Yes, it is a law that cars must give way (it is called "korytarz życia" - life corridor) to the emergency vehicles if they drive with their lights (and signal) on. Besides, it is just pure empathy: someone needs help.

My parents teached me (obvsly Im Polish) that if there is an emergency vehicle coming with sound signals and lights I have to give way even if it means that I will trash my rims or bumper, because we can replace those parts, but we cant replace a lost life.

This is the road law in Poland. But there is also a moral obligation above all else. When my children were still small, in similar situations I always explained to them that in the ambulance a person was fighting for his life and every second of delay could end his life. ​

This monument is "Pomnik lotnika"(aviator monument) in Warsaw Wawelska street, corner Żwirki i Wigury. On August 28, 1932, pilot Franciszek Żwirko and designer Stanisław Wigura won the largest interwar sports aviation event in Berlin. Several days after this triumph, September 11, 1932 both died in a plane crash.

The frequency of sounds in the siren of an emergency vehicle usually depends on the place through which the vehicle is passing. On a long route where there is little traffic and few intersections, a long and clear sound signal is used - drivers will easily hear an emergency vehicle behind or next to them ever from the far distance (e.g. on a fairly empty highway, this signal is often even turned off). In traffic jams and at intersections, ambulances and other services turn on faster sirens because other vehicles might not have time to hear (due to the speed of passing through the intersection and by rapidly approaching the emergency vehicle) the siren, which is continuous and long. A short and very frequent sound is therefore more likely to be picked up by the ears of other drivers. I once learned about this from a firefighter in Poland. I hope this is understandable, great vid :D

Yes, similar to Germany, in Poland, there is a law that unequivocally requires yielding the right of way to emergency vehicles on the road.

Kierowcy karetek w polsce to są osoby , które mają umiejętności kierowców formuły 1, a nawet i lepsze , szacun dla was szanowni kierowcy 👍

There is Tram coverage in the most of bigger Polish cities, and when there is, it covers all of the main roads, and a lot of city budget would go to expand and build new stations further out the center of the city, as the cities grow. What isn't covered by Tram lines, would be covered by Bus routes that even go out of the cities to the smaller towns around the area, all a part of city's public transport structure. There are also 3 cities in Poland that have Trolleybuses that would use electrical lines but not the rails - they have Bus wheels.

Believe it or not, he is cutting through the city centre (especially the Żwirki I Wigury-Filtry-Rondo Zawiszy-Rondo Daszyńskiego-Arkadia part - at one point he is less than 1 km from Warsaw Central Railway Station and about a mile from PKiN). It must be outside the rush hours, of course. The drivers' reactions are great - and the pedestrians run out of the road as fast. It is mostly like that in Warsaw :)

Zawsze było to prawo zwyczajowe, dopiero jakus czas temu zapisano je formalnie. Można powiedzieć, że zwyczaj stał się prawem, zanim ktoś 2ymyslul nazwę " korytarz życia"

It's always really sweet when a Scot tries his sweetest and hardest to speak Polish, you're adorable.

I recently watched the reaction of an American KZfaqr (IWrocker) to another ambulance ride through Warsaw or Krakov. He was shocked when a shot from behind the driver's head appeared. The driver not only drives an ambulance, but also has a remote control to change the sirens, and the ambulance he was driving was equipped with a manual gearbox. In Poland, the vast majority of ambulances have a manual gearbox, but for an American it was a real shock.

4:55 yes, this is the law in Poland that you have to yield to emergency vehicle (that has lights&sirens on), but honestly I don't know about anyone who got cited for not yielding. It's just engraved in our minds to just yeild to lights&sirens. You never know, maybe you just saved life by not being an asshole, and yielding is not gonna impact your travel time to be honest.

