Published: March 09, 2008 11:12 am      

Unyielding drivers create hazards for first responders

Whee-oo. Whee-oo.

Sirens blared as Sgt. Chris Woods with the Woodward County Sheriff’s Office raced out of Woodward toward a call Thursday afternoon.

Woods’ foot moved quickly from the gas pedal to the brake as a driver ahead seemed to ignore the sirens.

As Woods’ black Dodge Charger gained on the non-yielding green sedan, he laid on the horn.

But instead of moving into the right lane, the sedan’s driver braked right in front of Woods, slowing to 5 mph and essentially blocking the lane.

Woods finally darted around the offending sedan, but not after losing precious moments being stuck behind the driver obviously ignorant of how to react to emergency traffic.

This driver is like many others in the Woodward area who seem to have forgotten an important lesson from Driver’s Ed, Woodward County Sheriff Les Morton said.

“We have, not a small problem, but a major problem with people failing to yield to emergency traffic,” Morton said.

“The law says pull over,” he said.

According to state statute, “upon the immediate approach of an authorized emergency vehicle that is making use of its audible and visual signals . . . the driver of every other vehicle shall yield the right-of-way,” Morton said.

“You’re supposed to pull over to the right and come to a complete stop until the emergency vehicle has passed you,” he said. “But people are just not doing it.”

Instead, there are numerous drivers who are pulling to the left, are stopping in the middle of the road, or aren’t stopping at all, Morton said.

By not properly following the law, “they’re impeding emergency services that someone desperately needs,” he said.

“We’re trying to get somewhere to help people,” Morton said.

“We need to be able to respond,” Morton said. “And we want to be able to respond safely.”

When drivers refuse to yield, they are not only impeding emergency vehicles, Morton said, they are also putting the emergency personnel and themselves at risk.

“They’re just playing with the possibility of having an accident,” he said.

On his way to respond to an injury accident north of Vici Tuesday, Morton said he experienced a number of near misses.

“I was almost ran over five times before I got out of town,” he said.

And it’s not just sheriff’s deputies. All types of emergency services are affected, Morton said.

When responding to a fire west of Woodward Thursday, Lt. Johnny Edwards with the Woodward Fire Department said he “lost count” of the number of drivers who wouldn’t yield as he tried to get across town.

“Drivers need to be aware of what the law is,” Morton said.

He noted that his department is prepared to “make them aware . . . just in case they don’t remember driver’s ed.”

If drivers don’t start paying closer attention and yielding like they are supposed to, Morton said he will have his deputies start handing out citations which come with a $206.50 fee.

“We don’t want to stop people or issue citations,” Morton said. “But it has gotten to be such a problem and something’s got to be done.

“They’ve got to yield to police, fire and ambulance,” he said.

People need to take the time to think about what kind of emergency the law enforcement officers or other emergency personnel may be responding to, Morton said.

“We are trying to get to medical runs, house fires, accidents with injuries, domestic calls, burglaries and other types of emergencies,” he said.

“(And) it may very well be a family member of theirs we’re trying to get to,” Morton said.