One time, I was driving through one of these old towns, and I got pulled over because I didn't make a complete stop at a stop sign. Admittedly, I was in the wrong, but the judge in town was insane, and coincidentally the father of the sheriff who pulled us over. So the judge tried to have me and the people in the car executed in some crazy deathcoaster contraption unless I agreed to marry his daughter (who bore a striking resemblance to Gus Polinski) but thankfully we managed to get out of there. Also, we got to party with Digital Underground for some reason.
I lived in one of these town for four years. Just before I moved there, they'd made national news for pulling over an ambulance. It was hauling ass taking someone to the hospital, but the local cops felt that issuing a ticket was more important.
The town is also the county seat and regional state patrol center. It's the highest ratio of law enforcement to citizens in the entire state.
The first day we arrived my wife was pulled over for doing just over 25. Welcome to town!
They still have to follow the rules of the road. In my state legally even running code 3 (lights and sirens) they are only legally allowed to go 5mph over the limit. And if there is an accident the ambulance driver is basically automatically assumed at fault.
There really isn't. Most of the laws regarding that is "driving with a due regard to safety." You can't just blow through intersections willy-nilly. A lot of progress has been made with driving code 3. A lot of studies have shown it honestly doesn't improve patient outcomes based on the limited time gained. There are exceptions of course.
Got pulled in one of these driving through a small town on a US highway. 55mph road until you hit the town and it's 35mph. I missed that sign and got pulled for a warning. -_-
My area in New York is like that. It's like "You will enjoy our scenic views, for as long as humanly possible. I don't know why you think this state highway that is the only route through our shitty backwater town would ever be otherwise..."