New laws are now in place in Queensland designed to help keep emergency response workers safe when they are working in roadside environments.
On the 16 September 2022 new laws commenced in Queensland requiring motorists passing parked emergency response vehicles to slow down and move over as soon as you can do so safely.
Emergency response vehicles include the following types of vehicles:
Emergency services – flashing blue and red lights
-Queensland Police Service vehicles
-Queensland Ambulance Service vehicles
-Queensland Fire and Emergency Service vehicles
Transport enforcement – flashing magenta lights
-Transport Main Roads compliance vehicles
-National Heavy Vehicle Regulator compliance vehicles
Breakdown assistance providers – flashing yellow lights
-Tow trucks
-Roadside assistance vehicles e.g. RACQ or similar vehicles
If you are travelling on a multi-lane road you must leave one clear lane between your vehicle and the emergency response vehicle. You do not need to move over if it is unsafe or impractical to do so, there are roadworks preventing you from doing so, you are turning off the multilane road or you have been given a direction by a police officer or other enforcement officer.
If you aren’t able to leave a clear lane or you are driving on a single lane road, you must move over as far as possible within your lane and slow down to a safe speed.
In deciding what is a safe speed you should consider:
• how close parked vehicles and emergency response vehicle are to your lane
• surrounding traffic and whether you can brake safely (e.g. is there a truck behind you?)
• the road and weather conditions
The penalty for not moving over and slowing down is $431 and 3 demerit points.
