Many of you have asked us about the role of the driver and whether or not the vehicle commander is liable for vehicles operating in emergency situations. We have decided to respond to your enquiries, based on what the law says, with the help of a document produced by two law students for ENSOSP.
First and foremost, a firefighter is, above all, a road user. As such, they are required to comply with the Highway Code and must hold a driving licence appropriate to the category of vehicle they are driving. But what does the Highway Code say about firefighters?
Firefighters, police officers and gendarmes in the same category
Fire and rescue service vehicles (SIS) are classified under the Highway Code as priority vehicles serving the public interest (Article R 311-1 of the Highway Code). The text does not distinguish between different types of vehicles; therefore, all -SIS- vehicles are covered, including emergency ambulances and officers’ liaison vehicles.
Unlike the police and the fire service, private ambulances used for medical transport are classified, under the same paragraph of that article, as: ‘Vehicles of public interest entitled to priority passage’, unless they are responding to a call from the SAMU.
The list of exemptions
Exemptions from the Highway Code are permitted on two conditions: the use of special warning devices and the urgency of the mission. The use of flashing beacons alone does not constitute grounds for an exemption. It is essential to activate both the flashing beacons and the two-tone siren.
Thus, if these two conditions are met, the driver may make an exception in accordance with Article R 432-1 of the Highway Code: speed limits, traffic lights, no-entry signs, solid lines, restrictions on the use of the horn, traffic rules on motorways, the wearing of seatbelts, etc. In all cases, the driver must not endanger other road users.
Even where the use of special warning devices is not required, members of the public are obliged to give way to or allow emergency vehicles to pass.
The Act, the Regulations and the circulars
Whilst the law lays down the general principles, regulatory provisions clarify and supplement these principles. In other words, the SISs are free to impose restrictions in their operational regulations or by means of a circular. For example, in a fire and rescue service (SDIS) in the south of France, a service circular authorises VSAV vehicles to drive 20 km/h above the speed limit and vans to drive 10 km/h above it. Others require the wearing of seatbelts. However, this does not create a legal right.
Measures are increasingly being taken to reduce the number of accidents, which cause human and material damage that is very costly and sometimes tragic.
Coach, apparatus coach: who is responsible?
To be clear, the driver is solely responsible for the vehicle whilst it is on the road. They are liable to criminal prosecution if they have committed an offence. The vehicle owner is not held liable under the law, although they may be held to account by their superiors.
Consequently, the driver is responsible for the safety of their vehicle and must ensure that it is roadworthy and complies with regulations and standards, particularly those relating to safety.
Can holders of a provisional licence drive?
The probationary driving licence was introduced by the Act of 12 June 2003 to step up the fight against road violence. Article R 413-5 of the Highway Code sets out the specific rules to which young drivers must adhere for two or three years (a six-point penalty system, display of the ‘A’ disc, speed limits of 110 or 80 km/h, etc.).
Article R 413-6 of the same Code sets out the list of drivers to whom these provisions do not apply, in particular drivers of military vehicles and of civil protection training and response units. Young drivers in the Paris Fire Brigade or the Marseille Maritime Fire Brigade are therefore not subject to these rules whilst on duty.
Taken together, these provisions mean that firefighters holding a provisional driving licence are prohibited from driving emergency vehicles, whether on or off duty.
Does the yellow licence apply to firefighters?
In order to drive a light ambulance or a standard ambulance, the driver must hold a Category B driving licence and must no longer be on a probationary period. They must also be declared fit to drive following a specific medical examination organised by the Prefecture – the so-called ‘yellow licence’.
However, for firefighters, the interministerial decree of 31 July 2012, concerning the organisation of medical assessments of fitness to drive, does not apply to drivers of emergency and victim-assistance vehicles (VSAV), as they, like police officers and gendarmes, undergo medical fitness assessments that include the driving of vehicles belonging to the departmental fire and rescue service. Furthermore, the aforementioned decree does not mention the term ‘VSAV’, but in Article 1 it uses the term ‘ambulance’, which refers to vehicles designed and equipped for the medical transport of patients whose state of health does not suggest that they are likely to become patients in distress.
The VSAV, for its part, is a vehicle used by the fire service, falling within the category of SIS emergency vehicles, which also includes VSRs (road emergency vehicles) and VSSs (medical support vehicles). The VSAV can be adapted to carry out patient transport missions; however, as these are reserved for private transport operators, they do not fulfil the primary purpose of this type of vehicle. It should be noted that, in regulatory texts, the VSAV is always treated as a specific category.
A difference in ministry
Thus, Article R. 311-1 of the Highway Code defines the VSAV as a priority vehicle serving the public interest, in the same way as all fire and rescue service vehicles, whereas an ambulance is only granted right of way. In the Public Health Code, Article R. 6312-8 does not treat the VSAV as equivalent to an ambulance, as it has its own classification: ‘(b)’ Category B: ‘VSAB’ (vehicle for the assistance of asphyxiated and injured persons’ (former designation).
Furthermore, the same article states that the standards applicable to VSAVs fall within the remit of the Minister for the Home, which further highlights their distinct nature compared to an ambulance. Finally, for the reasons mentioned above, the interministerial order of 31 July 2012 does not apply to fire and rescue service vehicles or to their drivers, who are firefighters. Therefore, the yellow licence is not required for firefighters.