Seperate lanes for ambulences and fire engines?
Traveling 22Kms up and down isn’t new to me. I have to do it every single day when I go to work. I have started getting used to it now. I know what time to leave in order to get to office. I have kind of got used to the madness that exists on the roads. I guess we all have. It wasn’t any different yesterday, but something did happen that triggered first a thought, then a scare in my head. I was driving, when I suddenly heard the siren of an ambulance behind me. The traffic was so huge that I am sure even if anybody wanted to give it way, they couldn’t. It took a while for the traffic to open up and we all moved ahead. Throughout the journey, all I wondered about was the fate of the patient in that ambulance, I just hoped it wasn’t too late for him/her. What if the traffic never opened up? The ambulance would have been stuck, am sure whatever the cops may have tried, they wouldn’t be able to get it out of there. I was discussing this incident with a couple of friends of mine over a cup of tea that evening. There were two possible solutions we thought of:1) Reserve a part of every road only for ambulances and fire engines. The benefits of doing this are obvious. The ambulances would have uninterrupted traffic and could reach hospitals easily. The tough part is, we don’t seem to have enough place on the roads for other vehicles, is it going to be feasible to create a separate lane for an ambulance and with the rate at which traffic is increasing, this possibility is only going to get tougher. 2) Have underground passages for ambulances and fire engines. Would be an expensive affair, but it is possible. I am sure if we can spend thousands of crores on underground metro rail systems, we can spend a few on building something on these lines for ambulances and fire engines. It would also require a huge infrastructure revamp, but am sure if the government shows some dedication, this can be done.These are two solutions we could think of. What do you guys think? If there is anything else you can come up with, do share it here.
Hi Tavish,
Our hearts definitely go out to the people in emergency vehicles especially when the vehicles have to pass through traffic. In terms of infrastructure, I agree with Saurabh that we need to be realistic and practical. Until that process is started/underway, we should try to do whatever we can.
Creating awareness among people is a good step. An organisation in Hyderabad Soch is attempting to change attitudes on roads. Citizen involvement and responsibility are really important.
Well I am aware of the rules, but I have seen situations where there is now way for the ambulances to get out of the traffic. As far as people are concerned, at least people i have seen here in Hyderabad are pretty considerate, if there is a ambulence in the traffic and there is a way they can let it go by, they do, but when there is no way to let them go, you cant really help. Nevertheless lots of them still needed to educated.
I agree the solutions are pretty difficult to implement, but its not impossible. In the comments that I received for this post on my blog, one of my friends said that most of ambulances today are a mini hospital in themselves, which gives them enough stuff to hang in there till they reach the hospital. Well i donot agree that all ambulances have that facility. I have seen ambulances with absolutely pathetic conditions, so I guess one feasible solution to this could be to upgrade the ambulances that exists to be "Mini hospitals" themselves.
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