[A777R]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djLcUDPlIco

As can be seen here, you could blame the driver, cow, roads, rains or the toll booth employees. But the primary problem seems to be that the ambulance skidded on the rainy tarmac and that resulted in multiple fatalities.

I have seen multiple ambulances in my lifetime from the humble omni to the latest Force motor ambulances but I do not feel they are safer than their non ambulance versions. I think safety features such as 6-8 airbags, speed limiters, ABS, ESP etc should be made mandatory for all ambulances and old ones should be retired. I know India lacks ambulances and all this results in extra cost but if the government is focusing so much on car safety then it should not ignore emergency vehicles.

I met an EMT in the US and their ambulances are top notch (they are issued bullet proof vests as well) where I would feel safe if I ever have the misfortune of riding in one.

[Gypsian]

Originally Posted by A777R

https://www.Youtube.com/watch?v=djLcUDPlIco

I have seen multiple ambulances in my lifetime from the humble omni to the latest Force motor ambulances but I do not feel they are safer than their non ambulance versions. I think safety features such as 6-8 airbags, speed limiters, ABS, ESP etc should be made mandatory for all ambulances and old ones should be retired. I know India lacks ambulances and all this results in extra cost but if the government is focusing so much on car safety then it should not ignore emergency

Most of the ambulances in India are Force Travellers, Omnis and other Force vehicles which are inherently not stable due to the body on frame design and height. Of course ambulances do need height, but specialized vehicles as found in foreign countries have more stable vehicles to be redesigned as ambulances. It’s high time all the aforesaid safety features are mandatory to ambulances. Hats off to Indian ambulance drivers who drive such unstable vehicles at insane speeds.

[libranof1987]

Originally Posted by Gypsian

Hats off to Indian ambulance drivers who drive such unstable vehicles at insane speeds.

I feel, the drivers are just as big a problem as the ambulances (rather, choice of vehicle for an ambulance) themselves. Let us not patronise them.

What does it take to be an ambulance, or for that matter, any emergency services vehicle, driver in India? Is there any mandatory training? Unlikely. When these drivers are expected to drive (an unsafe) vehicle at high speeds through dense traffic carrying a vulnerable patient, they should have ideally gone through intense training - handling vehicles at high speeds, manoeuvring, reflexes and crash/slide/lack-of-control recovery.

Instead, very highly possibly, anyone can just walk up to be one. Let's address this as urgently as regulations for ambulance vehicles.

I haven't even broached the abuse and misuse of driving an ambulance, that's for another day.

[GTO]

There is already a severe shortage of ambulances in India, especially out of the metro cities & for the lower rungs of society. Impose newer "safety regulations" and you'll make them more expensive, pricing them out of what many patient families can pay. It will also drastically impact supply.

Hence, I will say no. We have to think practically sometimes. Practical like I'd said earlier, I have no qualms in using a 0-star car as a local runabout - thread link (GNCAP: So, would you use an unrated / poorly rated car as a city driver only?).

What can be done instead is to impose a little more stringent training for ambulance drivers as they have to weave through traffic, drive through red lights and many times, even go the opposite way in 1-way lanes.

[RedTerrano]

The thing about accidents, is that they happen. All over the world.
Here is some official statistical data to put things into perspective.

Source: https://www.ems.gov/pdf/emsworldambu...essept2015.pdf

Coming back to the video.
It is obvious the Ambulance was travelling at high speed which is to be expected. I am no expert but can any vehicle of that size have latest high tech in place and an excellent driver behind the wheel, actually stop at that distance to avoid the cow?

I think not.
Going purely by the video, I do not see how more stricter safety regulation could have avoided the accident.

[shancz]

Like aptly mentioned in previous posts whenever we compare ourselves to countries like the US or from the EU/GCC we tend to forget the disparities in economics and population. We are a developing country for precisely that reason.
Keeping them as a benchmark is good but mindless application without considering the ground realities will be counterproductive for a large part of our population.

Training drivers at least in specialized roles like ambulances and keeping a tight check will prevent such tragedies in the future.
Not to forget efforts have to be made in the general direction of enforcement too. Be it traffic sense, giving way to emergency vehicles and managing stray animals.

[sagarpadaki]

In the above video, I feel there is more than what meets the eye. I feel there was a mechanical failure in the Ambulance looking at how the toll plaza employees scampered to clear the barricades. Maybe they were intimated that the incoming ambulance is unable to stop/slow down? No sane driver, whatever the emergency will do such high speeds when nearing the toll plaza. The emergency vehicles do have dedicated lanes to avoid wait times. The barricades are promptly removed when an emergency vehicles approach. But toll gate employees do not scamper around like how they did in the video.

[Gypsian]

Originally Posted by libranof1987

I feel, the drivers are just as big a problem as the ambulances (rather, choice of vehicle for an ambulance) themselves. Let us not patronise them.

What does it take to be an ambulance, or for that matter, any emergency services vehicle, driver in India? Is there any mandatory training? Unlikely. When these drivers are expected to drive (an unsafe) vehicle at high speeds through dense traffic carrying a vulnerable patient, they should have ideally gone through intense training - handling vehicles at high speeds, manoeuvring, reflexes and crash/slide/lack-of-control recovery.

Instead, very highly possibly, anyone can just walk up to be one. Let's address this as urgently as regulations for ambulance vehicles.

I haven't even broached the abuse and misuse of driving an ambulance, that's for another day.

