Car versus MB Ambulence

[Big_Richard]

saw this today,

I wonder what happens when some brain dead moron ignores an ambulance with its lights and sirens on and drives in front of them causing a collision?

A mate of mine who's a fire man reckons its still the driver of the emergency vehicles fault if a collision is had if their driving would ordinarily be illegal if it wasn't an emergency... Dont know if its the same for ambos...

[nathan]

you gotta be careful out waneroo way! dumbasses

[TJ 450]

Is that the Kingsway shopping centre? 

Tim

[Big_Richard]

It certainly is

[oscar]

The way I understand it ambos are accountable for infringements during emergency runs if they're at fault but common sense plays a big role.  It was made clear from the outset when I joined that beacons and sirens don't guarantee a right of way or a clear path nor indemnity if you cause a prang and in the case of traffic lights you'd be mad to sail through a red light and expect everyone to stop.  You're supposed to creep across lane by lane to make sure the lead car in each lane has seen you and stops for you.  Not sure what's happened in that above pic and who's to blame but it would be interesting to know the sequence of events.  Thankfully bingles don't occur often but if it's identifiable that an emergency vehicle was driven wrecklessly to cause a prang then the driver will definitely loose points off their license and gain a fine as a minimum.

I got done for speeding once about 5yrs ago.  Non life threatening long distance transport.  Had a good story to rebutt the fine but was rejected.  $200+ and a couple of points.  Grrrr!

And how about this beauty... former colleague failed to negotiate a right turn at a T intersection after sliding on some gravel on a bitumen residential street at about 50km/hr, then hit a tree.  It was an emergency call with bells and whistles going and was fined, demerit points and done for negligent driving.

Incredibly the tree was only about 6" diameter and the brake pedal trapped the driver's foot.  There just doesn't seem to be much strength in the quarters of these VWs.

[TJ 450]

Yikes... Just as well he wasn't traveling any faster.

Sometimes the law seems unreasonable, but you get that and that's what courts are for. Things can get messy and costly though.

Tim

[flutes]

Oscar is it mandated that you take advanced driving courses?

[KenM]

Thats some pretty hefty damage for only 50 k's/hr, I suppose an ambulance would be heavy though, fair bit of momentum behind it, come to think of it Oscar they must be a pig to drive at speed, fair bit of body roll I would imagine.

Ken

[s class]

It all went downhill once institutions stopped using Binz ponton and finnies for ambulances. 

[oscar]

  ooh I dunno sclass.  Wish I had the chance to report back after some test drives but I don't think our mob ever had mercs previously.  The Sprinters were the first dabble in benzes here from about 10yrs ago onwards and now they're the preferred choice throughout all Aus states replacing F100s, F250s and GMCs of the 90s.  The Sprinters are by far the most spacious vehicle they've used but have poor acceleration and only go up to 135km/h - 140 with the wind behind you.  But with its rear wheel drive through an open diff on a live axle and delivery van leaf spring suspension, they're just not suited to our sealed rural roads let alone the dirt ones, so they're mainly located in big cities.

The VW on the other hand is preferred in country areas for it's speed and comfort.  Although both cars are turbo intercooled 2.5 litre diesels, the VW is front wheel drive, goes to 180km/h, and accelerates like a 4 litre petrol car.  You'd be surprised KenM, the current VWs are the fastest and most stable ambulance of the 14 types I've driven.  They stick to the tarmac like a racecar and there's no under or oversteer.  They're quite impressive and forgiving and a safer choice for us and the public, despite that photo which surprised us all.  We've got 4 of these and one Sprinter where I work plus a Landcruiser we rarely use but if I had my way we'd have 6 VWs.  We get about 100,000km out of them before they're sold off with few if any issues. 

This'll sound surprising flutes but there's no advanced driving course.  Over the years they've dabbled with different ideas.  Before I joined there was some training via highway patrol or some other police training course and another time they tried an advanced training course by private contractors on a track/skidpan setup but found particularly in the later attempt that more of those ambos were having accidents than any other group.  I was taken around the Hawkesbury area north of Sydney and had to do some emergency stops in a Hiace van   We took turns and the instructor made some of the girls cry.  Hardly adequate training but that was years ago and they're always looking to improve.  Currently there's an interesting instructional video but in the end it comes down to common sense and experience and decent on the job mentoring which you can imagine varies somewhat.  I'm not sure what other states do but it's an area of training that constantly changes. 

[flutes]

I do find that surprising but can understand the difficulties in providing training that walks the fine line between developing skills vs developing over-confidence.  It's probably a scenario where the incentives to take risks are high are so high (ie get to the patient sooner) that a bit of under-confidence for the less experienced drivers is probably a good thing.