Sam Needs His Sushy-Bye-Byes
Think about this story next time you're walking away from your favourite Yaletown eatery or night spot. Worse yet, think about any of your kids crossing some intersection or street after a few bevvies.....no sirens so the Mayor can get some sleep. Splat. The man has no shame.
Vancouver firefighters refuse to mute their sirens late at night
The Vancouver Province Fri 01 Feb 2008 Page: A14 Section: News Byline: Cheryl Chan Source: The Province
Mayor Sam Sullivan is in for a few more noisy nights.
Fed up with being awakened by sirens in his Yaletown apartment, he said he asked Premier Gordon Campbell last year to amend the Motor Vehicle Act to give emergency vehicles the discretion to turn off their sirens at night. The amendment was passed, but the Vancouver Fire Department said yesterday the sirens will stay on.
Fire department spokesman Capt. Rob Jones-Cook said the legislation won't affect how firefighters respond to emergency calls. "We are going to continue the way we have," he said. "We need traffic to know we're there. As soon as we come out of the firehall, we're going to come on with lights and sirens." He said it takes fire trucks three to five minutes to get to the scene. "We need the fire sirens to do that," he said. "The longer it takes us to get to the scene, the bigger the fire is going to get." Said Rod MacDonald, president of the Vancouver Fire Fighters Union: "If we get it wrong and we get into an accident or strike a pedestrian, I know who's going to be blamed for it and it won't be the mayor." The amendment gives emergency vehicles such as police cars, ambulances and fire trucks discretion to turn off their sirens late at night in high-density areas and if they are within the speed limit. It came into effect last spring.
Sullivan told CKNW the no-sirens rule is suitable for downtown. "Four o'clock in the morning in the middle of downtown and nobody is on the street and it's green lights all the way . . . there's no need to have a siren on," he said.
Or he could move...or he could shut-up...or he could wear earplugs...or...
3 comments:
obviously none of these idiots who allowed this law to be changed,including the Premier or the Sol Gen, have ever ridden code three anywhere! I have and it's a very scary proposition at one in the morning or one in the afternoon. The motoring public has no idea what to do when an emergency vehicle approaches them.
Lights and sirens don't seem to matter.This new law, if any emergency driver is idiot enough to follow it, will result in DEATH, I'm sure of it.Sam won't get blamed. How would Sam feel if he needed some help and the emergency vehicle was in an accident on the way to help him because someone didn't see the lights. The Premier and Sol Gen and Sam should be looking at ways to protect those who try and protect us, or perhaps even ask them what they think of the new law BEFORE the change the rules.ALSO what about all those volunteer rescue workers who drop what ever they are doing and try to help. They aren't even allowed to speed or use emergency equipment on their own vehicles to get to the fire hall, ambulance station or boat etc. when sometimes seconds mean life and death for the person they are trying to save. In the US they are allowed emergency lights after they take the same course the full time emergency workers do.But then again that's another story!
If Simple Sam really thinks there's a time of night when "nobody is on the street" he sleeps too much as it is.
Late at night is when EVERYONE is driving faster and probably more impaired than any time. It's probably the most dangereous time for emergency crews.
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