By Bryan Dean
The Oklahoman
Copyright 2008 The Oklahoman
OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. — Next time you pass an emergency vehicle with flashing lights, consider avoiding a possible ticket by giving the police car, fire truck or ambulance a little space instead of gawking.
Hoping to avoid wrecks and danger to emergency responders, the Oklahoma City Council passed an ordinance Tuesday requiring drivers to change lanes if an emergency vehicle with its lights on is parked on the side of the road.
The city cited a 2002 study showing 28 wrecks in three years involving police vehicles stopped with while their lights were flashing.
Lara O’Leary, spokeswoman for the Emergency Medical Services Authority, said the law is a welcome safety measure for paramedics who are always looking over their shoulder at accident scenes.
“Motorists have a tendency to want to see what is going on at an accident,” O’Leary said. “Rubberneckers often cause collisions or near collisions at an accident scene.”
O’Leary said a paramedic was injured about six months ago at the scene of a traffic wreck when she put her hand out next to her ambulance and it was clipped by a passing motorist’s rearview mirror.
“You always want to go over and give a little extra room,” O’Leary said.
“There is so much going on. Paramedics are primarily concerned with the patient and their safety.”
Police Sgt. Paco Balderrama said the city ordinance was needed because city police can’t write tickets for people who break state traffic laws.
“When Oklahoma City police write a traffic citation, it’s a municipal charge,” Balderrama said. “It’s not a jailable offense. If someone doesn’t obey that law, we’d have to hold them and wait for a trooper to come and write a citation.”