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Somewhere recently I saw or read that when you pull over to let an emergency vehicle pass, it is not always necessary to pull to the right if pulling to the left is possible (and safe). Today I was driving in the left lane on 11, just before Shipman, headed toward Keaau, when almost simultaneously, the car in front of me pulled into the right lane and slowed, and an ambulance with lights and siren appeared in my rear-view coming up fast. To pull to the right I would have had to either brake hard and cut over behind that car or romp on the gas to get ahead of him. Instead, since there was a pretty good shoulder, I pulled left onto the shoulder and stopped. The ambulance went by on my right with plenty of room but blasted the horn as he passed me. I was unsure if he was honking to let me know I had done something wrong or honking at the guy on the right who never did pull over, or...what? Anyway, thought I'd ask here if pulling left in this situation was the right or wrong thing to do, 'cause it's liable to happen again – lots of ambulances rolling today, kinda spooky considering the accidents of the past few days. I did check the Hawaii Driver's Manual and it just says pull to edge of road and stop, does not specify left or right.
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I think all they really want you to do is get out of the way, which you did. They may have honked at you or the other driver who didn't get out of the way but my experience is that they're a little more professional than that. They just might have been blowing the horn because they'd seen cars in the way and wanted to make sure everyone knew they were there. Or it could have just been a bad day.
There have been a few occasions I've been turning left on H130 into HPP when an ambulance is coming the other way with lights on. That puts me in the middle of the highway in the turn lane but if I drove off to the right to get onto the shoulder it'd likely cause an accident. In that case I just stop the car so the ambulance driver knows I'm not being indecisive and might turn left or right or whatever. Not the same situation, I know, but just making it as clear as you can to the emergency vehicle you aren't going to get in their way seems to work well.
Tom
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I think the key is to get out of the emergency vehicle's way ASAP and, if possible, let the emergency vehicle know what you're doing in advance. Use your turn signals whether you go left or right, and if you're stopped in a turn lane, maybe flash your brights or turn on your 4-way's so that the ambulance knows that you see it and are yielding the right of way.
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Law is that you are supposed to pull over and STOP which nobody here does. They pull over on the shoulder and keep driving. When I first moved here 5 years ago I used to pull over and STOP but people would pass me so I don't do that anymore. I always wonder how the paramedics feel about that. ???
One Thing I can always be sure of is that things will never go as expected.
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He was blowing his horn because you were doing it wrong.
No you should never pull off on the left since you always pass on the LEFT. The LEFT lane is always for faster moving traffic, They put those signs there on highway 11 for a reason. If your not going to do the speed limit get over in the right lane.
First thing to do is relax ... keep driving till there is a "SAFE" opportunity to get over on the right.
http://windsorfire.com/pdfs/PullRight.pdf
If you are stopped in traffic Never pull to the left always try to get over to the right so that they can use the left hand side of the road to drive on.
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I was taught in driver's ed that when you can't pull over to the right, you should speed up until you can.
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Here is the Hawaii law.
Except as otherwise provided by county ordinance, upon the immediate approach of an authorized emergency vehicle making use of audible and visual signals, the driver of every other vehicle shall yield the right-of-way and shall immediately drive to a position clear of any intersection and parallel to, and as close as possible to, the right hand edge or curb of the highway or the nearest edge or curb when the highway has multiple lanes or when the highway is a divided highway or one-way street and shall stop and remain in such position until the authorized emergency vehicle is passed, except as otherwise directed by a police officer.
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completely stopping causes accidents, and pulling over in either direction when the emergency vehicle is right on your ass can also cause an accident (with them)
IMO safest is to... if you have time just get as far away from the emergency vehicle's route as you can...
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save our indigenous and endemic Hawaiian Plants... learn about them, grow them, and plant them on your property, ....instead of all that invasive non-native garbage I see in most yards... aloha
