[phamilyman]

The permanent solution to all this is the BRT, which is panned by many TBHPians for its shoddy half-hearted implementation in delhi. I know for a fact that the Delhi BRT has really helped emergency services response times (before they started letting other vehicles use it) including police and medical services.

[Magemegento]

In Delhi too, I have given way to ambulances on a few occasions only to see the Ambulance being tailgated by the vehicle ahead of me and both the ambulance and I reaching the hospital (me passing by) at the same time.
So the effort is more or less wasted if it isn't collective and the right kind of infra is provided.
For a city like Delhi though, where I have spent most of my life, I know for a fact it is the apathy of people not just on the road/behind the wheel, but everywhere, that they'll hardly care about anybody else's life. I've lived and travelled to many cities in India and you cannot find roads better than those in Delhi anywhere (exception- Chandigarh). Not that I'm saying that all us Delhites are morons, but yeah most of us are. We'll kill for a parking space, even though every effing tom-dick&Harry has a car, we still treat them as a status symbol and feel extra powers have been bestowed upon us by virtue of owning the car.
That includes the ambulance drivers as well.

Case in point, I drove my dad to a Janta X-Ray clinic to get some tests done. (No hurry, it wasn't even urgent, leave alone life-threatening. The doctor had asked my dad to bring the reports the next time he was supposed to visit i.e. after 4 weeks). The Lab guys told us that one particular test was only undertaken at their main branch some 3 kms away. I told them I'll take my dad there, on which they insisted to go on their ambulance (Because they wanted us to get the rest of the tests from their branch). We waited for the Ambulance guy to finish cleaning his vehicle (to let you know he knew that it wasn't an urgent case) and voila he switched on his siren at all the 4 traffic signals on the way! I was so irritated even with the noise of the siren inside that I asked him to stop using it, on which he said after dropping us off he is supposed to go pick up a patient.
My point is we as citizens have become so inter-competitive rather than collaborative that self-regulation ain't gonna work with this generation.
In my colony in Delhi, I witness at least 1 major fight a month which leads to police intervention only on parking issues! And otherwise, when you'd see these people in their pimped up Cruze's and XUV's, you'd feel these guys have made it good in life, the kind of language they use when arguing even over parking spots just makes me sick!
"Tu jaanta nahi mai kaun hoon" is not a cliche. That just describes us all (esp Delhites) very aptly.

[Car-go-man]

Sometimes the motorists are restricted in their ability to give way to an ambulance due to peak-hour bumper-to-bumper traffic on busy roads where the signal goes red for almost 5 minutes (happens all the time on most congested junctions in Bangalore). I believe technology can solve some of this problem. If there is a way that the traffic police manning a given junction knows if there is an ambulance stuck somewhere he/she could override the signal on that stretch until the ambulance gets away.
Of course this also requires the other motorists to give way to the ambulance instead of grabbing this as an opportunity to get away first.

[vishnu-man]

Originally Posted by Car-go-man

Sometimes the motorists are restricted in their ability to give way to an ambulance due to peak-hour bumper-to-bumper traffic on busy roads where the signal goes red for almost 5 minutes (happens all the time on most congested junctions in Bangalore). I believe technology can solve some of this problem. If there is a way that the traffic police manning a given junction knows if there is an ambulance stuck somewhere he/she could override the signal on that stretch until the ambulance gets away.
Of course this also requires the other motorists to give way to the ambulance instead of grabbing this as an opportunity to get away first.

Agreed!
It was a couple of days ago, On my way to office at about 0800 hrs, I was waiting at the red-signal at Kasturba Road near the UB City building, Bangalore.
The signal turned green, but within 10 seconds it turned red again.
It was this cop who was at the signal; who, on getting radioed, overrode the signal.
And there came an ambulance out of Cubbon-Park and passed the signal through.
The next second, the signal turned green and I was good to go.

[Fx14]

Originally Posted by drmohitg

Sorry I do not subscribe to everything shown
.... From all my foreign visits, I have noticed that Emergency vehicles there have much better flashing lights and the alarm horn ( in terms of volume of sound). One can hear it from a large distance. In India so many times I am unable to hear the siren from an emergency vehicle parked 2-3 cars away from me. Hope they try and change that too.

Other factors to be changed besides the siren and flashlights :

1. Powerful vehicles to be used for the load - many ambulances spotted are Omnis which can barely outrun most other cars in the road. Even with an open road ahead they aren't able to use the right of way offered. Sometimes, have noticed other cars overtake them and cut back in the same lane , while you have offered right of way and end up tailing it at a lower speed than you could have done in the first place.
2. Experienced drivers - to ensure that the vehicle can be driven at its permissible limit yet safely.
3. Have read that in some countries the vehicles on emergency duty do have control on the functioning of the traffic signals encountered on their route and clearances can be dynamically altered by the driver to facilitate faster clearances (This may be long way off to be implemented here).

