Thursday, January 24, 2019

Ambulance Drivers Need to Know Better

My son is attending University of California San Diego. He almost got ran over by an ambulance in the middle of a pedestrian crossing, because the ambulance driver turned the pedestrian crossing signal to red immediately and gave himself a green light, and the driver then just drove through the crossing as if no one was there.

My son said that this was the second time that this happened to him.

While it is true that "the walk cycle can be skipped or shortened as emergency vehicles approach these intersections, in accordance with federal rules" (https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl-miami-traffic-turnbell-091415-20150914-column.html), the law also says that the "drivers are required to yield to pedestrians already in a crosswalk, even if the signal has turned green." I do not know how many people know these laws, but the ambulance driver must have known. If he did not know, his employer is definitely being very negligent.

Putting someone's life at such great danger just because you are trying to save another makes no sense. I hope that the ambulance drivers in San Diego would not wait until something terrible happens to realize that.