Final answer:
When following an emergency vehicle that is responding to an emergency, the minimum following distance is 500 feet. This safety measure allows emergency vehicles the necessary room to operate and ensures your safety as well as that of the emergency responders. The safest action when an ambulance is passing by with a siren is to wait until it is directly in front of you for the siren's frequency to match the actual frequency.
Step-by-step explanation:
You are following an emergency vehicle responding to an emergency. The closest distance you may follow is 500 feet. This rule ensures that emergency vehicles have adequate space to operate safely and that you have enough time to react to any sudden stops or maneuvers the emergency vehicle might have to make. It also helps to prevent accidents and avoid obstructing emergency responders.
Why is this important? Following too closely can endanger both the driver of the following vehicle and the crew of the emergency vehicle, as well as other road users. It’s crucial to give emergency vehicles enough room to work and to stay safe on the road, hence maintaining a minimum of 500 feet is essential.
If you see a car driving toward you and it is 28 meters away, it would depend on several factors whether it is safe to walk across the road such as the speed of the oncoming vehicle and your walking speed. As a general rule of thumb, if the car is very close, such as within a few car lengths, it is safer to wait until it has passed before attempting to cross the road.
GRASP CHECK: If you are standing on the sidewalk and an ambulance drives by with its siren blaring, the point at which the frequency that you observe most closely matches the actual frequency of the siren is when the ambulance is in front of you (c), as there would be no relative motion between you and the ambulance affecting the frequency.