I beg to differ. Probably you have seen situations like during heart transplantation, an heart of a brain dead person has to be transplanted into an heart patient and there is great distance to travel between the hospitals treating the respective patients, with all the police escort or zero traffic it still takes lot of diligence needed to perform the task. How many drivers have failed in such missions? How many ambulance accidents you come across everyday? Very rare right. Lets not forget that carrying a corpse is not something everybody in any vehicle can do, but they do it right. We must be thankful to them for these services day in and day out and one must admit the fact that their pay cheque is not fat. May be you would have had one or two bad experiences such as in COVID times some drivers were into extortion to move the corpses, but can we generalise that all ambulance drivers are problematic and unfit? Did anybody else carried the corpse to burial ground ( barring few social workers)?? End of the day they risk their lives to save others lives. Pls dont term them as problematic.

Coming to training, can the ambulance driver pass a legislation that somebody needs to train him? Its the domain of the government to pass such statutes and if made mandatory they will subject themselves to training. How can drivers be blamed for absence of legislation in this regard?

[mindshack]

Ambulances (and the driver) have one job - pick up, drive back to hospital, save lives. What India needs is a lot more ambulances and most at nil/negligible cost to the people. A lot of these not-for-profit ambulances are bought out of donations from patrons and therefore the prices of these vehicles matter a lot.

Tale of two India's
Rural / Smaller towns - Most people in small town, villages etc who themselves are only riding a two wheeler (I grew up in one of these). The driver himself has mostly ridden his cycle or a scooter to come to work. What that part of India needs is a quick responsive non-expensive service (and therefore more ambulances). No one thinks in terms of number of airbags. Since driving a bigger vehicle requires more skill, I agree that what is needed is a highly responsible ambulance driver who not only is trained to drive the vehicle (both at speeds and maneuvering in the traffic) but made more aware of this responsibilities towards the society.


Big Cities - I notice in Mumbai (where I have lived for good part of my life) either there are traffic jams where the driver is left with the choice to either disregard the traffic rules to make sure he makes it to the hospital or he waits patiently with the siren on and hoping people give way. Even if people give way, very often I notice some of them want to tail the ambulance to cut through the traffic and therefore create more accident prone situations. What we need here is more empathy from other drivers and better civic sense. And also back to point one - better trained ambulance drivers.

I also agree that the job of the ambulance driver is tough. During my lifetime I have had to use ambulances a few times at odd hours to rush family members to the hospital and have witnessed extremely kind and helpful drivers.

[dragracer567]

What worried me about this particular incident is how easily the doors of the ambulance just opened throwing the occupants out to their deaths. I understand that in a country like India, stringent regulations will price most people out of using ambulances but small changes can be made like secure doors!

[attinder]

There is no point endangering the lives of many while trying to save one. Speed limits must be followed. Obstacles can't just disappear.

Same for VIP convoys.

[supremeBaleno]

Originally Posted by libranof1987

I feel, the drivers are just as big a problem as the ambulances (rather, choice of vehicle for an ambulance) themselves. Let us not patronise them.

Couldn't agree more.

99.99% Ambulances in Kerala are driven very rashly & are a danger to other road users - so many accidents due to them. I understand medical emergency & thus the need to rush, but there is no point in speeding, if instead of getting the patient to the hospital, you end up endangering a few others too.

And then there are the fake emergency ambulances who just use the siren/lights to get a free lane. Once while driving from Haripad to Kollam, an ambulance travelling normally suddenly switches on the siren/lights on getting behind me. I still move aside to let it pass. After few minutes, I see it parked by the road and drive by. Then a little later, again it is behind me and turns on the siren. Could see that they had no emergency or patient, but not much we could do about such misuse of emergency priority.

[Dry Ice]

Originally Posted by libranof1987

I feel, the drivers are just as big a problem as the ambulances (rather, choice of vehicle for an ambulance) themselves. Let us not patronise them.

Originally Posted by GTO

What can be done instead is to impose a little more stringent training for ambulance drivers as they have to weave through traffic, drive through red lights and many times, even go the opposite way in 1-way lanes.

+1. All the safety equipments and tech will come to naught in irresponsible hands. Driver training is essential.

You do not necessarily need to travel at break neck speeds to reach your destination early. A steady pace is all you need. We also have a thread on the topic here (Futility of hasty driving I guess). An ambulance carrying a patient needs to avoid any abrupt direction changes or braking, which is not possible if you are in a pedal to metal mode.

This accident could have been easily avoided had the ambulance reduced it’s speed as it was approaching the toll.

[SS80]

The driver of the said ambulance has spoken to the media and points toward the cow and barricades as the reason and that he tried his best to avoid injuring others. I don't think he could have spotted the cow at those speeds and I feel he did a lane change too before entering the toll.

Only ABS alone cannot save in these types of situations.
ESP too would be required, most importantly the common man's thought process of an ambulance driver needs to change a lot. Ask any layman if he would agree with that equation - Ambulance driver=Fastest driver on road.

https://youtu.be/VvgZAGgvAQU

If the winger had the ESP feature then maybe it would have behaved like the below bus. But again if it had ESP cost would be higher and maybe the patient would not have opted for the winger at all.

https://youtu.be/L7oqIPj1QEc

[Ragul]

Originally Posted by SS80

The driver of the said ambulance has spoken to the media and points toward the cow and barricades as the reason and that he tried his best to avoid injuring others. I don't think he could have spotted the cow at those speeds and I feel he did a lane change too before entering the toll.
...

It was poor training for ambulance driver combined with over-speeding on a rainy wet road. The Ambulance driver needs to be booked for negligence. He is guilty - Period!

Originally Posted by SS80

If the winger had the ESP feature then maybe it would have behaved like the below bus. But again if it had ESP cost would be higher and maybe the patient would not have opted for the winger at all.

You mean a patient should look for features like ABS and EPS or 4x4 drivetrain before agreeing to be ferried in an ambulance?