Surat: Man Arrested For Not Giving Way To Ambulance, Resulting In Delay In Emergency Response
Accused Was Driving On BRTS Route Despite Prohibitions
In Surat, on May 17, a video of a person driving a car in front of an ambulance on the BRTS route went viral on social media. The ambulance was not given way, due to which it got delayed by 10 minutes to attend to a medical emergency. The traffic police took immediate action in this matter and found the driver named Moyunuddin Mohammad Chandiwala. Investigations have also been started. The driver, in his defense, claimed that he could not hear the siren of the ambulance as his child had turned on the music system in the car.
Although it is illegal to drive cars on BRTS routes, the accused was driving his car on the BRTS route towards Bhestan Unn. He was not giving way to the ambulance behind him in spite of the sound of its siren. When the video of the incident went viral, the police and the traffic department tracked down the accused and nabbed him.
Abhishek Thakar, manager of Surat 108 Ambulance, said that the ambulance had started from Harinagar. On May 16, a call of medical emergency was received at 9:54 pm at night, in which it was informed that a person was in unconscious condition. Hence, the ambulance immediately left to reach the location, which was 13 km away from Harinagar. Usually, it takes around 17 to 18 minutes for the ambulance to cover the distance. However, in this case, due to the accused who was not giving way to the ambulance, more than 26 minutes of time got wasted. A delay of approximately 10 minutes occurred to reach the location.
SF Goswami, PSI of Traffic Department, informed that search operations had begun following the video which went viral. During which, the police came to know that the car belonged to a certain Moyunuddin Mohammad Chandiwala from Bibi Ni Wadi, Rani Talav. The police went to the accused’s house and upon investigating, identified the car and its number. The accused was detained. The accused said that since his child started the music system in his car at a high volume, he could not hear the siren of the ambulance. The police registered a case for violation of rules and took further action. The police have appealed to the public to never drive in front of emergency vehicles, be it an ambulance or a fire truck, and give way to them so that they can reach the designated location on time.
