Doctors car green lights ?

Omcd

Do doctors cars with flashing green lights have priority through red lights like flashing blues ?

SV

As far as I was aware they do..although maybe not, because green lights aren't banned on your car are they?

I'm a bit confused about that one..

biko

It's a doc on emergency call so I would assume so.

Gregor Samsa

I don't think green flashing lights have any statutory standing. Blue and Amber lights are covered by the Road Traffic (Lighting of Vehicles) Regulations, 1963 and subsequent amendments:

http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/plweb-cgi/fastweb?query3=Road%20Traffic%20%28Lighting%20of%20Vehicles%29&dbname=Acts&dbname=SIs&query0=&query1=&query2=&query4=&query5=&TemplateName=hitlist.tmpl&query_rule=%28%28%24query1%29.le.YEAR.le.%28%24query2%29%29%20AND%20%28%28%24query3%29%29%3Alegtitle%20AND%20%28%28%24query4%29%29%3Anumber%20AND%20%28%28%24query5%29%29%3Asectionno%20%20AND%20%28%28%24query0%29%29&view=ag-view&operator=and&sorting=none&numresults=25&simplesearch.x=35&simplesearch.y=7

Looking through the Regulations and various amendments, there's no mention of Green lights at all. So assuming that they don't have a statutory standing, then they couldn't have any legal priority at traffic lights, regardless of who is in the vehicle or what the situation is.

Biro

The emergency service vehicles can break red lights, they have flashing blue lights. The doc cars aren't part of the emergency vehicles, so they can't.
I reckon no cop would bother pulling them for doing it though, as it'd be fairly lousy. It'd be more likely that a cop would provide an escort to them. Technically though they have to abide by all rules of the road.

R.O.R

Biro wrote: »

The emergency service vehicles can break red lights, they have flashing blue lights.

The Irish Coast Guard, even under full Blues & Two's are not permitted to break red lights under any circumstance - according to their driving manual.

prospect

I always thought you were not obliged to give way to Blue Lights.

wet-paint

Blue lights - can break lights, laws, etc and you must give way to them.
Green lights - must obey all traffic laws, and you must give way to them.
Orange lights - must obey all traffic laws, and you don't have to give way to them.


I think I remember people like School teachers can get those lights as well as doctors, and a few other surprising enough groups.

Stephen

School teachers? wtf?

Riskymove

while blue lights can break lights they don't have carte blanche and there have been cases of them being sued for hitting people/cars etc

fire fughters have also been looking to get the right to put lights on their cars for when they are trying to get to station....especially in certain towns with traffic problems

you are obliged to give way at junctions but not to go all over road, pull over to other side etc that people generally do. While most of us do this to enable the vehicle to get through technically we could be done for infringements

brettmirl

wet-paint wrote: »

I think I remember people like School teachers can get those lights as well as doctors, and a few other surprising enough groups.

I think you might have picked that up in an episode of The Simpsons!!!

BeardyGit

Read the statutes again and you'll see that displaying any flashing light not specifically mentioned (amber beacon, blues, indicators etc) is actually illegal in Ireland. You may not drive through lights or indeed drive anywhere while displaying one, legally.

Gil

markpb

phutyle wrote: »

Blue and Amber lights are covered by the Road Traffic (Lighting of Vehicles) Regulations, 1963 and subsequent amendments

Someone should tell that to FedEx, UPS and the little Fiat Panda with Motorway Maintenance stickers I saw on the N1 this morning. I have yet to see a FedEx van use them but they all have them for some absurd reason.

Biro

Riskymove wrote: »

while blue lights can break lights they don't have carte blanche and there have been cases of them being sued for hitting people/cars etc

fire fughters have also been looking to get the right to put lights on their cars for when they are trying to get to station....especially in certain towns with traffic problems

you are obliged to give way at junctions but not to go all over road, pull over to other side etc that people generally do. While most of us do this to enable the vehicle to get through technically we could be done for infringements

Exactly, they can be prosecuted for dangerous driving. Most people are shocked to hear that, but when you think about it, not much sense in an ambulance driving so wrecklessly that he causes a crash, that would certainly kill the patient who was seriously ill in the back as well as causing more injury or death.
Also, you're not supposed to break the rules of the road when giving way to an emergency vehicle.

Gregor Samsa

wet-paint wrote: »

Blue lights - can break lights, laws, etc and you must give way to them.
Green lights - must obey all traffic laws, and you must give way to them.
Orange lights - must obey all traffic laws, and you don't have to give way to them.

I think I remember people like School teachers can get those lights as well as doctors, and a few other surprising enough groups.

