Drivers need medical lessons

Chinese drivers should know what to do after hearing a siren, says an article in Beijing News. Excerpts:

A critically ill patient died in an ambulance on way to a hospital in Beijing recently because only a handful of vehicles made way for it to pass by. A doctor attending the patient in the ambulance said: "It was only 3 km to the hospital, but it took us 40 minutes to reach there. I could do nothing except helplessly watch a life passing away."

Many similar cases have been reported from across China. Thirty patients were held up in ambulances on roads in Xiamen, Fujian province, because vehicle owners didn't give way to ambulances, and the only help an ambulance in Chengdu, Sichuan province, got to reach a hospital in time was from a foreigner. Many commentators have said drivers don't give way to an ambulance because they are ignorant about medical and civic emergencies.

Besides, some media commentaries have said sirens have lost much of their importance in China because government and even military vehicles often use them for non-emergency purposes.

Giving way to an ambulance, especially during rush hour, is very important. Driving tests in other countries demand clear answers on how drivers should react when hearing a siren - the right answer is a driver should stop or make way to let an ambulance pass by. The answer for the question in China, however, is too simple and vague: Drivers should make way.

Since our regulations are vague, the training and tests with regard to making way for emergency vehicles are also vague. Therefore, laws need to be strengthened and strict training and test regimes imposed on driving schools to teach drivers how to react to emergencies on the roads.

(China Daily 12/20/2012 page9)