Police, Fire, EMT, Mail, who has right of way?

snopes.com...

Claim: A United States Postal Service mail truck has the right of way over emergency vehicles.

Origins: Surprisingly,
quite a few people will answer the above question by proclaiming that the mail truck has the right of way. How this belief came to be is a puzzler, although some respondents have at least made a stab at providing some plausible answers:

The answer to that old theoretical puzzler is the mail truck, by virtue of its federal government status.1

Continued at source

So, who do you think has the right of way?


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[edit on 27/3/06 by JAK]

I'm speaking from experience when I say this. No one, and I mean no one, has the right of way automatically at a red light. This includes police, fire, ems,a nd even the mail man. Right of way is not an automatic thing, right of way has to be earned at the traffic light and intersection(s).

In New York State the law clearly states that all vehicles must yield to emergency vehicles. It does not differentiate between police, fire, or EMS.

I am not aware of any federal law regarding right-of-way of emergency vehicles. Even if there was, a state law that is MORE RESTRICTIVE than a federal law supercedes the federal law.

[edit on 1-4-2006 by craig732]

One thing I do know about the City of New York is that firefighters have the legal right to move your vehicle. This law is in place because of the congestion that can occur in the city.

[edit on 20-5-2010 by Pearlthorn]

This is TRUE, or at least in Ohio it is. A class mate of mine was hired in to the local post office and told our class that according to his boss, "If a mail truck and an ambulance come to a stop sign intersection at the same time the mail truck has the right of way because it is a federal vehicle and the ambulance is a state/city vehicle". His boss then added, "But if I ever hear about you cutting off an ambulance I'll fire you and kick your a**".

reply to post by gimmefootball400


not only that, but if it's an emergency and time is of the essence, they can go through your car (I'm thinking specifically if it's illegally parked, like in front of a fire hydrant). My dad's a retired firefighter - I remember a story about them breaking windows in a car and running the hose right through it, because of it being parked in front of the hydrant. Whoops!



as for the law - in this state it's also mandatory right of way for emergency vehicles. generally, traffic lights aren't a problem because the police/fire have the ability to overide/activate some gadget on the stoplights that automatically make it a green light for them, prior to reaching the intersection.

when all else fails just remember -who's bigger? usually, that's the fire truck. :-)

Originally posted by gimmefootball400
I'm speaking from experience when I say this. No one, and I mean no one, has the right of way automatically at a red light. This includes police, fire, ems,a nd even the mail man. Right of way is not an automatic thing, right of way has to be earned at the traffic light and intersection(s).

Very true regarding red lights. I work in auto liability insurance and have dealt with a few accidents in which my insured was at a red light, fire/police approached from behind with lights & sirens, insured pulls into intersection to allow emergency vehicle to pass, insured gets t-boned....insured is at fault.

In most states (if not all) ANY vehicle (whether Fed or not) must yield to emergency vehicles (which makes sense, as a life or more is on the line)...

I doubt a slow mail delivery ever killed anyone (unless it was meds)...

That said though, if all of them show up, who has the right of way?

Easy...the biggest one!!! (and the one with the biggest ca hones!)