Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service has urged motorists to think before they park to make sure they don’t block emergency vehicles.
The Service is reminding motorists to park sensibly to allow enough space for a fire appliance or ambulance to get past. The warning comes after a fire appliance couldn’t get through streets in the Stonefield area of Stone last week (week beginning 19th September) because of inconsiderate parking. The vehicle was in the area for community safety work but if the crew had been on an emergency call they would have found it impossible to get the vehicle through certain streets.
It is an offence to obstruct emergency vehicles and fire crews are legally permitted to forcibly remove vehicles causing an obstruction with urgency, proportionate to the seriousness of the emergency they are attending.
Carmel Warren, Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service Prevent Manager, said:
Many of our streets were just not designed for the number of cars now being parked in them so it’s more important than ever that drivers think carefully about where they leave their vehicles. Dangerous parking not only affects firefighters as they are driving around carrying out community safety work. Crucially, it means they could be delayed in reaching an emergency situation, when every minute really does count.
All we are asking motorists is that you consider where you’re parking your vehicle – have a check around before you leave it: can a fire engine or an ambulance get past easily? Don’t park on street corners and try to avoid parking parallel to another car on the opposite side of the road.”