Now how would you have to give way to a vehicle with green falshing lights if they have to obey all traffic laws - including the laws that state that they have to give way to other vehicles? :rolleyes:

Just try and find a mention of Green flashing lights in the statute books, and post a link back here.

As the the teachers thing, come on. You must be about 15 foot tall from all the leg pulling that went on when you were told that one.

Eoin

Biro wrote: »

Exactly, they can be prosecuted for dangerous driving. Most people are shocked to hear that, but when you think about it, not much sense in an ambulance driving so wrecklessly that he causes a crash, that would certainly kill the patient who was seriously ill in the back as well as causing more injury or death.
Also, you're not supposed to break the rules of the road when giving way to an emergency vehicle.

Yeah, I think they are only exempt from parking on double yellows, and some other traffic offence. As Riskymove says, they certainly don't have Carte Blanche. I wouldn't think full time fire fighters would need lights on their personal cars, as they are not on call in the sense of having to drop everything at a minute's notice, like the part time guys.

Sandwich

What about those green cones 'Doctor's Parking' ?
About 10 years ago, but a doc with a surgery in the centre of the town i used to live in used to put one of these outside the door to mark a free space. Parking was terrible in the area, and many a time I moved the cone and parked there. And put it back when I left. Never got a ticket or any complaint from the surgery etc. Was he just chancing his arm - or was I?

Guy:Incognito

Who cares about the law, if a member of he emergency services or someone like doctor who is in a hurry to get to someone needs you to give way, just give way.

Fey!

Stekelly wrote: »

Who cares about the law, if a member of he emergency services or someone like doctor who is in a hurry to get to someone needs you to give way, just give way.

That'd be my thinking, too. After all, they could be on the way to one of your own family!

Riskymove

Stekelly wrote: »

Who cares about the law, if a member of he emergency services or someone like doctor who is in a hurry to get to someone needs you to give way, just give way.

well i think most of us have agreed about that principle, but there is a legal question as well because it is possible to get into trouble if you for example had an accident while trying to make way for an ambulance or whatever!

basically though, the last thing any emergency service should have to worry about is not being able to get where they are needed.

javaboy

Most people are sensible enough and get out of ambulances/police/doctor's cars. Usually you don't have to do much to get out of the way but my bedroom overlooks the Clonsilla road and you should see some of the antics. Even though there's probably room for an ambulance to get by, people drive up on the grass/bus-stop just so they can feel they're doing their bit.

My favourite was during roadworks there when a JCB lifted his bucket out of the way up and over the ambulance.

TychoCaine

markpb wrote: »

Someone should tell that to FedEx, UPS and the little Fiat Panda with Motorway Maintenance stickers I saw on the N1 this morning. I have yet to see a FedEx van use them but they all have them for some absurd reason.

The courier vans sometimes drive airside at airports to load/unload, so they need the amber lights, just like any vehicle moving on the ramps or access roads. You never see them, but they do use them.

Omcd

Riskymove wrote: »

well i think most of us have agreed about that principle, but there is a legal question as well because it is possible to get into trouble if you for example had an accident while trying to make way for an ambulance or whatever!

Thats indeed where I was coming from when asking the question. I would of course do my best to facilitate a flashing green light, but say you're on a green traffic light and a green flashing light is approaching the other way (to a red light), and you attempt to give way but someone behind isn't paying attention or whatever and drives into you, you might be in trouble for stopping when not required to do so. I guess flashing green lights dont give priority at a red light (otherwise they would blue wouldn't they?), but I dont actually know.

Ultimately, IMO the issue boils down to one of two things : either -
1. A flashing green light is only intended for visibility and an indication of
ligitimate urgency, but legally gives the driver no priviliges or priorities over the normal
or
2. A flashing green light gives all the priorities of a flashing blue light, and is green rather than blue to distingush the service.
It seems from the posts so far no one really knows, and I'm tending towards 1.

Maybe there is doctor with these lights who might be able to tell us what their understanding of these things are ?

As for flashing amber, that's clearly for visibility and warning only, the only case where you would need to give way to a JCB with a flashing amber is when it's about drive over you if you don't:D

Diverman

The Gardai and unusually enough the bomb disposal are the only people exempt from road traffic regulations as specified in Irish law. Other emergency vehicles carrying blue lights(fire, ambulance, coast guard) do so to warn other road users of their approach but do not entitle them to break the speed limit or red lights. Green lights have no standing in Irish road traffic regs. They are used in the UK and have worked their way over here. In fact the on-call doctor service that you see with green lights are probably entitled to use blue lights if they can class themselves as an emergency vehicle much like the health board paramedic cars that can be seen.

DM