Watch This Driver Refuse to Yield to an Ambulance
The ambulance was transporting a newborn baby who was unable to breathe to a hospital.
When you see flashing lights and hear a siren approaching, you get out of the way. It's one of the most basic traffic laws on the books. Sadly, it's all too often ignored, with drivers sometimes oblivious to emergency vehicles despite their emergency lights and sirens when responding to a call. One such driver in India appears to have deliberately blocked an ambulance for nearly 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) in this video from the ambulance's dashboard camera.
This ambulance was rushing a newborn baby to the hospital who was having trouble breathing.
"Normally, it would take 15 to 20 minutes for an ambulance to cover the distance between Perumbavoor and Kalamassery," Madhu P B, the ambulance driver, told the Times of India. "On Tuesday, it took almost 35 minutes." That extra time could have meant the difference between life or death for the infant. Fortunately, in this case, the baby made it to the hospital despite the delay and is now in stable condition.
The driver of the SUV, Nirmal Jose, has been arrested and charged with dangerous driving. The driver reportedly claims that he was attempting to escort the ambulance and help clear a path through traffic rather than block it, but police aren't buying that claim.
But perhaps just as important as the driver's arrest is the public shaming he is suffering in the Indian media. Times Now calls Jose's actions "shocking apathy" in the video. The Times of India calls Jose a "sicko driver" in the headline. The video has gone viral worldwide with this negative commentary, and deservedly so.
When emergency vehicles run their lights and sirens, they're not putting on a mobile rave. They genuinely need to get where they're going faster than you do, no matter how important that business meeting or trip to daycare is. When you see them coming, move over and let them by. If the person in the back of that ambulance were you, wouldn't you want everyone to get out of the way?
