DOT
Ask RIDOT: Motorists must always yield right of way to emergency vehicles
02:28 PM EDT on Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Q. I would like to know what the proper action is in this situation. I was the second car in line stopped at a red light on Route 2 in Warwick when a fire truck came up behind me. There was a car in front of me and cars in all the lanes to the right of me so it was not possible to pull to the right. Is it proper for cars to proceed through the red light in this situation to allow the fire truck to proceed?
A. Motorists must always yield to emergency vehicles. According to 31-17-6 Yielding to emergency vehicle: “the driver of every other vehicle shall yield the right-of-way and shall immediately drive to a position parallel to, and as close as possible to, the right-hand edge or curb of the roadway clear of any intersection and shall stop and remain in that position until the authorized emergency vehicle has passed . . . .”
So long as it is safe to do so, it could be necessary to proceed through a red light in order for the emergency vehicle to pass. This should be done only if there is no other possibility for the emergency vehicle to pass other than causing other vehicles to go through a red light. After clearing the intersection always move as far to the right as possible.
This is not to say that drivers will not get a ticket for driving through a red light, for this is always up to the citing officers and the judges, but it can be presented as a defense in court.
Q. First, I’d like to commend the DOT for the redesign of the intersection of Valley Road and East Main Road in Middletown. The left-turn arrow, however, stays green for only seven to eight seconds. Add a couple seconds for the yellow and the light in non-red lasts for approximately 10 seconds. This allows, at most, four cars through the intersection and usually the fourth car is going through on the yellow light. As a result, one or two cars ultimately will “run the red light” to avoid having to sit through another cycle. Can the timing be adjusted to permit a few more cars through the intersection, especially during the daytime?
A. DOT tracked down the plans for this intersection that show the current timings. This signal runs in a coordinated system, which means that it is difficult to increase green time for one phase, since the signals in the coordinated system must have the same cycle lengths for all signals in the coordinated system.
The Department is planning, however, to review all of these signal timings shortly, taking into consideration vehicle counts and the overall operation of the intersection. Therefore, if the vehicle volume on one of the protected left-turn phases calls for more green time, it will be adjusted as part of this “fine tuning” of the signal.
Dana Alexander Nolfe, chief public affairs officer for the state Department of Transportation, has agreed to answer questions of general interest posed by Journal readers about state roads and other state transportation matters.
The DOT is responsible for the state’s transportation infrastructure, which includes highways, bridges, traffic signals and bikeways.
To ask a question that would also be of interest to other readers, send a letter to Ask RIDOT, Features Department, The Providence Journal, 75 Fountain St., Providence, RI 02902. You can also e-mail your question to projocars@projo.com. Please put “Question for the DOT” in the subject field.
Questions or complaints of a specific nature should be posed to the DOT directly and will not be answered in this column.
Today projoCars launches a new interactive, question-and-answer column. Dana Alexander Nolfe, chief public affairs officer for the state Department of Transportation has agreed to weekly answer questions of general interest that our readers pose about state highways, bridges and other state transportation matters.
Contacting DOT; Web site address; interstate highway designations
How do I contact RIDOT if I have a question?
ARTICLE TOOLS: Advertising
newspaper ads
shop & subscribe
|
|
|
||
