Should You Go Through A Red Light To Get Out Of The Way Of An Emergency Vehicle?

"Should you go through a red light to get out of the way of a police car, ambulance or fire engine with blues and twos (siren/blue flashing lights) on?

The simple answer is "No".

The Highway Code isn't a lot of help as it's advice is somewhat generalised on this point and it doesn't spell out what drivers should and shouldn't do in simple terms.

The Met Police on the other hand are rather more specific. Here's their advice;

We do NOT expect you to risk damage to your tyres, wheels or steering by bumping up kerbs to make way for us.

We do NOT expect you to put yourself in danger by crossing red traffic lights to make way for us.

We do NOT expect you to risk road camera fines by, for example, moving in to bus lanes during hours of operation to make way for us.

We would however, appreciate your co-operation by looking well ahead and choosing sensible places to pull over. If possible avoid stopping before bends, brows of hills or narrow sections of roads where we may have difficulty passing.

Source: Metropolitan Police Service

Get out of the way if you can, but be sensible - don't put anyone in danger (including yourself) and don't break the law.