Esurance Insight: Emergency Vehicles, Police Cars, & Buses
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Home > Learning Center > Insights > Accidents & Claims > Emergency Vehicles & Buses
Safety Around Emergency Vehicles,
Police Cars, & School Buses

Hopefully you know that when you see a yellow school bus, a police car on a mission, or an ambulance responding to an emergency, there are certain things you should do (or not do) while driving.

Esurance offers the following tips for sharing the road with school buses, emergency response vehicles, and police cars.

School Buses
Most school bus accidents occur when children are exiting buses. These accidents could easily be prevented if all drivers stopped when bus drivers flashed their lights and put out their stop sign. Therefore, if you're sharing the road with a school bus, show the bus driver extra courtesy by keeping your distance and making a complete stop when a school bus signals it's making a stop. You could save a child's life and as an added bonus, avoid costly auto insurance claims!

For more information about school bus safety, read the Esurance article, The Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round.

Ambulances
When you share the road with an ambulance on an emergency call, you'll hear a siren and see lights flashing. The instant you're aware an ambulance is near, you should try to get out of the way safely. First, you'll want to check traffic around you, and slow down, if possible. If traffic allows, signal and try to move to either the right or left lane. If you're leading the pack of traffic, you may even want to put on your hazard lights to signal to traffic behind you that there's an emergency ahead.

Police Cars
Police officers in a hurry are generally responding to a call or in pursuit of someone. When you see a police car flashing its lights and sounding its siren, try to get out of the way as soon as you can do so safely. Always use good judgment when you do get out of the way. You don't want to cause an accident or delay the police officer from his or her duties.

Remember, when you encounter an emergency vehicle or school bus, slow down or get out of the way. That way, you avoid endangering anyone (including yourself) and avoid potential costly auto insurance claims.

For more information on driving safety and saving on your auto insurance, visit Esurance's Auto Insurance Learning Center.

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