Royal Enfield rider blocks speeding ambulance, BUSTED & fined by cops

Ambulances and other emergency vehicles should be given free passage, and blocking such a vehicle is a criminal offence in almost all parts of the world including India. A Royal Enfield Classic rider got busted by the Kerala police for continuously blocking the way of a speeding ambulance who had a sick patient on board. Here is a video that shows the Royal Enfield rider riding ahead of the ambulance without getting out of the way for a long, long time.

After the video of the motorcyclist blocking the ambulance went viral, Kerala’s Motor Vehicle Department swung into action and identified the rider of the Royal Enfield as Adarsh of Kayamkulam. The 24 year old was riding from Kayamkulam to Ernakulam when this incident happened. Adarsh has been slapped with a hefty fine of Rs. 6,000 for blocking the ambulance. Both the Royal Enfield owner and the rider were summoned and questioned by the MVD before the fine was levied.

But was the Royal Enfield rider actually trying to play good samaritan?

What we don’t know is whether the Royal Enfield Classic rider actually was trying to act like a pilot vehicle for the ambulance. However, any non-official vehicle acting as a pilot vehicle for an emergency vehicle is not considered legal. This means that even if the rider though he was trying to help by riding ahead of the ambulance, he was actually impeding the free movement of the emergency vehicle.

If you ever spot an ambulance, here’s what you need to do:

• If the ambulance has its siren on and behind you, turn on your vehicle’s indicators and try to move to the left hand side of the road as soon as possible. This will give the ambulance a free passage. However, you must be careful to not swing to the left hand side of the road without checking your left mirror for approaching traffic.
• Should you have an ambulance in front of you, do NOT try to tailgate/chase it. In India, a very bad practice followed by motorists is of tailgating ambulances in the hope of getting a path free of traffic as the ambulance uses its siren to quickly part traffic and get ahead. Such acts on the part of motorists are not just in very and taste but can also become a safety hazard in case the ambulance decides to stop abruptly.
• If there’s an ambulance coming towards you from the wrong side of the road, your best bet is to pull over to the left hand side of the road after making sure that there are no vehicles overtaking you from the left hand side.
•  Also, do not try to play superman by trying to be a pilot vehicle for an ambulance that is trying to cut through traffic. It’s both illegal and very dangerous.