What to do when an emergency vehicle is behind you

When you’re driving and hear sirens and see flashing lights behind you, do you actually pull over?

We teamed up with the Naples Fire Rescue crew to see how drivers reacted during real calls.

Drivers, whether confused, pressured, or just unaware, are making it hard for emergency vehicles to get by.

Florida Statute 316.126 spells out what drives should do in the situation.

George Lynch of Naples has seen it before, “I can understand why some people start to panic. You do have a lot of people from up north coming down who aren’t familiar with the roads or where to go so it does get confusing.”

Chief Dimaria of Naples Fire Rescue said, “We don’t expect every driver to know exactly what to do”

It can be tricky with traffic, so here’s the basic rule:

• Move to the right for sirens and lights.

If you’re at a busy intersection with multiple lanes:

• Drivers in the left lane pull to the left; drivers in the center lane go to the right.

“They’re going to try to pick an avenue to go they may try to split the traffic.,” Dimaria said, adding “If you’re not in the turn lane leave the turn lane open.

And don’t try to speed up in front of them.

Here’s why – Naples Fire Rescue says heavy traffic combined with drivers not pulling over has serious consequences, and during tourist season our response times go up.

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If you were on the end of the call, someone not pulling over could mean the difference between life or death.

At the end of the day, always follow the rules of the road.