In 2017, laws took effect across New York State mandating that all drivers are legally required to pull over for flashing blue or green lights. The penalties for refusing to comply can be stiff and involve points on a driver’s license, increased insurance premiums, and hefty fines. Not only is refusing to pull over a violation of the state’s “Move Over Laws,” police often issue an additional ticket for failing to yield the right of way which involves even more points and fines.
For clarification, blue lights are operated by volunteer firefighters and green lights are operated by volunteer emergency medical personnel. Both are equally important as they are used while responding to potential life-threatening emergencies.
Recently, a Newburgh News reporter observed a lowlife driver refusing to pull over for a Vail’s Gate fireman responding to his firehouse on Route 94. The driver was moving slowly and refused to budge as a fire truck sat out front of the station waiting for the first responder to arrive.
Mostly all fire departments across the area are not manned. When someone calls 911, communities rely on trained volunteers to drop everything they are doing, respond to their stations, get on the trucks, and respond to the emergency. Refusing to pull over for emergency services responding to their stations delays the first and only line of defense from reaching their victims.
When a driver refuses to pull over, the firefighter or EMT could technically give the license plate number to their chief and forward it to the police. However, this is unheard of because firefighters and EMTs are generally about helping the public rather than snitching on them.
This is where the police come in. It is difficult for police to catch violators since patrol officers are often responding to the same emergencies as firefighters and EMS. Enforcing this law would be a logistical matter for police administrators to figure out.
This law was created for a reason. State lawmakers worked hard to enact this legislation to prevent ignorant drivers from delaying emergency responses. This law must be enforced. Violating it is equally as dangerous as driving drunk because it puts others’ lives in imminent danger by preventing first responders from reaching their scenes.
We urge police administrators to come up with a solution for this problem. Traffic surveillance is needed to find violators, perhaps on main roads near firehouses or ambulance bays, when fire or EMS are dispatched to an emergency call. A selfish driver cannot be allowed to cause someone to burn alive in a house fire.
