Question: What should the driver of a vehicle stopped at a red light do when an emergency vehicle approaches from behind? Is it allowable or required for the driver to proceed through the red light as long as no one is coming from either side?

Answer: No, a driver should not proceed through a red light, said Honolulu Police Department spokeswoman Michelle Yu, citing Hawaii Revised Statutes 291C-31, which covers obedience to traffic-control devices.

The law says a driver of any vehicle except an authorized emergency vehicle should obey the instructions of any traffic-control device (such as a red light or stop sign) unless directed otherwise by a police or traffic officer.

Shayne Enright, spokeswoman for Honolulu’s Emergency Services Department, amplified HPD’s response. “Honolulu Emergency Medical Services paramedics and emergency medical technicians go through extensive driver training prior to operating an ambulance. When motorists hear an EMS ambulance behind them, and they are stopped at a red light, they should not drive into the intersection. The paramedics and EMTs will proceed cautiously through as they are able to,” she said.

Another HRS section, 291C-65, describes how drivers should react when emergency vehicles approach with lights flashing and sirens sounding. The law states that vehicles should yield to the emergency vehicles by immediately driving “to a position clear of any intersection and parallel to, and as close as possible to, the right-hand edge or curb of the highway or the nearest edge or curb when the highway has multiple lanes or when the highway is a divided highway or one-way street and shall stop and remain in such position until the authorized emergency vehicle is passed, except as otherwise directed by a police officer.”

To simplify: Pull over immediately, to the right if possible. Only vehicles already in an intersection should proceed, and only until they are clear of the intersection. Once stopped, remain so until the emergency vehicle passes.

The driver in your question was waiting at a red light, clear of the intersection, and should not proceed.

Q: What about the ambulance or firetruck? Can it go through the red light?

A: Yes. Per Sec. 15-4.4 of the Revised Ordinances of Honolulu, authorized emergency vehicles may “proceed past a red light or stop signal or stop sign, but only after slowing down as may be necessary for safe operation.”

Such vehicles also may exceed speed limits and disregard directional signs (“no left turn,” for example) as long as they don’t endanger life or property, under the same law.

These exemptions to traffic rules apply only when the emergency vehicle is sounding a siren, bell or exhaust whistle “as may be reasonably necessary” and is flashing its warning lights.

They do not protect the driver of the emergency vehicle “from the consequences of his or her ordinary negligence or reckless disregard of the safety and property rights of others,” according to the ordinance.

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