A topic comes up once and a while in trying to design complete streets where there is a strong desire to keep roads narrow and traffic speeds down, then someone raises an objection “But that will slow down firetruck response time.” So to accommodate the rare event of a firetruck we get larger turning radius and wider streets which results in speeding an unsafe streets most of the time. So to save the less frequent fire related death we promote the more frequent traffic injury and death.
But does it have to be this way?
In this video there is a competition between an American firetruck and a UK fire truck. Of course the UK truck wins the maneuverability course hands down.
The KME (U.S. truck) is 2 meters longer and almost a meter wider than the Volvo (U.K. truck). Fine for wide, American streets, but difficult navigating around a tight course like this.
So do our local roads really need to become freeway like to accommodate firetrucks or should firetruck change to adapt to their environment?
Video found via https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2011/2/23/usa-usa.htmloldId.20110224121714101