Topic: Are people oblivious, stupid, or just ignorant?

[Schmengie]

  I'm still shaking my head at what I saw today. I was on my way to the hospital to visit my mother and saw an ambulance with siren and lights on in the left lane about a block and a half in front of me.  I couldn't believe my eyes - not one vehicle bothered to pull over to let the ambulance by, causing it to wait at a stoplight with traffic ahead of it in both lanes. Once the light changed, I expected that vehicles in the right lane wouldn't enter the intersection until left-lane traffic could move over to let the ambulance get past, but unbelievably, they acted like like the ambulance wasn't even there, and the morons in the left lane weren't any better. A couple of vehicles actually moved into the left-turn lane at the hospital with the ambulance directly behind them, forcing it to wait in traffic again. Un-facking-believable.

[Dexer]

I've often thought that the guy riding shotgun in an ambulance should LITERALLY be riding riding shotgun.

Give him a Remington 870 combat shotgun to persuade people to get out of the way.

And, yes, people driving in front of ambulances are oblivious, stupid AND ignorant. Once again, I must say that I wish the police would spend more time concerning themselves with bad drivers than handing out tickets for lack of windshield washer fluid (seriously, the Winnipeg Free Press ran an article citiing this as the latest fund raising tactic by the local boys in blue).

[aaronk]

Wow, that is a terrible story. Most of the time I see an ambulance, people in the opposing lane are usually pretty ignorant but for the most part the vehicles in the path of the ambulance typically move out of the way. I can't believe that - what has society become when getting to Wal-Mart for a bottle of discount shampoo has become more important than someone else's life? I'm in favour of mounting snow plows to ambulances and just push the idiots out of the way. 'NOW YOU SEE ME!'

[Schmengie]

 Having worked in the ER for a fair number of years, I know that 2 or 3 minutes can easily make the difference between life or death. I timed how long it took that ambulance to clear the intersection and get to the hospital with a dozen moron motorists blocking it's way. It was stuck in traffic for almost 5 minutes because these brain-dead, self-absorbed refused to obey the law or were too oblivious to see what was happening around them. Normally an ambulance running code 3 (lights and sirens) can do that distance in 30 seconds or less.

 I'm kicking myself because I should have taken these idiot's numbers, but I was just too pissed-off. I was actually pounding on my wheel and screaming at them to get the hell out of the way, but no one noticed.

 I hope it was one of their relatives in that ambulance. It's the next day as I write this and I'm still angry.

[Sir Osis of Liver]

Emergency vehicles should be equipped with license plate recognition equipment. Getting a $2000 fine by mail for failing to yield to an emergency vehicle would certainly help.

http://www.elsag.com/index.asp

People around here seem to get out of the way pretty well for the most part.

[safristi]

..Oblivious,stupid or ignorant ?..........a trifecta of NON Commonsensical behaviour.......that transfers to many a daily activity...maybe as folk are getting BIGGER their BRAINS are getting smaller....

[stodge]

Same here - people in Ottawa are generally pretty good about getting out of the way. I'd be ok with ambulances including cameras to report drivers that don't move. Bus drivers are allowed to take your license plate if you don't let them out so why not emergency responders too?

[5 Wheel Drive]

A friend of mine is a paramedic, he's had his share of people who don't move (like John Muckler yacking on his phone on NHL trade-deadline day!).  Or they don't know what to do and just freeze.  He did tell me that for the most part Ottawa drivers are pretty good at getting out of the way.

[random006]

You ask:  Are people oblivious, stupid, or just ignorant?

In far too many cases, the answer is:  YES (as in all of the above).

[dr_spock]

Perhahps mandatory driver license retesting every few years can weed them out.  If IT people have to be retested every few years to renew their IT certifications, why can't drivers?

[aquadorhj]

i think it's all of the above.

just day before yesterday, on commute home, i saw a dip-sh1t in golf wagon that i just passed on the left move into left lane, even though there were no other cars in front of him in the second lane.  obviously i was in front, but i was still making distance from him.
there were cars moving faster than it lined up behind me in the left lane, that's why i moved.  and this a-hole moves into left and block a string of cars obviously moving faster than him, amongst which was a ford GT with a subtle aftermarket exchaust.

.     i wanted to be passed by that car.

this was on deerfoot tr south bound, a real deal 4 lane highway.