Please give right of way to Ambulances & Emergency Vehicles!

[999]

I am quite happy about my place for this matter (TVM, KL). Almost all of the people give way to ambulances/fire vehicles if at all there is a chance to do so. I have seen people making way for ambulances even at a traffic signal. I do that relegiously too. I believe that knowing that you may be in that vehicle a day for one reason or the other, will make a big change. Since 108 is common in my state, at some point of time people may have been in a situation where they were at the receiving end/felt the impact of people giving way. Anyway I hope that it stays in this good way.

[sachinpk]

I remember reading news reports in Bangalore in early 2000s. It was about the insensitivity of drivers towards Ambulances. There were a couple of incidents when the poor victims died because the ambulance got stuck up in traffic jams. There was a heavy sensitisation drive by the civic authorities and now I feel slowly they are bearing fruit. From what I have seen on the road, people are trying their level best to give Ambulance the right of way. Especially in crowded junctions the stopped vehicles even start honking to alert the Traffic police man - that there is an ambulance behind them.

A few years back there was a movie "Traffic" in Malayalam. It was about transferring some body organs for transplantation. It had to be moved from Cochin to Palakkad in very limited time. The movie became a hit even though it had its own idiosyncracies (like CP Cochin guiding the Ambulance through the police districts of Thrissur and Palakkad). Looks like a few people thought about trying it in real world. Around six months back there was a case when a heart had to be transported to Cochin from Thrissur. They planned it much better than what is shown in the movie.

The doctors removed the heart in early hours of morning. A "Flying Squad" vehicle with best young drivers from Thrissur City police landed up at around 5:00AM. They set forward soon afterwards. The convoy was planned to move at a time when minimum traffic was there on the road and it was daybreak. Thrissur City police had informed Thrissur Rural police (who had "Highway police" squads) about this convoy well in advance. The routes were all clear for the convoy. At Alwaye, the police party from Ernakulam Rural was ready and soon they passed the vehicle to Ernakulam city police who took the ambulance without a delay to the hospital. I was proud & happy to read this - so many people (including the parents of the victims) working hard and in unison to ensure that a life continues at another place !!!

Originally Posted by drmohitg

The only way they can manage this is by having a system in place where the Ambulances can coordinate with the traffic cops and the signals in its way can be managed allowing a smoother run for it

In Bangalore city traffic police now regularly coordinate on wireless to help an ambulance in an emergency. Currently it is the traffic police who does the sighting of the ambulance and share the message amongst themselves. For example Control room monitoring the elevated highway using their camera can easily see an ambulance rushing in. They immediately alert traffic police posted at Madivala PS junction, Sarjapur Rd. Jn, Madivala check post and so on (assuming Ambulance is on the way to NIMHANS). Each of them then would relay the latest position with each other.

Originally Posted by bravo6

Ambulances should be given radios just like cops, and they should co-ordinate with the control room to have a clear route to the hospital

Currently at Bangalore they don't have such a system. A few of the big hospitals may have ambulances with VHF sets which can talk to the respective hospital. But it is not worth the hassle and many would have done away with that. Even 108 crew has mobile phones for communication. But in a city like Bangalore, 108 control room can inform the police control room in advance. Then the police wireless can do a much better job. Their networks are far superior.

[turbodude]

The video shows apathy which we experience daily. However, the root cause lies in the process of giving driving licenses. Most of Team-BHP members will also agree that the way they passed out driving test, was ridiculous.

I have passed both my 2 wheeler and 4 wheeler tests by just circling around the RTO office. Fortunately, my parents are strict and I will lose my driving license if they find even one instance of me breaking the rules. Also, my 4 wheeler instructor at driving school was very very strict. He informed me of all small rules like no overtaking on single lane bridge etc etc.

Our nation exports software to entire world. Why can't govt. make an educational software and make it compulsory to pass the test before giving out licenses like food coupons. Passing a driving test in foreign nations is 100% hard compared to what we have here.

[vineshpikale]

Originally Posted by turbodude

The video shows apathy which we experience daily. However, the root cause lies in the process of giving driving licenses. Most of Team-BHP members will also agree that the way they passed out driving test, was ridiculous.

Completely Agree! Our process of obtaining a driving licence is a complete farce. Inadequate practice, ignorance of rules and driving customs, apathy for other drivers/riders/pedestrians, inadequate exposure to and emphasis on road manners - some of the few ills that plague our roads.

[terra85]

As a doctor I have traveled in ambulances carrying patients and people have gone out of their way to give way. The roads are the problem usually . Another thing is in the west the ambulances are well equipped which usually is not the case in ours which needs to improve to improve patients survival

[prasadee]

Originally Posted by rajeev k

Further it is a common practice these days to go to hospital as an outpatient even for minor ailment in an Ambulance rather than in a Taxi.

It is not humanly possible to determine if the ailment of the person in the ambulance is minor or not.

Even if I accept that there is misuse. How many ambulances are on the road in any given city? An Ambulance gets ahead of us while misusing the siren - so what? How many seconds can one lose? Often I give way to call center cabs that are driven aggressively by goons. Give the benefit of the doubt to the ambulance driver. Misuse is bad, and the hospital needs to investigate and fire the driver if found guilty. It is not like there is a line of Ambulances passing by for 10 minutes. On the flip side even if 30% of people think on the lines of Ambulances misusing the siren and not give way - the minute after a heart attack can kill the patient. I am not a doctor, but I lost my aunt as there was a big delay in ambulance reaching the hospital.

So think again, the skepticism is entirely misplaced. I am glad that there are people posting that my city has changed for the good where people are giving way for Ambulances. Small step in the right direction!

