Photo via u/freakynit/Reddit
July 26, 2021, 1:59 pm
A video posted to a certain Reddit forum dedicated to people who are not being good and helpful members of society is going viral for showing a woman making minimal effort to move her illegally parked car out of the way of a fire truck with sirens and horns on full blast.
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The woman had parked her convertible in the middle of one side of the road where all street parking appeared to be taken and left her hazards on. A couple of bystanders peek into the windows as they pass by, presumably to check for signs of the driver or why the car is there at all.
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The footage was captured by some poor soul either living or working out of the building she had “parked” in front of and shows the truck waiting and running its siren and blaring the horn for a full 45 seconds before the car’s owner finally appears, walking with a single bag in hand. She doesn’t seem too bothered to hurry, even as the driver of the emergency vehicle sees her open the car door and lays on the horn to let her know that she has done a bad thing.
Finally, at 1:05, she begins to move her car.
Hazard lights are, of course, only supposed to be used in an emergency, and you should only leave your car in the middle of the road if you are physically incapable of moving it and not because you just need to pop in somewhere real quick to pick up your takeout order or whatever.
Though some commenters have speculated that it may have been possible for the fire truck to squeeze by the convertible, the driver likely would have risked sideswiping her (which would have been deserved) or the cars legally parked on the other side of the road (which would not have been deserved).
It’s also possible that the emergency wasn’t a super urgent one, or the driver likely would have taken the risk in spite of possible liability issues. However, it’s perfectly possible that the firefighters felt they could not make it through the gap safely, and it’s not exactly easy to turn a whole full-size fire truck around on a street like that. Or any street.
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Most commenters seem to think this was a case of clear selfishness and an example of the consequences this can create and are especially disapproving of how long the woman took to move her car.
“Should’ve just ran into the car, I really don’t think that someone’s house or even life should be on the line because somebody wanted to go shopping,” said one Reddit user.
“Where did people ever get the idea that hazard lights = park anywhere including middle of the street,” wrote another. “I’m infuriated that they held up an emergency vehicle on the way to potentially save someone’s life.”
Another individual who personally knows a firefighter in the U.K., though this video seems to be from the U.S., cautioned against encouraging these workers to hit other vehicles while they’re driving the truck.
“A guy I know is a firefighter in the UK and he got disciplined for driving his fire engine down a narrow street to get to a house fire, damaging several (illegally) parked cars in the process,” said the commenter. “He was pretty close to being sacked and was suspended for a while. Luckily his union – and public opinion – was on his side and he was reinstated.”
*First Published: July 26, 2021, 1:59 pm
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