"Special vehicles" refer to vehicles-whether specially manufactured or custom-modified-whose external dimensions, weight, or other specifications exceed standard vehicle limits, or which are designed for specific purposes. Equipped with fixed apparatus and equipment, their primary function is not the transport of passengers or general cargo. This category also encompasses specialized vehicles dedicated to the transport of specific types of cargo-such as tank trucks, refrigerated trucks, insulated trucks, and shock-absorbing trucks [4]. Generally, special vehicles bear distinctive markings or feature unique body designs; specifically, this term denotes vehicles assigned to perform special duties-displaying special license plates and equipped with sirens and warning lights-such as ambulances, fire trucks, police cars, emergency engineering and rescue vehicles, and military supervisory vehicles.
Special vehicles are entitled to exercise specific privileges in traffic as stipulated by the *Road Traffic Safety Law of the People's Republic of China*. When actively engaged in missions, vehicles such as police cars, fire trucks, ambulances, and emergency engineering and rescue vehicles are exempt from standard restrictions regarding speed limits, routes, direction of travel, and traffic light signals; under such circumstances, other vehicles and pedestrians are required to yield the right of way. However, when police cars, fire trucks, ambulances, and emergency engineering and rescue vehicles are performing non-emergency duties, they are prohibited from using their sirens or warning lights and do not enjoy the aforementioned road priority privileges. When road maintenance vehicles and engineering work vehicles are actively engaged in operations, their routes and directions of travel are exempt from standard traffic signs and lane markings, provided that they do not impede the flow of passing traffic. Motor vehicles such as water sprinklers and street sweepers must operate in strict accordance with safety standards; while they may be exempt from standard lane-division regulations provided they do not impede other traffic, they are strictly prohibited from driving against the flow of traffic. As special vehicles are designated for specific purposes, they must not be diverted for unauthorized use. In emergency situations, the unimpeded passage of special vehicles must be ensured; however, incidents have occasionally occurred in which ambulances were obstructed while attempting to exit residential complexes.
