There you are driving down the road, and you just so happen to look in the rearview mirror. A fire engine or police car blares its horns and flashes its lights while rapidly drawing closer.

What do you do?

This question has plagued the DeKalb Fire and Police departments for a while because drivers do not know what to do.

“No one willingly gets in the way,” Assistant Fire Chief Reuben Nelson said. “People just don’t know what to do.”

The main problem comes when the fire department responds by way of Route 23 and Sycamore Road. Nelson said the middle turn lane is where they pass, but many people pull into the lane to avoid the fire engines.

“We want people to curb right,” Nelson said. “A lot of times people try to quickly make a left turn. When we are trained to go around on the left, it makes it unsafe.”

Not only is it unsafe, but the drivers can place more stress on the responding officers, police Sgt. Jim McDougall said.

McDougall added that even drivers in the oncoming lanes should slow down and pull over because officers are trained to go around on the left.

According to a press release from the DFD, studies say that up to 60 percent of drivers don’t know what to do.

Although drivers do not yield properly, there has not been an accident as a result of it for a long time, Nelson said.

In order to increase awareness and education, the DFD has submitted simple steps to the public to remember the way to yield properly.

The steps spell put the acronym SIREN.

S: Stay alert and drive defensively.

I: Investigate the road and check the rearview mirror.

R: React quickly and calmly.

E: Before re-entering the road, visually check for other vehicles

N: Never stop at a place without adequate room to pull over.

The DPD also is part of the public education process.

“We try to use the media to educate the public to tell them to pull over to the right,” he said. “We want them to know what’s going on and remind people to always check their rearview mirror.”