There's the "I'm an emergency vehicle" siren, a "I'm comming in fast" siren, a "watch out I'm crossing a red light/get out of my way NOW" siren and a honk on top of that :D But sometimes they just alter between all of them for no specific situation, just because people can get actually used to one type of siren and stop noticing it. And yes, it's the "coridor of life" traffic rule, it's not only a law but also the way we're raised: parents will teach kids from early age that someone is dying there and you need to move away to help save them. ;)

I'm a driver and I started to wonder. I think there is a law. On the other hand, I don't know how you can not pull over when another person's life is at risk. Like - it's probably obvious. There is no other option.

For potential foreigners. Is this really the law? I thought people did it from the heart. So we differ from other nations in empathy, in a positive way. Before it was written down in law, there was reason and imagination. We've done it before, we're doing it now and we will continue to do it. This is called Slavic sensitivity.

Ochota district part The recording begins on Wawelska Street near the Maria Skłodowska-Curie oncology hospital. Previously there was a radium institute in this building which Maria S-C founded, she was present at the start of construction (photos of this event can be seen in the park next to the hospital). Behind the Aviator Monument they turn into Raszyńska Street, pass the Ministry of the Environment, and drive past the Sue Ruder square surrounded by pre-war buildings. Beautiful pre-war villas can be found in this area. The street where the carriage drove against traffic goes along one of the Warsaw Filters branches, which is also a very interesting place for some. The ride against the current ends at Zawiszy Square, and behind it Ochota ends and Wola begins.

I don't know if it's the law but I always make space because it's the rule. There is a rule that far left line goes to the left and every lines on the right goes to the right. It's called Life Corridor.

if thie signal is continuous you can get used to like when its coming you may think it was art of some music in radio but when its changing you re more alert to it

the moment he drives oposite direction is like strict center of Warsaw

Different sirens, bullhorns, and warblers have different reaches and distances that the sound frequencies can be heard. Add in "white noise" is the junction noise that attracts most drivers.

In our Polish priviliged cars honk is 'connected' with the sirens. Those cars have like 4-5 different siren sounds and almost each time driver presses honk it goes 'burp' and if it's long enough then after release the siren change in tone and modulation. And it goes in circle. Some times it just changes by it self over time. Also we had some ads and anouncements about 'korytarz życia' (tunel of life) to move your car sideway on a highway if there was an naccident ahead. Hope i helped a bit.

3:30 - it's because of Doppler effect. They switch frequency of alarms so other drives would easier identify direction from where ambulance is coming.

Zapraszamy do Polski :)

Korytarz życia 😊

when we hear sirens we start to looking around to make te road as clear as possible

Yeah, it is a law now, but ppl always did it, even when it wasn't introduced by law.

This is Warsaw, the route from ul. Wawelska in the "Ochota" district to the Bielański Hospital in Bielany, the "Żoliborz" district. Oh, they passed the Arkadia shopping center. P.S. I have lived in Warsaw since I was born (43 years) so I know it a little😅

This is our law in Poland and it is called the "corridor of life". I have the impression that it also works in other EU countries.

I watch your films. I like them a lot. I look forward to each one to see Poland through your eyes. I just have one fundamental question. When are you planning to visit us? :D

3:33 yes, there is something called doppler's wave effect. Closer to traffic = more waves so people will hear an ambulance quicker, longer waves so people from further can localize the ambulance and eventualy give it a way

I like watching those emergency videos because it helps me with honing my skills in GTA

The route is roughly the following: Wawelska with the Aviator Monument (perpendicular road leads to the airport), Raszynska, Towarowa, Okopowa, Jana Pawła, Popiełuszki, Słowackiego, Marymoncka.

the English have mastered the art of removing hot potatoes from the fire with other people's hands.That's why they praise Poland to the skies

There is a low but its been talking that "imagine that this ambulance is going for someone from ur family" More powerful than any low or rules.

Ambualnce is going from center of the city to special type of hospital service, heading to Bielany Hospital. Driver"s skills are awesome and also drivers respect . Sounds is changing deped of trafic dencity. Glad to see my area I was used to live in and also good skills of team I used to work with almost two decades ago.

at the end of the video, that's a turn to the Bielański Hospital so that's why the video ended

Alarmowo basically means Code 3 - lights and sirens. It originates from the word alarm (eng. alert).

