It is a busy day on the A28 and suddenly you hear sirens. In the distance an ambulance with flashing lights arrives on the way to an emergency. Cars make space and the ambulance shoots out. But then it happens: a driver sees his chance and adds in behind the ambulance to get through the traffic faster.
According to the Road Traffic Act you are obliged to have priority vehicles such as an ambulance, police car or fire truck with flashing lights and siren. But that doesn’t mean you can drive after it. In fact, consciously following a priority vehicle is seen by the police as dangerous driving behavior.
The Public Prosecution Service can impose a big fine for this. There is no specific traffic fine for ‘driving behind an ambulance’, but you can be fined for several violations:
It may seem harmless to drive behind an ambulance so that you can get along for a while, but warn emergency services that this will have extra danger. Other road users can be shocked and unexpectedly respond, they don’t expect you. In addition, the ambulance sometimes suddenly has to slow down or change lane. If you drive too close, it can lead to a collision. Finally, the emergency services could think that you are part of the column and are therefore less alert to other traffic situations.
According to the Institute for Scientific Research on Road Safety (SWOV), dangerous driving behavior around emergency services causes several accidents in the Netherlands every year.
Okay, driving like a rocket is clearly not the intention. But what should you do if you see an ambulance at high speed with light and sound in the rearview mirror? The official guidelines of the police and Rijkswaterstaat are clear:
The rules apply to all priority vehicles with siren and flashing lights. So driving behind a police car or fire truck is also prohibited. Yet this is seen less often, because these vehicles are less often a free passage, as an ambulance does. However, the fines and violations are the same.
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