[naveenroy]

This video is a conspiracy hatched by some foreign powers (that same foreign country in the video) to malign my fellow countrymen. We are all like manna from heaven. We Indians do no wrong. I strictly condemn such videos.

And on another note - I would rather give way to an ambulance driver going on a joyride with full sirens blazing than block his way imagining that he has no patient inside the van!

[sachinpk]

Originally Posted by vishnu-man

It was this cop who was at the signal; who, on getting radioed, overrode the signal. And there came an ambulance out of Cubbon-Park and passed the signal through. The next second, the signal turned green and I was good to go.

It could be the traffic police man at the junction, or the signal pattern can be changed by the traffic folks sitting inside the Traffic Management Centre at Ashok Nagar. As I mentioned earlier (in another post), in any case the path of the ambulance would have been shared across all the traffic police men on the wireless.

[RajaTaurus]

Agree that this video enlightens people on requirements for giving way to Ambulances or Fire trucks, I think it is not that bad everywhere. Even in rural areas, I have seen small APEs and Autos giving ways to Ambulances the same way as they did abroad in this video. With all kind of vehicles in all shapes and sizes squeezed into one or two lanes for want of space and time, and the level of education and awareness still in its early part of learning curve, I truly appreciate the Ambulance drivers Especially those of 108's) and the public who give way.

[Magemegento]

Originally Posted by Fx14

1. Have read that in some countries the vehicles on emergency duty do have control on the functioning of the traffic signals encountered on their route and clearances can be dynamically altered by the driver to facilitate faster clearances (This may be long way off to be implemented here).

True, I've seen it in some movie/show too. The ambulance has an overrider which can turn the Traffic signal Green at which the Ambulance is approaching.
If not across a city, such a feature can be implemented in a 3-5 km radius of the major Hospitals. Esp in high density areas. IMO it's a much better investment than having helipads and helicopters in the hospital. (The importance of which cannot be underscored BTW).

[joe_antony]

Originally Posted by VW2010

Even in US the process of paying fines and getting out of a summon or ticket is so tedious you rather not commit a simple crime like minimal overspeeding to save 2 minutes. YOu will waste atleast a couple of days getting your things sorted out.

That's the difference Bro, here things are 'sorted out' with 100 bucks on the spot.

[Kumar R]

Today at about 1715 I saw a hearse carrying a body, sporting a red beacon and a wailing siren speed on the wrong side of the road (beleghata crossing - chingrihata crossing) in an apparent 'emergency'. Even the cop on duty waved it through. Am I missing something ?

[RGK]

One of the basic reason is "no one was taught about the entire traffic rules or laws, infact we do not have a pucca one and also there is no standard convention across the country".

Have seen some of the drivers drive very fast before the ambulance as the right of way .

[prakhar1998]

Originally Posted by Captain Slow

While totally Agree with you that emergency vehicles should be given the right of way and I always do so, but and this is a Big but (I am sure all of the readers here have the same question in their heads)
What is the driver is just using the lights and sirens just to jump a signal or get ahead of the line or maybe the driver is in a hurry to go and meet his girl?
3 out of 10 times this is the case!

I bed to differ. How do you even know what he is intending to do. Can't it be that the driver is going to pick up a patient, or received an emergency call at that point of time.

No offence meant to anyone, but I personally believe this attitude needs to change. People in India are perhaps the most negative. Whenever there is a police check post, my driver says "yeh to paise banana ke liye khade hain" which is what many other people say as well. What they don't realise is that they are there in the sweltering heat of Delhi to make your city safer. It's these same people who point their finger at the police whenever some incident takes place.

Same attitude problem with the people who say that Ambulance and Police take advantage of their "right of way" privileges. I say, let them do that, as one can never be sure what they really intend to do. 30 seconds of your time can be worth 50 years of someone else's life.

Please be appreciative and considerate.

[KL54]

I really don't think it is that bad here. Atleast in Kochi, in my experience, I see everyone - without exception giving right of way to ambulances. Yeah, but to police and sarkari vehicles - the kind which don't put their sirens but only flash their lights because it isn't an emergency but a fishing expedition to get ahead, they give right of way only grudgingly, which is alright by me.

Yeah even the private city buses make way - which is, believe me, really something.

[mksureshhere]

Originally Posted by sarathlal

And after reaching home, this was the first video to hit up in FB, so thought of sharing it here, just an attempt to spread the awareness.

Thanks Sarathlal for sharing this. my blood was all boiling after seeing this video.
The only question came to my mind when I saw this video was - "When we learnt to eat pizza and burgers from them, why not this basic manners of giving side for ambulance?"