[USA][GA][Stockbridge] Hazards On, Brain Off

[u/Playful_State5887]

So I was driving on Hwy 138, just cruising, when this car suddenly decides to stop dead in the middle of the intersection. She flips on her hazards like that somehow grants immunity from bad driving. I had no clue what she was doing, so I honked.

A few seconds later, an ambulance shows up, lights flashing, sirens wailing, making a left onto our street. Now, according to Georgia Code § 40-6-74, every driver is supposed to yield, pull to the right, clear the intersection, and stop until the emergency vehicle passes. That’s the law—it keeps everything safe and fluid.

I understand why she put on her hazards. The idea was to warn others—including me—so the ambulance could move through easier and prevent accidents. That’s noble in theory. But here’s the problem: not clearing the intersection causes more harm than good. Sitting there frozen in the middle just makes the road tighter and forces the ambulance to navigate around her instead of giving them the space they need.

So instead of helping, she basically turned herself into a traffic cone with flashing lights—well-intentioned maybe, but still completely in the way.

[u/ShowScene5]

I'm with you, dumb move on that driver. They understand the requirement to stop for emergency vehicles but didn't understand the reason: to get out of their way. Should have stopped before the intersection or just have gone through

That said, this wouldn't even rank as a clippable event for me. This is just every day garden variety bad driving. If this ranks for you, I want to live where you live.

[u/Scratchfish → u/ShowScene5]

I'm a firefighter, you'd be mind blown at the things people do when they see the flashing lights.

My favorite is when a line of cars pulls over to both sides of the road to let us pass, and someone pulls out around the cars and passes all of them. Or they see us approaching and they speed up to outrun us so they don't have to pull over