SNOQUALMIE PASS, Wash. A close call involving a semi and an ambulance on Interstate 90 shows exactly why freeway shoulders must remain clear during a crash-related traffic jam.
Video from Snoqualmie Pass shows traffic backed up following a crash. An ambulance can be seen approaching the congestion along the shoulder, using the only clear route available to reach the incident.
Video from Snoqualmie Pass shows a truck driver abruptly crossing two lanes into the path of an ambulance using the shoulder to reach a crash, nearly causing another collision and delaying responders for almost a minute.
As the ambulance approaches, a truck driver abruptly moves across two lanes toward the shoulder. The maneuver puts the semi directly in front of the ambulance, nearly causes a collision and delays the emergency crew for almost a minute.
The truck driver may have believed he was moving out of the ambulance’s way. The problem is that the ambulance already had a clear path.
By moving toward the shoulder, the driver did not create room for the emergency vehicle. He moved into the space it was already using.
Many people have defended the trucker by pointing out that motorists are normally instructed to move to the right for an approaching emergency vehicle.
That instruction does not mean drivers should immediately steer right without checking where the emergency vehicle is located.
If an ambulance is already traveling along the right shoulder and the vehicles in the regular lanes are not blocking it, the safest response is often to remain stopped and allow it to pass. A sudden lane change can turn a clear emergency route into another obstruction.
Washington law requires drivers to yield to approaching emergency vehicles. It also requires drivers to determine that a lane change can be completed safely before making it.
Those rules work together. Moving right is not yielding when the emergency vehicle is already on the right.
A freeway shoulder is not an extra traffic lane.
It provides a place for motorists experiencing breakdowns, medical problems and other genuine emergencies. During a crash-related backup, it also gives ambulances, firefighters, police officers, highway crews and tow operators a way to reach the scene without becoming trapped in traffic.
That is why motorists should never pull onto the shoulder simply because traffic has stopped. They should not park there to wait out a closure, use it to reach the next exit or follow an emergency vehicle through the backup.
One vehicle can block the route. Several vehicles can eliminate it completely.
The Federal Highway Administration identifies emergency refuge and first-responder access among the important safety functions served by freeway shoulders. When ordinary traffic fills that space, emergency crews may be forced to stop and wait for drivers to move.
That is exactly what happened on Snoqualmie Pass.
The nearly one-minute delay matters because an ambulance is not using the shoulder merely to avoid traffic.
Its crew may be trying to reach someone who is seriously injured. It may be carrying personnel or equipment needed to stabilize a patient. Nobody sitting in the traffic backup knows what is happening at the crash scene or how urgently help is needed.
The truck driver’s intention does not change the result shown in the video. The ambulance had an open route. The truck moved into it, nearly caused another crash and delayed the response.
Supporting professional drivers does not mean defending every decision made behind the wheel of a semi. In this situation, the truck driver was clearly in the wrong.
The lesson is simple: When an emergency vehicle already has a clear path along the shoulder, stay out of that path and let it pass.
