HYDERABAD: Notwithstanding the crackdown on illegal use of sirens, including by authorised vehicles like ambulances, the menace remains rampant in the city.
Police, who focussed more on sensitising drivers all these days, particularly those driving ambulances, have now decided to get tough with violators by strictly implementing all enforcement regulations.
The decision comes after an ambulance driver used the siren only to stop by a roadside eatery to buy snacks for him and the staff at Basheerbagh late Monday night.
Police have also received complaints of hospitals sending patients to diagnostic centres located far away with whom they have a tie-up, for scans and other tests. In such cases, ambulance drivers are under pressure to transport more patients and they use sirens to avoid traffic and red signals, despite the case not being an emergency.
Some ambulance drivers, police found, use sirens the moment they start the vehicle, in the process creating inconvenience to other road users.
“We will not know such cases unless we stop the vehicle, but it might again lead to inconvenience to genuine patients. As it is a sensitive matter, we are dealing with caution,” traffic officials said.
Ironically, although police managed to book several private vehicles for siren violations, there have been no instances of stopping vehicles belonging to politicians, their families, followers, bureaucrats, police officials and vehicles owned by public servants, despite the fact that all these persons use sirens to zip through the busy roads. In such vehicles sirens can be identified only when they are stopped and checked physically.
But given the traffic movement and aspects like them being VVIP vehicles, it is rather difficult, traffic officials pointed out.
Earlier in May, BK Rahul Hedge, DCP-I Hyderabad traffic police held a meeting with managements of hospitals, nursing homes and ambulance
associations and sensitised them on the ethical use of sirens.
- Traffic police have initiated action on drivers causing this menace from April.
- Hyderabad city police have booked 1,744 drivers for illegal use of sirens.
- Around 10 percent of these cases are against ambulance drivers, who use sirens even when they are only transporting staff and hospital material.
- There are also some drunk driving cases against ambulance drivers.
