Ambulance driver pleads for licence after accident
abu dhabi — An ambulance driver who was convicted of negligence when he jumped the red traffic lights while rushing a patient to hospital and caused an accident is pleading to get back his driving licence.
His licence was revoked by the court following the incident.
Official court documents stated that the driver, a GCC national, had collided with another car that was crossing the signal from another direction of an Abu Dhabi road, after the ambulance allegedly jumped the red lights. The driver was rushing a patient to hospital to save his life.
The ambulance driver and the driver of the other car were not injured, but the vehicles were
I was driving slowly through the vehicles. When I reached the traffic signal, I jumped the red light only after ensuring other vehicles were not moving.”
The defendant
damaged. The patient who was being carried in the ambulance was transferred to hospital by another ambulance.
Traffic police blamed the crash on the ambulance driver who jumped the signal, without first making sure that the road was clear of traffic from all directions.
The Abu Dhabi Court of First Instance had earlier suspended the man from driving for three months, after he was found guilty of negligence resulting in an accident. The court also revoked his driving licence for the same period of time.
The driver challenged the sentences at the Appeal Court, denying any wrongdoing on his part. He claimed he only jumped the red lights after ensuring all vehicles had given way after he alerted them using the ambulance horn and light signal.
“I was driving slowly through the vehicles. When I reached the traffic signal, I jumped the red light only after ensuring other vehicles were not moving and had given me way,” the driver said in court. “I was, however, surprised when a speeding vehicle suddenly came from another direction of the road and hit my ambulance. I was rushing to a hospital to save the life of an ill person.”
ismail@khaleejtimes.com