[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]

For anyone wondering, the idea (and in fact the law) in most places is to GET OUT OF THE WAY of Emergency vehicles. Don't come to a dead stop in the path of one.

Taken directly from the GA drovers handbook:

"If emergency vehicles are using their emergency lights (blue or red) and sirens, safely maneuver your vehicle out of their way. You should slow your vehicle and move over to the shoulder of the road, or if that is not possible, as far to the right of the roadway or lane as you can, and stop. You should always use caution to ensure that you do not endanger other motorists, bicyclists, or pedestrians while doing so. Do not position your vehicle so that it blocks an intersection or otherwise prevents the emergency vehicle from making a necessary turn"

So many of you are so confidently wrong on this.

[u/Neuvirths_Glove → u/ShowScene5]

The person who put on their flashers was, in fact, safely out of the way, based on the fact that the emergency vehicle went right by.

[u/ShowScene5 → u/Neuvirths_Glove]

Stopping inside the intersection was still a bone headed move, regardless of the actual outcome and specifically prohibited by the State.

[u/Neuvirths_Glove → u/ShowScene5]

Not the right thing, but nobody died. And no, u/Playful_State5887, not "completely in the way".