LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – In our busy city, we are used to hearing lights and sirens.
However, many motorists are not following the law when those sirens come near them.
FOX5 spoke with a Las Vegas woman who explained how much of a close call it was for her family when they needed help, and drivers were not moving over.
Angela Stalis was driving one of her daughters to school when she heard an ambulance trying to drive through.
Stalis said the freeway was packed but no one was moving over for emergency vehicle.
“I thought ‘Wow, what if that was your family?’ It was mind blowing that they are not moving at all,” Stalis said.
That thought was actually a mother’s intuition.
“10 minutes later my husband called he was taking our other daughter to school, and said they were on the side of the freeway on 215 they just go into an accident,” Stalis said. “Then I drove on the freeway to pick them up and sure enough, it was the ambulance that leaving with the other person in the other car who was apparently having a medical emergency.”
It was an emergency that could have been dealt with sooner, if drivers moved over.
FOX5 reached out to police from every jurisdiction in our area to find out how many drivers have been cited this year for not moving over.
Data collected shows as follows
- Henderson: 4 citations
- Las Vegas: 9 citations
- North Las Vegas : 39 citations
Those numbers were not what Glen Simpson with Community Ambulance said he expected.
“It is something our employees face on a daily basis,” Simpson said.
Earlier this year, FOX5 drove along with Simpson to see for ourselves how drivers do not move over for an emergency vehicle.
“The reality is somebody that we are responding to could be somebody that you love,” Simpson said.
This turned out to be the reality for Stalis as she tells FOX5 it was an eye opener for her.
“Every day I’m scared every day I just feel like we could do we could all do better,” Simpson said.
Simpson also advised if you can’t move over towards the right, stay in place and do not try to move to the left if an emergency vehicle is coming through.
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