When you hear a fire engine siren behind you, you must:
- Slow down until it passes you.
- Drive with your flashers on.
- Pull over to the side of the road and stop. ✓
- Speed up and take the nearest exit.
Answer: C. Pull over to the side of the road and stop.
When a fire engine siren comes up behind you, pull over to the side of the road and stop.
Why this is the answer
The handbook's emergency-vehicle guidance says that when emergency lights appear behind you, you should signal and pull off or to the side of the roadway as soon as it is safe, then shut off your engine. Getting out of the travel lane and coming to a stop clears the way so the emergency vehicle can get past. The point of the maneuver is to move aside and stay put, not to keep rolling along at a lower speed. The passage describes this for law enforcement stops, but the same pull-aside response is what the answer describes for a siren behind you.
Why the other answers are wrong
- A. Slow down until it passes you. — Just slowing down keeps you in the travel lane, while the handbook directs you to pull off or to the side of the roadway so the way is clear.
- B. Drive with your flashers on. — Nothing in the passages says to drive with your flashers on; the guidance is to signal and move off the roadway, not to drive along with hazard lights.
- D. Speed up and take the nearest exit. — Speeding up and heading for an exit is not described anywhere in the passages, which call for pulling aside as soon as it is safe.
Remember it
Picture the move in two steps: signal, then get off the lane and stop so the emergency vehicle has a clear path.