Many ambulances in Nghe An abuse sirens on the road

Multiple violations

Recently, Nghe An Traffic Police have continuously detected and punished many cases of ambulance drivers abusing priority signals, using sirens and flashing lights in violation of regulations while driving on the road (not carrying patients but still using these devices).

Typically, at around 20:15 on February 12, 2025, while on duty on National Highway 1A, section Km445+500, the working group of Dien Chau Traffic Police Station discovered an ambulance with license plate 37A-293.18, driven by driver NHS (residing in Dien Phu commune, Dien Chau district), although not carrying a patient, continuously turned on the priority signal and honked loudly. After stopping the vehicle for inspection, Dien Chau Traffic Police Station drew up a record of administrative fines and temporarily detained the driver's driver's license.

Or on February 13, 2025, the Traffic Police force also discovered 2 cases of ambulance drivers violating the regulations for using priority signals incorrectly. Specifically, at 1:15 p.m., Road Traffic Police Team No. 1, while on duty on National Highway 48, requested to stop and check the ambulance with license plate 37B-026.05 driven by driver PHN (born in 1963), residing in Thai Hoa Town, Nghe An. Upon inspection, it was discovered that the license to use the priority signal device had expired. The working group drew up a record and temporarily detained the driver's driver's license.

Not long after that, at around 4:30 p.m. also on February 13, 2025, while patrolling at Km2+600 on National Highway 46B, Road Traffic Police Team No. 5 discovered an ambulance with license plate 37B-032.75 driven by TVP (born in 1991), residing in Muong Noc commune, Que Phong district, showing signs of violation, so they signaled the vehicle to stop for inspection.

At the time of the inspection, the ambulance had its emergency signal on but there was no one inside. The ambulance driver could not prove that he was using the emergency signal to perform his duty.

Realizing that the driver's behavior of using a priority signal device in this case was not in accordance with regulations, Road Traffic Police Team No. 5 drew up a record, administratively sanctioned the ambulance driver, and temporarily suspended his driver's license according to regulations.

Need to be handled seriously

According to Article 27 of the Law on Traffic Order and Safety 2024, priority vehicles when participating in traffic include: fire trucks of the Fire Prevention, Fire Fighting and Rescue Police and fire trucks of other forces mobilized for firefighting duties; vehicles of military, police and prosecutorial forces on emergency missions; convoys led by traffic police vehicles; ambulances on emergency missions; dyke protection vehicles on missions; vehicles on rescue missions, disaster relief, and response to natural disasters and epidemics, or vehicles on missions in emergency situations as prescribed by law; funeral processions.

The fact that ambulances are given priority when performing emergency duties (the third priority) demonstrates the humanity of the law. However, the fact that many ambulance drivers blatantly turn on their priority signals when not performing their duties has caused public outrage, especially among road users, and has reduced the effectiveness of the law on giving way to priority vehicles.

In reality, there are many ambulances with white and blue plates of all kinds, and almost all of them continuously sound their sirens when participating in traffic, making people not know which vehicles really need priority to give way. And whether these ambulances are really performing the task of rescuing patients or not can only be discovered by the authorities when they check.

In fact, there have been cases of using ambulances as a cover to commit crimes. Specifically, on the night of May 31, 2022, after a period of monitoring and establishing an investigation project, Quy Hop District Police discovered and arrested Phan Thanh Lam (born in 1984), residing in Kim Son town (Que Phong) for the act of illegally transporting drugs.

In particular, to conceal his crime, Phan Thanh Lam used a private ambulance to transport drugs under the guise of driving an ambulance to take a patient to the emergency room. Lam took advantage of the priority vehicle to easily travel on the road. When discovered, Lam also drove his car into the arresting force in an attempt to escape but failed.

Faced with the reality that many ambulance drivers abuse priority signals when participating in traffic, some opinions say that, in order to prevent this situation, in addition to propaganda work, authorities need to strengthen inspection and strictly handle acts of using priority signals in violation of regulations.

According to the representative of the Traffic Police Department, Provincial Police, the Law on Traffic Order and Safety 2024 stipulates prohibited acts as: Using the rights of priority vehicles when not performing tasks as prescribed by law; installing and using priority signal devices not in accordance with the provisions of law.

Also according to the Law on Traffic Order and Safety 2024, ambulances are only given priority when carrying emergency patients or picking up emergency patients; when on duty, they must have flashing red lights; are allowed to go ahead of other vehicles when crossing intersections from any direction; are not limited in speed; are allowed to go regardless of traffic lights, go on the opposite road, other roads are passable; for expressways, they are only allowed to go in the opposite direction on the emergency lane; must obey the commands of traffic controllers and temporary signs.

If an ambulance is not on duty, it will not enjoy priority because it is used for the wrong purpose. During the process of misuse, if this vehicle honks its siren, runs a red light or commits any traffic violations, it will be administratively sanctioned according to the provisions of the law...