Once again the road rules raise their head, this time in the context of ‘rescue’ the State Rescue Board and the State Emergency and Rescue Management Act 1989 (NSW). It is an offence to operate an ‘unaccredited’ rescue unit. Section 53(2) says:
A rescue unit is required to be accredited even though:
(a) it is a unit of the NSW Police Force, Fire and Rescue NSW, the Ambulance Service of NSW, the State Emergency Service or any other government agency, or
(b) it is a unit of a volunteer agency, or
(c) it carries out, in addition to operations for the rescue of persons, other operations such as the rescue of animals or the recovery of property.
An accredited rescue agency is required to “implement (in accordance with law) the decisions of the State Rescue Board”. Decisions of the State Rescue Board are communicated in part through their policy documents, including the State Rescue Policy (3rd ed, 16 May 2012) (available at http://www.emergency.nsw.gov.au/media/1523.pdf).
That policy document says:
2.05 Emergency Service Vehicles. Emergency Service agencies or organisations that are authorised to fit lights and audible warning devices to their vehicles and operate them in accordance with the Road Transport (Vehicle Registration) Regulations 1998, for the conduct of their core functions are exempt compliance with the following requirements.
2.06 Volunteer Rescue Vehicles. State Rescue Board accredited Volunteer Rescue Units may fit flashing lights to their rescue vehicles and operate them in accordance with the Road Transport (Vehicle Registration) Regulations 1998 and NSW Vehicle Standards Information Bulletins.
2.07 Volunteer Rescue Vehicles – Exemptions for drivers of emergency vehicles. The Road Transport (Safety and Traffic Management)(Road Rules) Regulation 1999 do not provide exemptions from the provisions of the Australian Road rules for volunteer rescue vehicles. Specifically, drivers of volunteer rescue vehicles are to comply with all road signs, traffic lights and posted speed limits, even when proceeding to a rescue incident or emergency situation.
That, according to my most recent correspondent, is confusing in light of earlier posts here about the Australian Road Rules, that are part of the law of NSW because of the Road Rules 2008 (NSW); what does it all mean?
First it means the SRB is out of date;
- The Road Transport (Vehicle Registration) Regulations 1998 have been replaced by the Road Transport (Vehicle Registration) Regulation 2007; and
- The Road Transport (Safety and Traffic Management)(Road Rules) Regulation 1999 have been replaced by the Road Rules 2008.
Given this edition of the policy was issued in 2012 it’s probably not unreasonable to think those references could have been corrected. Even so the intent of the policy is reasonably clear.
The emergency services, in particular the police, fire brigades and ambulance service, all carry red/blue lights and sirens as part of their ‘core functions’ so clause 2.05 would apply to them. If they are operating a rescue unit it too can carry red/blue lights and enjoy the exemption (for what it’s worth) contained in the Road Rules 2008 (NSW) s 306.
The VRA
The Volunteer Rescue Association has no statute that governs them; if they run an accredited rescue unit and if the SRB allows them to install ‘flashing lights’ they get no exemption. This is not because of the SRB policy statement, but because of the law and, in these paragraphs, the policy statement is merely summarising what the law is. To go back to the definition of an emergency vehicle it is a vehicle driven by an emergency worker as part of their duties and an emergency worker is a member of the Ambulance Service, a fire brigade, rural fire brigade or the State Emergency Service or a person approved by the Authority. If we assume that VRA drivers are not approved by the Authority then they are not emergency workers, their vehicle is not an emergency vehicle and r 306 won’t apply so SRB policy at [2.07] would be correct. If they do have approval from the RTA then they are emergency workers and [2.07] would be incorrect.
The SES
If we go back to [2.05] it refers to emergency service vehicles being equipped with lights and sirens as part of their core functions. If we take a shortcut and go to NSW Vehicle standards Information (http://www.rta.nsw.gov.au/registration/downloads/vsi/vsi_08_flashing_lights_and_sirens_rev_4_1__nov_2010.pdf; rather than the standards themselves) it says SES vehicles may be fitted with red/blue lights, but they are not listed as agencies entitled to put a siren on the vehicle. Sirens may be fitted to ambulances, police vehicles, fire appliances and:
- Rescue vehicles accredited by the State Rescue Board and approved by the RTA and
- Accredited ‘volunteer’ rescue vehicles approved by the State Rescue Board, endorsed by the NSW Police Service and approved by the RTA.
If we go back to s 53(2) above the SES is referred to in subparagraph (1) whereas subparagraph (2) refers to ‘a volunteer agency’. If it was intended to include the SES as a volunteer agency, it would not be listed in subparagraph (a). The SES is an ‘emergency service’, it is established by the State Emergency Services Act 1989 (NSW) and one of its functions (s 8(e)) is “to carry out, by accredited SES units, rescue operations allocated by the State Rescue Board”. Neither NSW Fire and Rescue (see Fire Brigades Act 1989 (NSW)) nor the ambulance service of NSW (see Health Services Act 1997 (NSW) Chapter 5A) have such a specific function.
