Fine for delaying ambulances: Cops to cover all pvt hospitals
GURUGRAM: The Gurugram traffic police has decided to expand to all private hospitals in the city their enforcement of Section 194E of The Motor Vehicles Act under which vehicles that delay or block the movement of ambulances on the road are penalised.
Since February 15, the police have been enforcing this provision of the Act at the Gurugram Civil Hospital in Sector 10.
Traffic officers, according to their available manpower, are riding as passengers in the hospital’s government ambulances to identify and fine vehicles that delay or block ambulances.
Officers sit beside the driver, record the movement of offending vehicles on their mobile phones, and feed the offenders’ registration number on their hand-held challan device to impose an online fine of ₹10,000.
Now, this will be expanded to all private hospitals in the city.
Section 194E says that failure to allow free passage to emergency vehicles such as fire engines or ambulances shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term up to six months or with a fine of ₹10,000 or both. So far, 52 vehicle drivers, mostly of four-wheelers, have been fined for delaying or blocking ambulances on the road.
“From February 15 till March 19, we have fined 52 private and commercial vehicle drivers ₹10,000 each amounting to ₹5.2 lakh. Now, directions have been issued to all the 121 traffic zonal officers to coordinate with every private hospital in their jurisdiction to expand the drive for a large-scale impact so that drivers learn to give way to an ambulance immediately after sensing its presence,” said Virender Vij, deputy commissioner of police (traffic).
“The zonal officers will stay in touch with the nodal authority of these private hospitals so that traffic police personnel may accompany an ambulance driver whenever the vehicle is transporting patients and issue online challans to violators accordingly on the move,” he added.
Sukhbir Singh, assistant commissioner of police (traffic headquarters), said they are using the violation on camera (VOCr) method for issuing the challans where video clips of the violation serve as evidence.
“Mostly private four-wheeler drivers were observed as violators till now, who even after hearing an ambulance siren don’t give it instant passage,” said Singh, who is monitoring the drive.
Prince Kumar, a city-based ambulance driver, said that most of the time he transported a patient during an emergency, he could not get a clear way. “SUVs, high-end vehicles, two-wheelers, and auto-rickshaws cause most of the trouble. Their drivers don’t realise that a patient’s life is at stake and every minute counts,” he said.
Dr Sushila Kataria, senior director (medicine), of Medanta Hospital, called the drive a good initiative by the Gurugram traffic police.