Phuket: A green taxi driver blocked an ambulance, turned on his siren and asked for the way but ignored him, causing the emergency patient to die in the car. The police have now summoned the taxi driver and charged him.
According to Thai News Agency, footage from a car’s dashcam shows an ambulance from Patong Hospital in Phuket Province blaring its siren to transport a 77-year-old patient who was feeling dizzy and had a history of heart disease. It was rushed to the hospital, but along the way, it encountered a green taxi in the far left lane that did not make way for the ambulance and did not slow down at all, causing a collision on Kamala-Patong Road, Tambon Patong, Amphoe Kathu, near Kalim Beach. As a result, the officers were delayed in transporting the patient to the hospital. Initially, the emergency medical team attempted CPR but were unable to save his life. The patient later died. This incident occurred on April 26.
The daughter of the deceased said that her father felt dizzy and fainted while watching the workers pick up the stink beans, so she called an ambulance to pick him up. At the same time, the ambulance from Patong Hospital was contacted to pick him up on Kamala-Patong Road. While taking her father to the ambulance, he still had a pulse. However, an unexpected incident occurred along the way. The taxi driver did not make way, which delayed the rescue of her father. Up until now, there has been no contact or responsibility from the taxi driver. She later learned that a complaint was filed against him for joint negligence, which shocked her about how he could be charged. In fact, taxis or other vehicles using the road should make way for emergency vehicles, especially by using their sirens to ask for the right of way. She wanted this incident to be a lesson and asked everyone to make way for emergency vehicles because in just a few seconds, it could turn into an opportunity to save many lives.
The police will call both parties in for further questioning. Initially, the taxi driver will be charged with ‘driving in an emergency vehicle and violating the rights of a patient’ before being prosecuted according to the law.