Video of cars in Germany parting for emergency vehicle goes viral
A video that shows how Germans react to an emergency vehicle's siren is going viral on YouTube.
Uploaded by user Ardi Iwan on the popular video-sharing site in April, the video has been seen more than 5,500 times and has received 40 “thumbs-up”. It is also being widely shared on Facebook.
In the video, the vehicle, which appears to be a fire truck instead of an ambulance as stated in its title, sounds its siren while traveling on a busy highway. Vehicles are seen moving quickly to the left and right road shoulders to give way to it. Towards the end of video, which is over two minutes long, it is seen pulling in to a scene of a traffic accident.
YouTube users such as Anil Mani compared the situation to what apparently is the norm in their countries. Said Mani: “(The road users are) certainly very civilised. We in India have a lot to learn from this.”
Another user called “jack goblar”, who claims to be an ambulance driver in Albania, said that in his country, road users often ignore the sirens and sometimes even try to “race him up”.
In Singapore, Melvin Teo, a 34-year-old engineer who has been driving for more than 10 years, said, "That's good road ethics. This allows emergency vehicles to reach their destination in the shortest possible time. Singapore can also consider allowing drivers to use the side of the road to free up lanes for emergency vehicles."
Darren Tay, a 32-year-old Singaporean manager who has been driving for 12 years, agreed, "I am amazed at how all the drivers instinctively and collectively moved aside for the emergency vehicle. Is it part of their driving training or is it just ingrained in their culture to have civic responsibility?"
In Singapore, drivers may be issued a summon for a composition fine of up to $160 and four demerit points if they fail to give way to an emergency vehicle.
If convicted in court, they can be fined up to $1,000 or jailed for up to three months. For a subsequent offence, the penalty is a fine of up to $2,000 or a jail term of up to six months.
Since 2002, video cameras installed on emergency vehicles help provide video footage of obstruction to the Traffic Police.
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