"Where There's One . . ."

[Horse]

. . . There's Another"

So: "Where There's One, There's Another"

Often true when out and about on the road, and worth noting to raise your awareness in situations - and keep it raised.

The particular instances that have reminded me both involve emergency vehicles. Being sad, I happen to know that a typical 'urban' fire brigade response is to send two appliances (no, not 'engine' - that's only manual or steam operated or driven - told you I was sad!). In some small-medium towns there will be one full-time fire crew, and a second 'retained' crew who have 'day jobs' and are alerted by pagers when needed. Larger towns and cities may well have two crews on full-time standby.

So that two appliance turn out could be one vehicle, followed by another two minutes later, or two nose-to-tail.

Locally we have an ambulance station, and on some calls they'll send a fast response vehicle as well as the ambulance itself - so if you see the car, and full-sized ambulance may not be far behind.

Of course, with a larger incident you may get all three services responding (as in Basingstoke the other day, when two applicances were followed by a police patrol car).

If two emergency vehicles are running together, it's likely - but not guaranteed - that they'll run with different siren tones.

It's not just vehicles, though. Many animals 'herd' - so if you see one sheep popping its head through a hole in a fence, expect another 20 or 30. Similarly, if one deer jumps across the road, expect more.

What about children? They're 'pack' animals. If one runs across - look for the threatening one that's chasing. Same if there's a kid on a bicycle or even a lycra-clad adult - one could be the lead rider of a posse.

So, remember: Where There's One, There's Another!

And also remember that fire appliances are like dogs - they tend to mark their progress with watery stains . . .

[The Spin Doctor]

Where's the 'like' button?

[iansoady]

There's a little "thumbs up" at the bottom......

[PitaNaanRoti]

There's a little "thumbs up" at the top......

FTFY

[Bigyin]

There's a little "thumbs up" at the bottom......

I think you will find that was Len Fairclough from Corrie

[GuzziPaul]

On a semi related note Ambulance and Fire stations often have a "green wave" facility. A box with buttons near the vehicle exit which not only sets the wig-wags at the road flashing but also traffic signals on a pre-selected selectable route to green. The signal should go green before the the emergency vehicle gets there, to flush out any queing cars but, in a fire station green wave, stay green for some time to allow the 2nd vehicle through, 2 minutes or so. This "green wave" should as the name implies ripple down the signals along a corridor.
If your on a conflicting side road and your signals have been on green longer than "normal" don't be tempted to jump the lights because the signal are "stuck" it could well be thats there's an emergency vehicle on its way. Think if there is an emergency vehicle station nearby and listen for a siren, even if one has gon through the second could be on its way.