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Gizmo
PostPosted: Tue Jun 27, 2006 11:04 
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http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/12/1202.asp

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Organizations that provide ambulance service in the UK are being distracted by an increasing number of speed camera tickets issued to drivers responding to emergency calls. In the Tyneside region, police issued tickets to 146 drivers, with 45 drivers forced to pay the fine and 101 acquitted.

Officials in charge of ambulance services believe the situation is making drivers concentrate more on saving their jobs than the well-being of the patients under their care, even when they are not responding to an emergency call. Receiving just a few speed camera tickets can result in a driver losing his license.

"They are given boards full of patients, they want to do the best they can and while it might not be an emergency, they are still patients and still ill. All that pressure builds up," Joel Byers with the Unison trade union told the Shields Gazette newspaper. "I am not excusing them breaking the law, but if they are only doing a few miles over the speed limit, I think there should be more discretion."


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r11co
PostPosted: Tue Jun 27, 2006 11:30 
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Joel Byers, Unison trade union wrote:
I am not excusing them breaking the law, but if they are only doing a few miles over the speed limit, I think there should be more discretion.


A change in the law should be made then. Yeah, right - not when there are propaganda points to be made about how much speed kills.... :roll:
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Zamzara
PostPosted: Tue Jun 27, 2006 11:39 
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Gizmo wrote:
In the Tyneside region, police issued tickets to 146 drivers, with 45 drivers forced to pay the fine and 101 acquitted.


That sounds like a very high number forced to pay. The law does not require it to be an emergency, merely that observing the speed limit would hinder the ambulance.

Can they really demonstrate that 1/3 of the time that ambulances speed, it is for no good reason whatsoever?
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toonbarmy
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PostPosted: Tue Jun 27, 2006 18:41 
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surely the ambulance control room would know if the ambulance was on an emergency call or not, hence the 101 being acquitted
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botach
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PostPosted: Tue Jun 27, 2006 20:47 
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Surely the point is to teach the morons who look at the photos to reallise that the word "AMBULANCE" defines a vehicle carrying sick /ill people to hospital ,and excempt -- no exceptions - just full time.But then - is it possible to educate these people.

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safedriver
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PostPosted: Tue Jun 27, 2006 21:42 
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Basically it will soon become impossible to recruit drivers for emergency vehicles.
Think about it. If you lose it as a result of your work, you cannot drive at all, even your own car when not on duty, so why take the risk?

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toonbarmy
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PostPosted: Tue Jun 27, 2006 22:06 
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botach wrote:
Surely the point is to teach the morons who look at the photos to reallise that the word "AMBULANCE" defines a vehicle carrying sick /ill people to hospital ,and excempt -- no exceptions - just full time.But then - is it possible to educate these people.


if the ambulance is on a 999 call yes then exemptions should apply, but if it is the ambulance taking patients to a care centre should the same exemption apply

it would be intresting to find out how many tickets were issued as a result of a gatso type camera to a van camera
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Dixie
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PostPosted: Wed Jun 28, 2006 07:58 
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If these ambulances where only doing speeds slightly in excess of the limit and where driving at a speeds appropriate for the conditions, then they should not even be receiving speeding tickets, and that goes for the rest of us too.

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Sixy_the_red
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PostPosted: Wed Jun 28, 2006 13:29 
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toonbarmy wrote:
botach wrote:
Surely the point is to teach the morons who look at the photos to reallise that the word "AMBULANCE" defines a vehicle carrying sick /ill people to hospital ,and excempt -- no exceptions - just full time.But then - is it possible to educate these people.


if the ambulance is on a 999 call yes then exemptions should apply, but if it is the ambulance taking patients to a care centre should the same exemption apply

it would be intresting to find out how many tickets were issued as a result of a gatso type camera to a van camera


The ambulance need not necessarily be on a 999 call for it to be an emergency. Imagine if the ambulance had been called for a non-emergency transport of a patient that during the journey became an emergency?

We should be training professional drivers to be able to drive safely at speed - the police do it, get caught and get off.

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botach
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PostPosted: Wed Jun 28, 2006 21:00 
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Sixy - thank you - looking at my post it was something i was trying to say ,but missed . Then ther's the point that there's even more risk of injury to patients ----- car driver looks at speedo - looks up and has to jam on brakes - passengers belted ---same situation with ambulance - nasty. So leave the speed determination to the driver , most are pros any way so driving normaly close to limit ---why should this group be asked to do more?? --- indeed ,why should any driver be penalised by robot , if a trafpol would only give a lecture.

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