Trams are my favorite way of traveling through Warsaw. The newest Hyundai squads are awesome. Great public transport.

Different siren sounds works different in given environment and speed.

4:50 yes. There's a law deployed around 2017-2018 (corridor of life) but even earlier it was common behaviour among polish drivers which I am proudly since 1998 ;)

Short sirens are used at intersections and between buildings because their sound reflects better off buildings and is easier to hear. On straight streets, sirens with a long sound are used. If necessary, they use an additional sound horn like American firefighters.

They were going to The Bielany Hospital.

it is more impressive on other small cities. there are 3 types of beeping - there is double beep -beep..beep - triple beep.beep.beeep - and continous, double beeping is when there is a crosswalk where is green light for people that are passing, it informs that ambulance is close to it, or when ambulance is close to ANY crosswalk. triple beep is for cars to make corridor. continous beeping is when cars dont want to make life corridor. it is just information like: Guys fast!! make a corridor!!

It's not in the city center at all. Yes, the public transport in Warsaw is amazing. Including the tram, bus, metro and even train service. Have you ever been here? If you haven't, the best time to come is late spring or early autumn.

This is a law in Poland. You have to ALWAYS make space for an emergency vehicle on lights and signals (ambulances, police cars, fire fighters, live organ transport, blood transport etc), even if the vehicle has clear way, you always have to make more space, you don't know what kind of maneuver the driver has to make

Paramedic driver must have a lot of driving expiriance.

1/3 filmu to moja podróż z pracy do domu :c) z Okopowej, na Popiełuszki.

Those guys just know that one day they can be passenger there, and with our amazing healthcare one minute really does matter 😆

I drive in poland ambulance for while years ago. Quicker sound is when you approach traffic. When you see block you horn that funny sound

This is north part of Warsaw - Żoliborz, Bielany. Actually, I live here in Bielany and this is my favourite part of Warsaw ;) We call Bielany "green lungs of Warsaw" so... in deed we have lots of trees here and... forest(yeah, forest) 😁 😅

The ambulance's destination was the bielański hospital. Respect to the drivers for getting out of the way, I've also done it a couple of times. Indeed most drivers in Warsaw do their best to help the ambulances get to their destination. The driver of the ambulance is just amazing, great skill.

And now imagine the driver (as I assume) is driving on the manual gear here. Not many (if any) ambulances in Warsaw have automatic transmission gears. And I’m a bit surprised he is driving to the Bielany hospital from the center,as there was at least one other hospital on their way (for example it was closer to the Banacha Hospital) - but I guess they had a reason to go to Bielany anyway 🤷‍♂️

I think what makes the difference is that Poles are obliged to enroll in a professional driving course and this part is covered quite thoroughly. The general rule is: establish where the priviliged vehicle is (are you on a collision course at all?), choose your course of action (stop? speed up? move out of the way?); if you're on a collision course, move to the right unless you are in the left lane, in which case move to the left (on three or more lanes it's "left to the left, everyone else to the right"). And these rules are generally followed and respected, very few people get it wrong (mostly pedestrians do, as you could actually see in the vid). The title of the video is stuff of nightmares though. I think your autotranslate may have kicked in and that's why it's so weird. "Alarmowo" would be the adverb od the word "alarm". "Do szpitala Bielańskiego" is simply "to the Bielanski (patron / street name) hospital". The second sentence transtales into "and police put on alarm / working in the alarmed state on route". I think what they meant is "with the sirens on". We don't normally see police cars simply escorting an ambulance, though, and you only see them a moment of the way, so I'm guessing it could be a coincidence.

This is Sparta!!!

6:35 It's North Downtown District, close to boundaries of placed more north Żoliborz District. 6:43 It Arcadia Mall Shopping Centre one the right, one of biggest in Warsaw

specificly law says that cars on the left lane shoulg go left and every other as far as they can to the right

Different sirens are heard from different distance if I'm correct and also police, ambulance, fire department have their own sirens

Trams used to be more common some thirty years ago but some cities (like my own Gliwice) have terminated them while others kept the system along buses, often operated by the same companies.

