No proof of negligent driving
After an ambulance is spotted speeding without sirens, questions arose about the laws of the road for emergency personnel
Questions arose about what exactly ambulances are allowed to do when it comes to the laws of the road. This after an ambulance was reported to have apparently been speeding and nearly pushed a vehicle off the road.
Ms Elize Austin said she and her family were driving on the N4 towards Nelspruit on Saturday. A female ambulance driver started overtaking her on a double solid line. “She then just swerved in front of our car without any lights on and nearly pushed us into the barrier.”
Austin said she felt the woman could have caused a big accident. “I am eight months pregnant and had my seven-year-old child in the car.”
But spokesman for the Department of Community Safety, Security and Liaison, Mr Joseph Mabuza, said that ambulances do not necessarily have to use their lights and sirens during an emergency. “It is difficult for us to presume the ambulance driver was being negligent, because if she was transporting a patient and felt there were no obstructions like robots ahead of her, she didn’t have to put her siren on.”
Yet Mabuza claims all emergency personnel have to obey the rules of the road. “These pictures cannot prove any form of negligence or that she was speeding.”