The SES is an emergency service agency, it is entitled to fit red/blue lights to their vehicles and sirens where the unit is an accredited rescue unit. An SES member is an emergency worker and has an exemption under r 306 when driving as part of his/her SES duties which as s 8 shows, includes being part of an accredited rescue unit. Paragraph [2.05] applies to the SES and SES operated rescue units.
But that’s just silly
The only people that the reference to volunteer rescue vehicles can refer to is organisations that do not have that statutory authority, such as the Volunteer Rescue Association. It is however silly to put lights and sirens on a vehicle and not grant the exemption under r 306 of the Road Rules. Under r 79 ‘A driver must give way to a police or emergency vehicle that is displaying a flashing blue or red light (whether or not it is also displaying other lights) or sounding an alarm.’ What happens if a VRA vehicle is approaching an intersection controlled by traffic lights and is facing a ‘red light’ with lights and siren on but allegedly no exemption? A car coming on the other arm of the intersection, with a green light, will give way (it would be irrelevant that if it’s not an emergency vehicle they don’t have to give way; most driver’s won’t know the rules and won’t know whether or not the driver’s been approved, they’ll see a vehicle marked ‘rescue’ with red/blue lights and a siren) but the driver of the VRA vehicle will not proceed as he or she knows they have no exemption. One could face the rather undignified picture of no one proceeding through the intersection.
In summary
The SRB policy statement is almost correct.
- Where an accredited rescue unit is operated by NSW Police, NSW Ambulance or Fire and Rescue NSW the rescue vehicle can be equipped with red/blue lights and siren.
- Where an accredited rescue unit is operated by NSW SES the rescue vehicle can be equipped with red/blue lights and, with the approval of the Roads and Maritime Authority, a siren; and
- Where an accredited rescue unit is operated by a volunteer agency (which does not include the SES) it can be equipped with red/blue lights and, when endorsed by NSW Police and the Roads and Maritime Authority, a siren.
The argument I’d make
Arguably unless there is also express approval for the purposes of s 306 that the person is an emergency worker then r306 does not apply and SRB paragraph [2.07] is correct but let us remember that this will only be an issue if the driver gets a traffic infringement notice, when responding to a police call out to a rescue, travelling with red/blue lights and sirens, in circumstances where it’s reasonable that the exemption should apply and when they are taking reasonable care. It’s hard to imagine a police officer would issue a ticket in those circumstances; if it was issued by an automatic red light or speed camera I would expect the police to withdraw the notice. If they did not I would take the matter to court and argue that the approval by the SRB, the Police and the RTA all of which were required before the lights and sirens were fitted by necessary implication also meant that the driver was “a person (or a person belonging to a class of persons) approved by the Authority” for the purposes of r 306; in short when the authority approved the fitting of lights and sirens it, by implication, approved that the driver of the vehicle was an emergency worker or the putting of lights and sirens on is a pointless and more importantly confusing exercise.
I don’t think it’s the driver who would come of the situation looking silly if all the other criteria for rule 306 had been met.
Michael Eburn
15 January 2013
Australian Emergency Law 
Correct me if i am wrong but wasnt the VRA formed to support the NSW Police Force Rescue Squad in regional districts back in the 1960’s?
I’m afraid I’ve no idea, perhaps there’s someone from the VRA who can add some history? Or see http://www.rescue.org.au/.
Hi michael,
Geoff is quite right, the volunteer rescue association is an offshoot of police rescue NSW. When you spoke of accredited rescue units, authorised by the authority, and r306, I challenge you to look further into the recognition of the VRA as not only a volunteer rescue organisation, but the NSW PRIMARY rescue body for road, vertical, and water rescue. The SES in NSW are not the primary rescue body, and primarily deal with natural disasters, but also fill the gaps of road rescue where there is no VRA unit. A very similar role is carried out by fire rescue nsw, they have the basic vehicle demolition tools, but only use the equipment when the situation is life threatening and the paramedics want the patient out rapidly. Otherwise, their job is to manage the fire risk and wait for the VRA/SES to arrive.
All of this being said, the VRA are an accredited body and under the SRB are authorised to ‘enjoy,’ the rights of r 306 of the road transport regulations 2008. But as you say, there is a very low likely hood that any governing body will distribute an infringement notice to the driver of a rescue vehicle operating signal 1 anyway. Even as volunteers the VRA staff do extensive training, are trained to operate vehicles under emergency conditions, observing the responsibilities that come with the r 306 exemption, which are “with reasonable care” and “reasonable justification”.
I loom forward to your reply michael, and am enjoying the blogs thoroughly
Robbie
I’m afraid the law simply does not support much of what you say. You say:
There is nothing in the State Emergency and Rescue Management Act 1989 (NSW) or the State Rescue Board policy that would support a claim that the VRA is the primary rescue body for any sort of rescue. They operate accredited rescue units, just as the police, Fire and Rescue NSW, the Ambulance Service of NSW and the NSW SES do. You can see the list of all accredited rescue units at http://www.emergency.nsw.gov.au/media/1375.pdf; the VRA is one provider among many.
