Ambulances may not be caught in traffic snarls anymore, costing precious lives. Realising the need for the life-saving vehicles to reach hospitals on time, a new integrated traffic system has been created to pave way for such emergency vans.
A green corridor for emergency services, including ambulances and fire tenders, will soon be put in place through this new system.
“We are going to create a database of emergency services, including ambulances operating in the city, and a GPS device would be fixed on them.
Through the GPS-enabled device, we will be able to track the movement of those vehicles in the city from the control command centre,” Purple Infotech Limited managing director P.N. Mahadevan told this newspaper. His firm will be implementing the project for Chennai police.
He said the officers at the command centre would take control of the signals on the corridors through which the vehicles ply to ensure that the vehicle reaches their destination on time.
Besides emergency vehicles like ambulances and fire tenders, VVIP vehicles would also be tracked and green corridor would be provided to their vehicles too, explained the company’s managing director.
“Driving in the city is a big challenge and so it is needless to say what kind of problems we ambulance drivers face. Apart from the traffic, the road diversions are a big hurdle,” complains a private ambulance driver.
Another problem that the ambulance drivers face is the string of motorists and autorickshaw drivers who follow the emergency vehicle like a tail when other vehicles on the road make way for them.
“If the ambulance driver jams the brake suddenly, the motorists who follow ram straight into the vehicle and create new crisis for the patient,” he added.