It's a problem emergency vehicles run into almost every day: drivers on the road, not pulling over to the right out of the way. Barrett Baker of the Tucson Fire Department said it's very frustrating for fire crews that are to get to an emergency.
"It's all a matter of getting from our place to somebody that's having an emergency as quickly and safely as possible," he said.
On top of that, he added it can create a very dangerous situation for all on the road -- drivers, cyclists, pedestrians -- everyone.
"We don't want an accident on the way to a call," Baker said. "So we're going to help someone with an emergency, but if we cause or are a part of two other emergencies on the way, now nobody's winning."
He explained he understands why people may have a, "moment of panic," when they first see the flashing lights and hear the sirens.
"Your natural instinct when you finally do look in the mirror and see that fire truck right behind you is that 'oh heck moment," he said. "What do you do instinctively? You try and get out of the way whatever looks fastest. But we're trying to re-program everybody that regardless of whether it's fastest -- the safest and most reliable thing for us is to get everybody pulling in the right direction."
One thing he stressed: it's better to take an extra few seconds to pull over safely.
"The most consistent, safe thing that we can do -- and it doesn't have to be instant," he said. "You can do it safely, slowly and securely: move to the right."
Gianna Garry is a ladder engineer for the Tucson Fire Department, meaning she drives the trucks. She's no stranger to the job, doing it for years -- yet she said she still gets surprised by what drivers do on the road when they see her behind them.
"Sometimes they'll slam on the brakes right in front of you," Garry said. "And you'll really have nowhere to go except slam on your brakes and hope you don't hit them. It increases the stress greatly, we're trying to get there in as safe a manner as possible."
Baker explained in a perfect world, crews would be able to get to their location within five minutes. But with many drivers responding erratically, or not even bothering to pull over, he said that becomes a lot harder.
"It's not Star Trek, we can't beam ourselves to you," he said. "So if we can get to somebody within that window, that's ultimately what we want. But it's a team effort, and if everyone can do that, it helps us get to the person on the other end of the line that is needing help as quickly as possible."
Time, often their worst enemy.
"There are certain calls that give you chills when they come over," Baker said. "The adrenaline is rushing and you're trying to get there as quickly as possible. And when you come to that intersection and it's grid locked, it's hard not to be a human first and have frustration. We need to get there, we need people out of the way."
Garry believes time is of the essence for all calls. But like Baker, she mentioned there are sometimes calls that are extremely time-sensitive.
"A drowning or a cardiac arrest, somebody who's not breathing, you're not getting oxygen to your brain," she said. "Without that, every second counts because you only have such a short window before brain damage occurs or heart damage occurs, where we're not able to bring those people back."
The slogan Baker would like people to remember:
"Pull to the right for sirens and lights," he said.
Garry said the decision to pull to the right could save someone's life.
"Everybody is trying to get where they're going, it's not more important than what you're doing," she said. "But what we're doing in the fire trucks generally is a bit more important than where you're trying to get to. You pulling off to the right safely, making room for us to go through, can actually make a difference in somebody's life."
Drivers can be cited for not pulling over to the right for an emergency vehicle; it's a moving violation, with fines starting at $150.
