A. Pushcarts, Riding Animals, Animal Drawn Vehicles: Every person riding an animal or driving any animal driven vehicle upon a roadway shall be granted all of the rights and shall be subject to all of the duties applicable to the driver of a vehicle by this title, except those provisions of this title which, by their very nature, can have no application.
B. Public Officers And Employees: The military forces of the United States and organizations of the National Guard, performing any military duty, shall not be restricted by the Town traffic regulations, and shall have the right-of-way on any street or highway through which they may pass against all, except carriers of the United States mail, fire engines, ambulances and police vehicles in the necessary discharge of their respective duties. Said mounted military moving in convoy shall have lights burning, with lead and trail vehicles prominently marked, and shall travel, while inside the corporate limits of the Town, in compliance with such speeds as are legally posted within said corporate limits and shall maintain a closed interval of not more than seventy five feet (75').
C. Public Works Vehicles: Unless specifically made applicable, the provisions of this title, except those contained in sections 7-3-17 and 7-3-18 of this title, shall not apply to persons, teams, motor vehicles and other equipment while actually engaged in construction, maintenance or repair of public utilities; provided, that all highway and public utility operations shall be protected by adequate warning signs, signals, devices or flagmen, but the provisions of this title shall apply to such persons and vehicles when traveling to or from such work.
D. Authorized Emergency Vehicles:
1. The driver of an authorized emergency vehicle, when responding to an emergency call or when in the pursuit of an actual or suspected violator of the law or when responding to but not upon returning from a fire alarm, may exercise the privileges set forth in this subsection D, but subject to the conditions herein stated.
2. The driver of an authorized emergency vehicle may:
a. Park or stand, irrespective of the provisions of this title;
b. Proceed past a red or stop signal or stop sign, but only after slowing down as may be necessary for safe operation;
c. Exceed the maximum speed limits so long as speeding does not endanger life or property;
d. Disregard regulations governing direction of movement; and
e. Disregard regulations governing turning in specified directions.
3. The exemptions herein granted to the driver of an authorized emergency vehicle shall apply only when the driver is properly and lawfully making use of an audible signal or of flashing red or blue lights or a combination of flashing red and blue lights meeting the requirements of 47 Oklahoma Statutes section 12-218; except, that an authorized emergency vehicle operated as a police vehicle need not be equipped with or display a red or blue light visible from in front of the vehicle. This subsection D3 shall not be construed as requiring a peace officer operating a police vehicle properly and lawfully in response to a crime in progress to use audible signals.
4. The exemptions in subsections D2c and D2e of this section shall be granted to a law enforcement officer operating an authorized emergency vehicle for law enforcement purposes without using audible and visual signals required by this subsection D as long as the action does not endanger life or property if the officer is following a suspected violator of the law with probable cause to believe that:
a. Knowledge of the presence of the officer will cause the suspect to:
(1) Destroy or lose evidence of a suspected felony; or
(2) End a suspected continuing felony before the officer has obtained sufficient evidence to establish grounds for arrest; or
(3) Evade apprehension or identification of the suspect or the vehicle of the suspect; or
b. Because of traffic conditions, vehicles moving in response to the audible or visual signals may increase the potential for a collision.
The exceptions granted in this subsection shall not apply to an officer who is in actual pursuit of a person who is eluding or attempting to elude the officer in violation of section 6-5E-6 of this Code.
5. The provisions of this subsection D shall not relieve the driver of an authorized emergency vehicle from the duty to drive with due regard for the safety of all persons, nor shall such provisions protect the driver from the consequences of reckless disregard for the safety of others. (2018 Code)