Gina’s first job while in high school was at a flower shop.
For her, it was definitely the best job ever. She got to make arrangements. Help people pick flowers for loved ones. Set up weddings. Organize flowers. And the best part – take home old flowers.
Gina was the youngest employee at the shop, and always volunteered to pick up food for everyone in her brand new, red Toyota Prius.
The first, and last, time Gina went out for a Starbucks run, she was getting Frappuccino’s for four. She put the order in via the Starbucks app on her iPhone 6 Plus and was off to the nearest coffee joint. It was .02 miles away.
The barista packed the drinks into a four-cup to-go carton and stuck a plastic handle over it for convenient carrying.
Perfect, Gina thought. She got to her car and put the to-go carton on the floor in front of the empty passenger’s seat.
She made one simple mental note prior to driving off – no matter what, do not slam the brakes.
Gina exited the Starbucks lot. At the red light, she scrolled down her iTunes playlist and put on Taylor Swift’s brand spankin’ new album. She blasted her favorite song – “Out of Style.” For Gina, there was nothing better than jamming out to her favorite song on a perfect, beautiful, summer day.
She made it about .01 miles when suddenly she thought she heard a honk. Annoyed somebody was interrupting her in-car dance session, she checked her rear-view mirror.
A firefighter inside a giant fire truck was furiously honking his horn at Gina, while sirens were also sounding. There were three other emergency vehicles behind the fire truck.
She panicked. And of course, slammed her brakes.
All four frapp’s went flying, immediately staining Gina’s cream-colored mats.
While freaking out, she also forgot she was still in the left lane.
The firefighter continued to honk endlessly and angrily, drove around Gina and proceeded to put out a fire.
Gina drove the remainder of the .01 mile route very slowly, carefully and quietly – without Taylor Swift.
Battalion Chief Marty Coomes, with the Lombard, Illinois Fire Department:
“Unfortunately, I’d have to say that six out of ten times people don’t follow proper emergency vehicle protocol,” Chief Marty said. “It’s pretty bad that there’s quite a bit of either disregard or unawareness.”
Proper protocol is commonly taught in driving exams, Chief Marty explained. Drivers need to pull to the right for sirens and lights.
“The proper thing to do is, when safe, pull to the right and come to a complete stop,” he said. “There are certainly situations when you have a traffic lane and you can’t merge, but at least put the signal on and start to slow down so we know what your intention is.”
Chief Marty said new drivers should especially pay attention to their mirrors to keep a general alertness about traffic around them.
He also suggests people keep their radio volume down as well so they can hear what’s going on around them.
“I have noticed, in the past 29 years, attention to emergency vehicles does appear to have gotten worse with the prevalence of cellular phones, and especially with people texting and driving,” Chief Marty said. “Distracted driving has made the situation much worse.”
Disclaimer: All characters appearing in this short story, excluding interviews, are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