[bruiser]

One should see the way people behave in NCR. Most of them do not even acknowledge the siren, I have witnessed this at least a dozen times now. Some morons even try to tailgate ambulances. Its so shameful that people do not want to change at all. All they talk about is good governance and corruption free society. God help us.
It is so sad to see an ambulance stuck in traffic, those minutes lost could make a difference.

[dileepcm]

As far as I can think, There is no way to make a dedicated move [In India] just for Ambulances or other critical services. Everything is a part of the road discipline that needs to be built up from the day one. When its such a disciplined ecosystem of drivers, everything becomes smooth. This fact partially ties with the number of vehicles we have in India, and controlling them is not easy.
However I would like to mention the below point.
1. While standing on a signal and an emergency vehicle is behind you somewhere stuck in the signal too. Now what do you do? - Its simple. We need to make our way for the emergency, we need not worry about green lane at that moment, those drivers would be following the same mindset, and will give way to the needy. I have personally seen it happening this way here in The Netherlands where regardless of where you are and what you are doing, your vehicle is parked to the side and space is made for the emergency vehicle to pass. In short, the fact that I point to is that its a style of discipline and sense of act that needs to come along with driving lessons. How many of our [Indian] driving schools tech about how to deal with an emergency ambulance?

[Samba]

A very well executed video for a very good purpose but...

Just saw the full video and i analyzed few points-

1) For the first one minute it was totally a very insensible decision by the i10 driver to park his car blocking the ambulance.

2) At 1:15 seconds, 2:38 seconds, 3:09 seconds & 3:40 seconds the cars in front are not much at fault. They themselves have no place to give way to the ambulance. Showing the video of these cars ahead just for 1 second and claiming they have not given side is unfair. The video should have been taken for at-least the next 10-15 seconds which is at-least required to give pass to the ambulance behind.

3) Comparing it with foreign don't make 100% sense. Have a look at there wide roads and less number of vehicles compared to our narrow and congested roads where people do not get space to move. I understand there people are more sensible in these regards but at the same time they have a much better infrastructure for fast moving traffic. If they say stop blaming narrow streets i will definitely disagree over here. That definitely causes a great deal of hindrance to slow down an ambulance. Can they claim the same if the Ambulance is moving through wide one way roads even in India? Then and there the scenario changes. They have only shown the busy narrow streets over here.

4) 2:02 seconds he claims no one gave him way to go. But here the ambulance overtakes the grey Figo from left and takes a U turn towards right from the front of the Figo. The Figo owner definitely slowed down and gave way to the Ambulance.

5) 4:05 seconds the white Alto owner is totally irresponsible. He should have given way to the ambulance first before joining the road.

6) 4:46 seconds the ambulance bangs the vehicle ahead! Its absolutely sloppy from the ambulance driver. This jerk can cause more injury and turn fatal to the patient in the ambulance too! In order to save some one else life he cant put others life in danger. Just imagine if he hit a two wheeler in front of him!

7)3:40 seconds he claims if he can reach on time 10 out of 10 patients life can be saved! Even a doctor cant commit that! But still he told that for a good cause so its acceptable.

I would like to see a full video of an ambulance from the starting point to the hospital rather than just highlighting these negative moments. So we can judge the whole scenario of how many people do give way and how many do not. I have been to many states of India and almost 90% of the time i have seen people making way for the ambulance.

[itwasntme]

In my humble opinion and in my limited experience in Bangalore, MOST drivers give way or at least attempt to give way even in heavy traffic. Those who try and use the ambulance effect to stay ahead of it or tailgate it once past are usually the less disciplined Indica/Sumo call centre cabbies and TT drivers.

I believe dashcams should be compulsorily fitted and used in all Indian ambulances to record unreasonable driving and reported to RTO authorities ASAP.

I always keep thinking: what if I or any of my loved ones were inside?!!!

[benbsb29]

Originally Posted by itwasntme

I always keep thinking: what if I or any of my loved ones were inside?!!!

The day every other motorist on the road has the same thought that goes through their head when they see an approaching ambulance with the sirens blaring, this would cease to be an issue.

[MaxTorque]

Somehow I have not come across a situation where motorists blocking/not giving way to an ambulance. But have seen multiple incidents where people tail gating ambulances or jumping the traffic signals following an ambulance.

[Anand3553]

As stated by many, I always find people making way for ambulances in KL and TN. Down here, it is very rare that you will find an ambulance stuck anywhere other than a red signal where other drivers have absolutely nowhere to go. But as soon as they get the first chance, they move out of the way. It is heartening indeed.

But what makes me feel ashamed of are those bikes which zooms past me with horns that resemble the emergency siren. Absolutely ridiculous. And the winner is the “skilled” driver who is trailing the ambulance making use of it, just look at his face, that moron is so proud of what he is doing and he is bragging about it to his co-passenger friend .

[laluks]

I have seen many cars giving way to the ambulances in busy streets like old airport road in Bangalore. The awareness is certainly there, probably due to the fact that most of the IT population could have seen similar discipline during their on-site stints, and wanted to consciously take back to their home country.


It starts from you. May be you were not aware, such videos help in spreading the awareness.

[aravindr]

Originally Posted by laluks

I have seen many cars giving way to the ambulances in busy streets like old airport road in Bangalore. The awareness is certainly there, probably due to the fact that most of the IT population could have seen similar discipline during their on-site stints, and wanted to consciously take back to their home country.


It starts from you. May be you were not aware, such videos help in spreading the awareness.

Yes, I too agree with this and with many others' view as well that the awareness has improved a lot. I myself have witnessed this as I have been in ambulance few times with my near and dear as patients.

While the ambulance gets the right of way in most circumstances, I also see that along with the ambulance many would like to tailgate and getting the right of way for themselves as well, sometimes there is a risk of them rear ending the ambulance.