The type of siren (the speed at which it howls) depends on the speed at which the vehicle is moving. If it did not change and was uniform, it could happen that the siren at a given speed would be inaudible. These are the basic laws of sound wave propagation. In Poland, they teach about it in schools in physics at the age of about 14. You probably had it in school too, but normal people quickly forget it because it is of little use in life.

Well done Warsaw well done !!! Specially driver !!!

Cool video! I think it may have been a rather small ambulance transporting blood or organs for transplantation, as it seems that the route was a bit too long for a regular ambulance. The route started in Ochota, then a small part passed through the outskirts of the Center, then Wola and then a large part of Żoliborz. Cheers!

yes mate, its called a life corridor :). cirkle K is a petrol station :)

6:38 - street's name Okopowa, ambulance drive from south to north. This parto of Warsaw is called "Wola", but in video, ambulance drives thru couple of city districts.

Unfortunately, some people in Poland do not understand that emergency vehicles should have a clear passage and they only think about themselves, sometimes blocking traffic due to their own stupidity.

Yes, in Poland just as you said in Germany we have the so-called tunnel of life, where everyone is obliged to get off the road.

As far as i know if you don’t let the ambulance pass they give the recording of the incident to the police and they take care of you.

Why so far???? Why?? I can't believe there was no ambulance somewhere closer...

short beeping signal is for crossing through the crossroads and long one is for the straight lane foreward

Nice reaction, thanks! You seem very interested in the topic :-)

After altering (or adding) specific law, emergency vehicles (police, firefighters and ambulance) can use destructive force (ram vehicle or destroy a fence) if it's needed to stop dangerous car (for example very drunk driver) or make a way to emergency if normal way is blocked (by a tree). If there's a culprit, he'll be obliged to cover the costs of repairing the emergency vehicle later

No i akurat dzisiaj w Warszawie powazny wypadek z udzialem karetki. Trafiles z premiera, nie ma co...

The "K" is a gas station named "Circle K". And its super difficult to drive there especially near 15:00. Then there are many traffics. So I'm impressed.

oglądając to mam wrażenie, że ludzie nie wiedzą podstawowych rzeczy. Takich na przykład jak to, że ambulans jedzie ratować życie, może nawet ich najbliższych

In Poland there is a law that you have to give way but people are more willing to pull over an ambulance and fire department than the police

Sirens - Federal Signal AS-380

Drive covered a LOT of the city, basically cutting it through.almost entirely, though only one side of the Vistula river

He goes from Ponik Lotnika to Rondo Radosława (Arkadia shopping mall), Plac Grunwaldzki and it seems Żoliborz (part of the city ) and Bielany.

Video ends at the entrance to the Bielany Hospital in Warsaw.

Aalarmowo - there is no such word in Polish but it's built on top of the word alarm using the rules of the language so you would understand it as a place where alarms take place or a "city of alarms" or "center of alarms" or something like that. As for the law, yeah, there is the law but in general people did let the ambulances go even before the law, although there was no way of enforcing it so they added the law. As for why such a long route - it was a patient transfer from one hospital to another if I'm not mistaken. As for where it took place, it starts at Ochota, near the "monument of a pilot" (it's in the center of a roundabout and one of the roads going away from the roundabout is named Żwirki Wigury and Żwirko and Wigura were Polish aeroplane pioneers and this road goes straight to the Szopin's Airport). Then it goes through the city center all the way to (i think) Bielany which is a district in the northern part of the city. Half of the route in this video actually covers most of my way to work :) As for sirens, emergency vehicles have few different sirens at their disposal and they use those depending on the situation. If the vehicle is just cruising it uses the slow siren, when it approaches congested areas then it switches to this more urgent siren and when it wants to pressure other members of the traffic then it uses it's horn. There are a lot of trams in Warszawa. They cover most of the city. Only the most external parts of the city aren't connected with a tram route although some of them are and others will be connected in the future.

