‘I Need My Space’ Campaign Highlights Importance Of Being Aware Of Emergency Service Vehicles On The Road

Serious injury experts at Irwin Mitchell’s Southampton office applaud a new campaign launched today by Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service. 

Titled ‘I Need My Space’, the campaign urges drivers to be aware of their surroundings, and be considerate of emergency services vehicles.

The #INeedMySpace campaign comes after an increasing number of drivers have delayed fire engines getting to incidents.

Whether it is stopping on box junctions outside fire stations, parking inconsiderately so that fire engines cannot pass along a road, or even not knowing what to do or how to react when they hear emergency sirens and see blue lights approaching.

Assistant Chief Officer, Andy Bowers, of Hampshire Fire and Rescue reports that “these issues are causing delays and when we are en route to cutting somebody out of a car, this can be the difference between life and death.”

Guidance is now being issued by the service on how to be considerate of fire engines, and how to respond when you hear emergency sirens approaching.

Partner and Serious Injury expert, Claire Howard, of Irwin Mitchell’s Southampton office, said:

Expert Opinion

“This is a great campaign from Hampshire Fire and Rescue. This is an issue which affects all emergency services, but particularly the fire service due to the size of their vehicles.

“We act for a large number of clients who have been injured either in road traffic accidents or accidents at work, who require emergency assistance from the fire service. If this assistance is delayed even by a few minutes, it could have made their chances of survival that much slimmer.

“I strongly hope that campaigns such as this help to change driver behaviour, which will not only allow faster response times for emergency vehicles, but will in turn, make our roads safer by people driving more considerately and more carefully." Claire Howard - Solicitor

Irwin Mitchell is committed to improving road safety across the UK. The #SaferJourneys campaign encourages drivers to make small changes to their behaviour and highlights relevant current issues surrounding road safety, driving standards and changes to the law. To find out more, visit the campaign page.