
Yes. That is a law. Pull over if you can .
You have to read the situation. Usually the right, yes, but if you can get out of the way faster by moving to the left, use your signal and do it and stop. The people driving those things are watching a LOT of moving vehicles so you need to behave in a very predictable way. If you are out of the way and stopped, before they get there, that is best. Keep in mind that emergency vehicles sometimes need to turn left or right also. So when you pull over, don’t block the intersections they may need to turn into.
If you’re talking about the german method, nobody does that here. You’re lucky if they pull to the right. A lot of people just tap the brakes or stop where they are
Generally to the right, but whichever way is “out of the way”. I’ve seen it occasionally where they go down the middle so left goes left and right goes right.
Fireman here:
They should but a lot of people are idiots and freeze up and just stay there. Or be like a headless chicken and go left no wait right wait it’s left now oh god they just slammed on their brakes and stopped so theyre blocking both sides around them now
Yes, it’s the law
In Tx, we mostly do.
Never dive left into oncoming traffic. Hawaii has the same rules as the mainland.
I always *thought* they did, however, the videos I’ve watched on the *Police Activity* (and related) YouTube channel have led me to determine that was a lie. It’s surprising how many people *don’t* get out of the way of emergency vehicles.
But legally, yes, you are supposed to.
It depends sometimes. Today a police car was behind us on an interstate going to an accident. The accident was on the right shoulder, so the police and the tow truck drove up the right side. Everybody pulled to the left as soon as they realized what was going on.
Supposed to be to the right. Idk nationwide, but where I’m at, people just pretend to not see emergency vehicles at all, like the amount of drivers that are apparently deaf/blind infuriates me as a bystander, cant imagine driving an ambulance.
But yes, technically supposed to move to the right, in practice just gtfo of the way, whatever direction that needs to be
Usually, but it depends on the situation. I’ll do what I need to do to let them through.
Yes. At least, we’re supposed to!
They used to
Pull to the right. Usually.
45 states have pulling to the right as part over the language in the laws.
5 states do not have the clear, specific language for a direction. Hawaii is one of those 5.
Default to the right but stay aware of where the emergency vehicle is and is trying to go.
Be aware of turns and driveways and don’t block them.
If you can’t move right, stay stopped unless they are coming up in the lane behind you. They’ll let you know if you need to roll forward and move over despite a red light.
I can recount the time I pulled left: city street with 2 thru lanes, 1 right turn lane, and 2 left turns in front of an intersection which was in the middle of a series of close intersections. I was in the left thru.
Cops came up on the right without notice, blasting by at about 80 in a 35. Trying to move right would have cut them off and they didn’t use lights or sirens until they were right behind us, preventing anyone from making good decisions.
I pulled into the left turn lane and they rocked my car they went by so fast.
After they vanished up the road, cars started to move and a tail car dashed by with no lights, no siren, and weaving thru traffic at very high speed like it was a video game.
Real emergency drivers will give appropriate notice and drive o the left of a divider in heavy traffic.
If you can pull over to the right, you do, but if you’re in the left lane of 4, on a limited access highway, the best thing you can sometimes do is just stop in your tracks. And on wide local streets, same – if you can’t get over to the right, just stop where you are.
In general you go to the right. In the real world, on a very busy multi lane highway you are going to be paying attention to where the emergency vehicles and getting out of their way. Occasionally this has to be done by going to the left because the accident is on the right lane and you are right near it and have to move left so they can get to it.
Depends which way they are coming but rule of thumb has always been pull to the right and if they are on the shoulder move over or slow down if you cant
Pull to the right is the law in most places.
People do not all do it though.
Yes. Move to the right. Usually the left shoulder isn’t as wide and visible. You’re more likely to get hit.