They use rapid signal when approaching traffic, traffic lights or junction and the slow one when just driving without obstacles.

This is normal in czech, too

Wow!

4:30 - brawo

at such road conditions this route in normal vehicle takes close to 40 minutes

I believe these changing signals in emergency vehicles were implemented to help people notice them, as when you hear one sound (or one sound pattern) over and over, you tend to gradually stop noticing it. Circulating or random pattern of few signals reduces the chance of this to happen

We call this a Corridor of Life

funniest thing of all is your artificial fascination with Poland and Poles who are fond of flattery.

@2:50 the ambulance is passing Plac Zawiszy, where I work. It’s indeed a busy and difficult part of the route and most of the ambulance drivers are trying to omit the traffic by going the opposite direction. To be honest those sirens are heard all the time there and it is sometimes really anoying.

Yes, thre is a low to give free passage to vehicles giving urgency signals

Normal thing in Poland even if there was no such a law people would do it anyways.

I'm pretty sure that its standard for all EU countries.

7:13, roundabout with a big flag is near Powązki cemetery: 52.25487232922231, 20.98223112586527 They are driving Wawelska, Raszyńska, Towarowa, Okopowa Street, from the south - so stright through the city center

Ok so i will write it in points: 1. trams covers most of biggest Polish cities. 2. Warsaw was mostly destroyed in WW2- so it was rebuilded with using bricks from other cities (like Wrocław)- because of that, and alike doinggs of football team- Legia Warszawa- almost nobody in Poland likes capital city (ofc expect from people in capital). 2.1 So Warsaw was rebuilded in comunism times- and they done it good (actually one thig that they did). They had good Urban planning- every part of city had own support- childergarten, school, pharmacy, some medic, shop, parking lot, mechanics, garages, park, some childs playgrounds etc. Nowadays its more like: place more houses on smaller place- best idea is 5 floor- because it has lower prices and law requirements. 3. I think it is law- that you should let pass emergency car (police, ampulance, firetruck- etc)- it is called "Pojazd uprzywilejowany"- "privileged vechicle"- everyone even trams shoul let it go in first place- it is even teached in driving schools- so everybody knows that.

As polish native speaker I love when someone who had no experience with polish tries to speak in it

Ambulace moves from Ochota District, through Srodmiescie District (Center) to Zoliborz District (In the end part of movie we can see Bielany, which is part of Zoliborz District) . Wow its a quite long way ! Maybe other resuce teams were also buisy. yes, we have to move away and people are very sensible, respectful and responsible Its saving Life situation. It could be for you, you family or anybody els who is in need. Different siren sounds, because people, citizens on the street can „be used to the one type of sound”, because one type of sound could be monotonous. Different, changing, higher/lower, „one more dense, later less dence sound” will be helpful to make people alert, to notice ambulance fast, respond fast. Welcome to Warsaw, Poland. Welcome to the Heart of Europe. Thank You for Your movies.

This looks better in other cities in Poland. In Warsaw, they're always late and can't drive.

Ambulace moves from Ochota District, through Srodmiescie District (Center) to Zoliborz District (In the end part of movie we can see Bielany, which is part of Zoliborz District) . Wow its a quite long way ! Maybe other resuce teams were also buisy. yes, we have to move away and people are very sensible, respectful and responsible Its saving Life situation. It coulbe for you, you family or anybody els who is in need. Differen siren sounds, because people, citizens on the street can „be used to the sound” because one type of sound could be monotonous. Different, changing, higher/lower, „one more dense, later less dence sound” will be helpful to make people aletr, and notice ambulance fast, respond fast. Welcome to Warsaw, Poland.Welcome to the Heart of Europe. Thank You for Your movies.

answering your question; yes, poland has really wide tram line covering, in the bigger cities ofc

Generally in Poland if you don't move to let the ambulance trough - you are considered garbage.