It’s not true that Fire and Rescue NSW “have the basic vehicle demolition tools, but only use the equipment when the situation is life threatening and the paramedics want the patient out rapidly. Otherwise, their job is to manage the fire risk and wait for the VRA/SES to arrive.” Fire and Rescue NSW operate accredited rescue units and where they are an accredited rescue unit their job is to perform the rescue tasks assigned to them by the police (State Emergency and Rescue Management Act 1989 (NSW) s 50). It’s because of their heavy involvement in rescue that their name was changed from the NSW Fire Brigades to Fire and Rescue NSW (see NSW Fire Brigades to change its name, 17th December 2010).
Again this is not the case. The VRA is not an ‘accredited body’ but some of their rescue units are accredited. The SRB does not accredit an organisation but individual units
With respect to the road rules, look at the definition of ‘emergency worker’ in the NSW road rules, remembering that an emergency vehicle is a vehicle driven by an emergency worker in the course of their duties. Unlike a member of FRNSW or NSW SES, a member of the VRA is not an emergency worker unless they, either individually or as a member of a class (eg the class of drivers approved by the VRA) have been granted approval by Roads and Maritime Services (RMS).
The issue that the original post questioned was ‘who or what is included in the definition of volunteer rescue unit and volunteer rescue vehicle in the SRB policy?’ My argument, in response to the original question, was that this did not include the SES even though the SES rescue units are operated by volunteers. The SES is not a volunteer organisation, it has no choice but to exist and do what it does, the statute (ie the State Emergency Service Act 1989 (NSW)) says that it must exist and operate – the fact that it chooses to use volunteers does not however make it a volunteer organisation. The VRA on the other hand is a volunteer organisation as it volunteers to provide rescue services and could chose to stop doing what it does tomorrow.
In my view the definition of ‘volunteer rescue unit’ and ‘volunteer rescue vehicle’ in [2.06] of the SRB policy applies to the units and vehicles operated by the VRA but not the SES. The SES is an ‘emergency service’ and is dealt with in [2.05] of the SRB policy. The policy means that as far as the SRB is concerned, vehicles operated by accredited rescue units that are in turn operated by the VRA may be fitted with red/blue lights but they have to be fitted in accordance with the current law and vehicle standards (see http://www.rta.nsw.gov.au/registration/downloads/vsi/vsi_08_flashing_lights_and_sirens_rev_4_1__nov_2010.pdf). These require that before red and blue lights are fitted to a volunteer rescue vehicle the unit must be approved by the SRB (and that is what [2.06] does); the RMS and the police. My argument was that if the SRB accredited the rescue unit and by virtue of [2.06] approve the fitting of red/blue lights, and the unit is endorsed by the police, and then approved by RMS then, by implication, the driver must also be an approved emergency worker else the fitting of the red/blue lights and sirens is pointless and confusing.
Remember if there is an express approval then this is not an issue; this argument is only relevant if the RMS has approved the fitting of lights, but has not approved VRA drivers as ‘emergency workers’ and then if someone issues a traffic infringement notice. In that case the argument I would make is that their approval as an emergency worker is implicit rather than explicit; and see what the Magistrate says.
But, absent an express approval (and there may well be such an approval, I just don’t have access to it) then prima facie (“on the face of it”) the driver of a VRA rescue vehicle is not an emergency worker and the vehicle is not therefore an emergency vehicle even if it has red/blue lights and sirens on it. As I’ve also said, such a conclusion is just plain silly, but that doesn’t make it wrong.
Michael Eburn
Looking further into it, I stand corrected
Michael,
How would this apply to a NSW SES unit who are not General Land Rescue Accredited but perform Flood Rescues?
Thanks
That’s an interesting question. Flood rescue is a core activity of the SES (see State Emergency Service Act 1989 (NSW) s 8; SRB rescue policy [1.36]) and the SRB Flood Rescue Policy “details the requirements for other agencies to undertake Flood Rescue and further details the processes and procedures by which the SES will manage Flood Rescue accreditation” ([5], emphasis added).
We know that members of the SES are emergency workers and so their vehicles are emergency vehicles. To quote from the original post the:
None of those would include an SES unit that does flood rescue but is not ‘accredited’ by the State Rescue Board as the State Rescue Board does not accredit flood rescue units, the SES does.
The difference is not however all that significant, just as Roads and Maritime Services have to approve rescue units to fit lights and sirens the SES could seek approval to fit sirens onto SES vehicles where that is necessary for the performance of their flood rescue task; but I make no comment on whether that is in fact necessary and I don’t know if the SES wants to, or has approval to, fit sirens in those cases.
Michael Eburn
14 February 2013