Emergency Vehicles Deserve More Respect On The Road

Time and time again I've seen this on the road.  An emergency vehicle is approaching with lights flashing and siren blaring, and drivers ignore it and keep on driving like it's not even there.

This scenario isn't exclusive to drivers here in Central New York.  Everywhere I've driven, I've seen ambulances, firetrucks and police cars ignored by the other vehicles on the road.  Just this morning on my way into work, I saw it happen again.  In my rear view mirror, I saw an ambulance approaching behind me.  The lights were on and the siren was blaring.  I immediately pulled over and the guy driving the vehicle behind me glared at me as he went by, as if I was doing something wrong.  Sure enough, soon the ambulance was directly behind him and he just kept on going, until he finally got a clue and pulled off to the right.  In case you're wondering, there was plenty of room to pull over.  I realize sometimes it's not so easy, but in this case, the road was more than wide enough to easily get out of the way.  Are people that oblivious when they drive?  What if it was an ambulance carrying someone you loved to the hospital and every second counted?  Or  a fire truck enroute to your house that was on fire?   You get the idea.  It's also the law here in NY, according to Safe NY.gov, to yield to an approaching emergency vehicle.