3 ms·
You and others here are conflating right of way with responsibility at red lights. Those are two separate things. While emergency vehicles have right of way, th
by mdorazio 3y ago
You and others here are conflating right of way with responsibility at red lights. Those are two separate things. While emergency vehicles have right of way, that only means you must pull over to let them pass you. But emergency vehicles also have intersection responsibilities. For example, here's the law excerpt in Texas:
> In operating an authorized emergency vehicle the operator may: ... (2) proceed past a red or stop signal or stop sign, after slowing as necessary for safe operation; ...
And in California the relevant law is in vehicle code section 20156 [1], which clearly states that emergency vehicle drivers cannot do whatever they want without regard to the safety of other drivers just because their sirens are on:
> Section 21055 does not relieve the driver of a vehicle from the duty to drive with due regard for the safety of all persons using the highway, nor protect him from the consequences of an arbitrary exercise of the privileges granted in that section.
It's quite likely that the emergency vehicle driver is at fault in this interaction, not the Cruise vehicle.
[1] https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?sectionNum=21056.&lawCode=VEH https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySectio...