San Francisco (CA) firefighters are concerned over the city’s efforts to narrow streets in order to make them more pedestrian-friendly.
The unintended consequences of these moves may end up slowing the response time of fire trucks answering emergency calls, according to report from KTVU (http://bit.ly/15rfII8).
“They’re making bike lanes and putting palm trees in the middle, taking out a lane of traffic,” Firefighter Jim Fewell told KTVU reporters on a recent ride-along through the city.
According to the department, first units are arriving on scene in about five and a half minutes after a call is received–about eight seconds slower than during the first part of last year. The narrowing streetscape may cause response times to increase even more.
Read more about the situation athttp://bit.ly/15rfII8.
For more on driving safety for the fire service, considerNational Fire Fighter Near-Miss Reporting System: Safe Driving and Intersections,Maximizing Simulation Driver Training,Exceeding the Limits of Your Apparatus, andDriving Fire Apparatus : It’s Not the Family Sedan.
