When you see flashing lights or hear a siren, you are supposed to pull over to let them pass – right? Well I thought that, too, but apparently I am wrong. I guess all that time I spent in driver’s education learning about pulling over for emergency vehicles was worthless.Lately, I have seen a lot of ambulances and fire trucks go by. This is because from my house I can see Highway 105 (in Monument). With that, I have also witnessed many cars speed up or just drive like nothing is wrong when the fire truck horns, not the quietest noise ever, are blaring and the really bright lights are spinning. These vehicles are in a hurry and need to get to a situation quick, whether it is a broken leg or a heart attack victim.Why don’t cars pull over? Maybe they are really caught up in that new song that is on the radio, or they drive a soundproof car. Or, it could be that they are on their cell phone and have to yell because they are losing their signal. Or maybe, just maybe, their brand new car is too good for the dirty, dusty shoulder on the right side of the road. Whatever it is, it is just plain rude.In many cases, there are only a few seconds between life and death, and those few seconds that it would take to pull over to the side of the road might save someone’s life. If someone you knew was in a life-threatening situation and there was a red Jetta just moseying along 105 (or Highway 24), you would want that car to pull over, right? Well, I know I would.Maybe if we would just put ourselves in the shoes of the people who need the emergency vehicles to help them, we would understand that it really isn’t such a big deal for us to pull over for a few seconds to let them pass.Megan BarretteMonument
