Give way to ambulances or pay fine!

Ajay Joshi

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, June 27

Having witnessed around five-six deaths in the past six months due to the late arrival of his ambulance, Amandeep Singh, an ambulance manager of a 108 ambulance at the Civil Hospital, welcomed a move (introduced in the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill) to issue a penalty of Rs 10,000 to those who do not give way to ambulances on road.

Other government and private ambulance drivers in the city also appreciated this significant change in the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill. Coming down heavily on the motorists who did not give way for ambulances, the Central cabinet has now approved the Bill that was proposed earlier.

The ambulance drivers said: “It is difficult for them to get patients to hospital in shortest possible time as motorists, especially two-wheeler riders and auto-rickshaw drivers often overtake us and block the way, hence, making it difficult for us to reach the patient or the hospital on time.”

“Whenever we reach any accident spot late due to traffic bottlenecks, the delay risks the lives of serious patients. Therefore, it was necessary to take action against commuters who do not give way for ambulances, as every four out of 10 patients bear the brunt of delay by the ambulance services,” said Harmanpreet Singh, another ambulance manager.

Another ambulance driver Sandeep Singh spoke about an incident in which it took him 20 minutes to cover a distance of 500 metres from the Civil Hospital’s gate to the gynaecology ward while taking a pregnant woman to the ward. He said instead of clearing roads for ambulances, motorists indulge in arguments with its drivers.

Mukesh Kumar, who is running the Raja Ambulance Service, said: “In the absence of separate lanes for emergency vehicles in the city and existing narrow roads, they can only bank on commuters to ensure that patients reach hospitals on time. However, traffic jams puts patients at risk. Commuters should try to make way for us to save patients’ lives.”

While recalling an accident that occurred four months ago, Amandeep said had they reached five minutes early, a 25-year-old youth could have been saved. He died due to delayed medical assistance.

Till now, none of the motorists was challaned for blocking the ambulance’s way, said traffic police reader Narinder Singh.