What Are the Laws on Yielding to Emergency Vehicles in Nevada?

When an ambulance or other emergency is on the road and they are involved in a car accident, the outcome can be catastrophic, due to the high speeds in which emergency vehicles tend operate. When an ambulance or other emergency vehicle is on the roadway, they have to follow certain rules before ‘breaking’ the normal traffic laws. These rules are set forth in Nevada Revised Statutes (“NRS”) 484B, entitled “Rules of the Road”.  The relevant sections of NRS 484B are laid out below:

NRS  484B.700  Privileges granted to driver of authorized emergency vehicle, official vehicle of regulatory agency or vehicle escorting funeral procession; application of privileges; limitation of privileges.

      1.  The driver of an authorized emergency vehicle or an official vehicle of a regulatory agency, when responding to an emergency call or when in pursuit of an actual or suspected violator of the law or when responding to but not upon returning from a fire alarm, or a vehicle escorting a funeral procession, may:
      (a) Proceed past a red or stop signal or stop sign, but only after slowing down as may be necessary for safe operation.
      (b) Exceed any speed limits so long as the driver does not endanger life or property, except that a vehicle escorting a funeral procession may not exceed the speed limit by more than 15 miles per hour to overtake the procession and direct traffic at the next intersection.
      (c) Disregard regulations governing direction of movement or turning in specified directions. The driver of a vehicle escorting a funeral procession may direct the movements of the vehicles in the procession in a similar manner and may direct the movements of other vehicles.
      2.  The privileges granted in subsection 1 apply only when the vehicle is making use of:
      (a) Audible and visual signals; or
      (b) Visual signals only, as required by law.
      3.  The driver of an authorized emergency vehicle or an official vehicle of a regulatory agency may park or stand without regard to the provisions of chapters 484A to 484E, inclusive, of NRS, if the driver makes use of a warning lamp.
      4.  The provisions of this section do not relieve the driver from the duty to drive with due regard for the safety of all persons and do not protect the driver from the consequences of the driver’s reckless disregard for the safety of others.

What are Emergency Vehicles Allowed to Do?

    •    Emergency vehicles can drive faster than the speed limit.
    •    When approaching a stop sign or red light, emergency vehicles do not have to stop, as long as it safe to proceed.
    •    Drivers of Emergency Vehicles can drive on the ‘wrong’ side of the road.
    •    They must still use Due Care to avoid causing accidents. 

 Next time, we will discuss who has the right of way at a four way stop.