Pushing idiocy to new level

THE tales of obnoxious drivers reached a new high in New York years ago when a man refused to clear the way for an ambulance responding to a cardiac arrest.

“He tried to be a tough guy and not move over, but when he arrived at his house, he realised just how stupid it was,’’ an emergency worker told media.

The man’s mother had just had a heart attack and paramedics were trying to get to her to save her life.

In the UK in March, a van driver deliberately hindered an ambulance from getting to a baby having a fit, telling paramedics they should go the other way.

He was later asked to donate money to a baby unit at a nearby hospital.

The problem became so serious in New York that often 14 fire trucks were sent to mid-town blazes just to ensure one of them arrived in time.

Transport officials there said police cars encountered fewer problems because drivers were fearful of being pulled over and fined.

The Gold Coast Bulletin got a first-hand view of the ignorance and arrogance of drivers yesterday as paramedics rushed to the aid of people needing emergency care.

Motorists either refused to get out of the way, failed to give way or were unaware of the urgency around them.

One vehicle continued on to a roundabout when the ambulance was clearly entering it, while another had its back window blocked, did not move, and waved at the paramedics when they eventually got around it.

“You always get one person who isn’t aware of their surroundings or obnoxious and just doesn’t want to get out of the way,” a paramedic told the Bulletin.

Anyone waiting for an ambulance would be ropeable to learn that some drivers do not have the common decency to get out of the line of an approaching ambulance.

We are dealing with life and death situations where every minute and second counts.

Emergency crews have enough on their plate without having to worry about, and dodge, drivers too ignorant to care about anyone else but themselves.

The answer is simple. If you hear sirens or see flashing lights in your rear-vision mirrors, get out of the way.

The next time you see an ambulance trying to weave through traffic could be the time it is rushing to save someone you love, just like that bloke in the US.