i was on my motorcycle on the 2 lane road in outer suburban brisbane.
a road i ride a lot and where traffic always flows at 80 kph, (the speed limit)

this road has very rough edges and is not easy to pull off.

an ambulance with full lights and sirens comes up behind me and i ease over to let it pass.

this road is a moderately busy road, i might add with a lot of double white lines.

as i get behind this ambulance , he continues to deploy the full sirens

this results in every car in front of him , braking and trying to pull over to let him past.

they have to slow down to about 30 kph to pull over.

as a result, the ambulance is constantly on the brakes,
cars are performing dangerous evasive manouveres
the ambulance is nearly crossing double white lines
he is braking hard and accelerating hard (must be hell if he has a patient)

and the whole journey slows to 40 kph.


if this cretin had just turned off the siren and lights, we could all have doubled our speed.

UnSubRocky wrote on Jan 23^rd, 2025 at 4:13pm:




yep but they cant pull off into the scrub at 80. they have to brake and slow to clear the road. and with oncoming traffic, the dumb ambo has no option but to wait whilst they get off the road to resume his stop start journey 

Roads out in the bush should be at least 4 cars wide. An ambulance should be able to get pass the vehicles, unless the drivers are driving too close to the centre line.

I don't know any ambulance drivers to ask about their procedures. But I have observed that the drivers of ambulances have to put up with the inconsiderate habits of regular drivers.

A lot of drivers seem oblivious to what is behind them. You see it on the freeway a lot. An emergency vehicle with lights flashing can take a minute or two to catch up to them and they either do not realise or do not bother moving out of the way until they have held the vehicle up.

you're supposed to be aware of ALL the traffic ALL around you at all times. If you are waiting for the ambo to pull up behind you before you decide to get out of the way, you are to late

John Smith wrote on Jan 24^th, 2025 at 7:29am:

Yes that's what happens.  That's the problem.

chimera wrote on Jan 24^th, 2025 at 8:46am:


It is only dangerous if people do stupid things. That's the real problem here, not the 30 seconds of Scoot's day that he has lost just so the ambulance might save someone from a heart attack. The last thing ambos want is another accident on their hands. You are required to make way for the ambulance safely. If that takes 20 seconds longer than doing it quickly, then take the 20 seconds. Chill out and have a relaxing day rather than get angry that you were "forced" to do something dangerous and got to work a minute later.

freediver wrote on Jan 24^th, 2025 at 8:51am:

er.. yes. ambo is now 10 seconds ahead. Traffic that safely fitted into 2 lanes is compressed with lower speeds and less braking room.  Then more drivers slow down to merge left, ambo is 40 seconds behind.