Right-of-way and intersections
A private car behind you shows a flashing green light. The driver is a volunteer ambulance member. What is true about this vehicle?
- It is not an authorized emergency vehicle; you should yield as a courtesy if you can do it safely. Correct answer
- It is an authorized emergency vehicle, and you must pull over and stop as for an ambulance.
- It is a hazard vehicle, like a snow plow, and it may ignore traffic signals.
Why
New York lets volunteers use colored lights on their own cars: blue for volunteer fire fighters answering alarms, green for volunteer ambulance or rescue squad members. These cars are not authorized emergency vehicles, and their drivers must obey every traffic law like anyone else. You are not required to yield to them, but the manual asks you to do it as a courtesy when you can do it safely. The strict pull-over-and-stop duty belongs to true emergency vehicles, which show red, red and blue or red and white lights. Amber lights, not green ones, are what hazard vehicles such as snow plows and tow trucks use, and their drivers do not get to ignore signals either.
Where this comes from
New York State Driver's Manual (MV-21), April 2026 version. The correct answer is It is not an authorized emergency vehicle; you should yield as a courtesy if you can do it safely.
More on right-of-way and intersections
- You reach the yield line of a roundabout and cars are already circling inside it. Who has the right-of-way?
- You are approaching a roundabout that has two entry lanes. When and how should you choose your lane?
- You have a green light and plan to go straight across. A car that entered the intersection before you is still completing its left turn across your path. What must you do?
- You want to turn left into a parking lot. There are no signs or signals controlling the turn, and an oncoming car is close. What must you do?