Two emergency services volunteer leaders have welcomed a move to slow traffic down as they work to help people.
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Drivers in NSW will soon need to slow down to 40 kilometres an hour when driving past emergency services personnel and vehicles at incidents.
The rule will apply for both paid and volunteer emergency services.
“Something that has always worried me as a someone in charge of volunteers is that people do drive past quite quickly,” Cootamundra-Gundagai’s NSW State Emergency Service (SES) local controller Ross Tout said.
“Sometimes it’s very dangerous when you’re called to an emergency, you don’t always have traffic control in place.”
Mr Tout said while most people were quite good, he had witnessed times when SES volunteers had been placed in dangerous situations when they were trying to save someone’s life.
“People should be slowing down around emergency service vehicles,” Mr Tout said.
Cootamundra HQ NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS) Captain Marc Bickerdike said the new rule was positive.
Captain Bickerdike said while the RFS had standard procedures to keep volunteers safe when responding to fires or car accidents, the 40km/h rule would provide a little extra protection.
“It’s a little bit of added safety for police, paramedics and firefighters,” he said.
“We all want to get home safely, that’s the biggest issue.”
Part of that protection help reduce the risk of secondary accidents as drivers pass the scene. The new road rule will be trialled for 12 months from September 1.
Member for Cootamundra Steph Cooke said emergency service workers put themselves at risk to help people.
“They should be able to attend road incidents without fear of being struck by a vehicle themselves,” Ms Cooke said.
“These new measures will help keep our emergency service workers safe while they’re doing the same for us.”