17/10/2026
🚦 BLUE LIGHTS BEHIND YOU. RED LIGHT IN FRONT.
WHAT DO YOU DO?
You’re waiting at traffic lights when an emergency vehicle approaches from behind. The siren is going, the blue lights are flashing and suddenly you feel personally responsible for rearranging the entire junction.
Take a breath. They need your help, but they don’t need you creating another emergency.
If your light is red, stay behind the white stop line. Blue lights behind you do not turn your red light green, and they don’t give you permission to cross the line “just a little bit”.
Keep off kerbs and pavements, and don’t move into a bus lane you aren’t permitted to use. The pavement isn’t an escape route for your car. There may be people on it.
Check your mirrors and consider where the emergency driver is trying to go. If you can safely and legally make room without crossing the stop line, do so carefully. If there is nowhere suitable to move, stay put. They understand that you cannot make your car disappear.
Emergency drivers are trained to assess the situation. They may use another lane, pass on the opposite side when safe, or wait until the lights change. Sometimes they switch off the siren while waiting so drivers don’t feel pressured into doing something dangerous. That doesn’t mean the emergency has been cancelled.
Once your light turns green, check the junction and move carefully, making room when it is safe. Don’t suddenly swerve or brake because you’ve heard a siren. Predictable driving helps them far more than panic.
There is an important exception: follow a clear direction from a police officer directing traffic. A siren or flashing headlights alone are not that instruction.
You can still face enforcement for breaking traffic laws while trying to help. “I was getting out of the way” does not automatically excuse going through a red light or driving dangerously.
Nobody wants to delay an ambulance, fire engine or police vehicle.
However, pulling into crossing traffic or putting pedestrians at risk could leave them with another incident to deal with.
Help them get through by staying calm, observant and predictable.
Good intentions still need good judgement.
