No green for the ambulance

Bad roads, traffic congestion, adverse weather, and civic apathy in Bengaluru – all of these have one common ramification in that they affect emergency services in the city, especially ambulance services. Ambulances struggling to reach healthcare facilities on time have become a recurring issue in Bengaluru. Recently, an autorickshaw driver refused to make way for an ambulance carrying a critically ill patient. The incident sparked public outrage but these triggers eventually die down. It is crucial to understand measures taken by the authorities responsible for a safe right of way for ambulances and what we, as a society, have failed to do collectively.

Bengaluru records around 3,000 ambulance trips every day, including the 108 services and trips by private ambulances. In 2021, 175 accident victims died while being transported to hospitals for emergency treatment. This number rose by nearly 67% to 292 victims in 2023, according to data from the Bengaluru Traffic Police (BTP). In 2024, at least 300 people died in the first hour after accidents, throwing light on existing gaps in emergency healthcare services. Numerous lives are lost owing to delays in receiving medical assistance, mostly because the victims are stuck en route to hospitals.

Bengaluru did make the transition from automated signals to adaptive signals designed to assist ambulances to seamlessly move through the traffic. Adaptive signals adjust signal timings based on real-time traffic, thereby clearing the path for ambulances. The move is well-intentioned but there is a need for the BTP to assess the performance of these signals and extend them to traffic signal junctions across the city. There have also been previous efforts to launch an app to help ambulances that get delayed in traffic.

In the presence of adaptive signals and better coordination with the ambulances, what else could impede the movement of ambulances? Unfortunately, the biggest contributors to the delay are citizens themselves. What does the law say? Following the guidelines issued by the BTP, no challan can be imposed if one jumps the signal to make way for an ambulance to pass. What is then stopping the citizens from making way? One common trend observed is that when the ambulance is given way, there is typically a barrage of vehicles trying to slide through behind, with the intent of finding their way ahead or behind the ambulance. This opportunistic piggybacking often leads to collisions between vehicles, resulting in greater difficulty for the ambulances to pass.

Why is it important to make way for an ambulance? In 2023, an 18-month-old baby died while being taken to a hospital in an ambulance, owing to a traffic jam. A traffic-induced 20-minute delay stood between her life and death. Recently, Bengaluru also saw the driver of an ambulance carrying a baby to a hospital getting beaten up because he had overtaken another vehicle.

Battling citizen apathy

Technological interventions coupled with enhanced coordination between the police and ambulance services can go a long way in ensuring that ambulances reach hospitals on time. The lack of awareness and sensitivity among citizens poses a challenge. Moreover, effective implementation of Section 194E of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, which provides that failure to allow free passage to ambulances may attract a fine of Rs 10,000 or imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months, or both, will ensure a deterrent effect. There must also be active efforts to discourage attempts by citizens who drive recklessly behind ambulances. This could include imposing fines on those who follow ambulances and create havoc, exacerbating the intensity of the crisis.

The government could also identify black spots where the frequency of accidents is high to ensure that the response is immediate. It is also important for the BTP to undertake training sessions to educate the public. The lack of awareness among the motorists and the general public on the seriousness associated with the movement of ambulances remains a concern. Ambulance drivers feel the pressure as they drive through the city’s traffic. Left to save lives, moving through congested, battered roads, these drivers are battling it out there. Every Bengalurean has been a victim of the city’s burgeoning traffic but it is when delays on the road stand between life and death that you truly comprehend the extent of the problem and understand how the congestion is failing all of us.

(The writer is a senior resident fellow at Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy)