VIP vs ambulance: Who has the right of way?

 

When ambulance drivers put on the siren and accelerate down the road, the one thing they are most worried about is whether the patient can make it to the hospital in time. 

Sirens are only put on during emergencies, every second counts. Thousands of lives are lost every year because of the delay in getting to the hospital.

But in Malaysia, ambulance drivers are worried about whether there will be a VIP on the same road that day. Ambulance drivers can trust other road users to clear the way even in traffic congestions, but they would need to halt to a standstill, for at least 30 seconds, when another VIP wants to blast through.

If you watch the video of the ambulance stopping at the Taman Tasek area in Johor, it is almost comical. Something everyone recognises as an emergency - where everything else is secondary - still could not be more important than a VIP.

There was almost an identical incident last December, where an ambulance was stopped in Hulu Langat to make way for Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s convoy. The viral post said, “Lives can wait, VIP has to go through.”

Are we more sensitive to health after Covid-19? Or has this always happened before they were captured on video? On the road, there is a hierarchy: Regular road users, emergency units (ambulance, firefighters, customs), and at the highest of the food chain are the VIPs.

VIP or Ambulance?

Whenever the police are asked about this, they say it is to prevent a collision. But isn’t that a strawman argument? The question is not “Why is there a motorcade and convoy for the prime minister?” The question is, “Why did the ambulance need to stop for the VIP?”

To put it more precisely, “In the event a VIP and an ambulance are on the same road at the same time, who has the right of way?”

Rule 9 of the Road Traffic Rules 1959 says this: “Emergency vehicles on duty, like ambulances, firefighters, customs, JPJ, or police vehicles, have the right of way. Other road users are expected to move away from the emergency vehicle with a siren and not stop on the emergency lane”. Rule 24 of the Highway Code also gives effect to this obligation.

At no point did the traffic regulations mention that VIPs shall take precedence over emergency vehicles. It is purely a practical judgement that the police made, partly because the VIP’s convoy is expected to occupy a large chunk of the road ahead, with innumerable entourages, blazing at lighting speed.

The enforcement source in the Johor incident told Malaysiakini that, “the ambulance was stopped as the prime minister’s convoy… had merged into the main road ahead from a flyover at high speed.”

They’re essentially saying that we can’t stop the prime minister’s convoy because they are always driving at such high speed. It’s better to stop every other vehicle to avoid a crash.

The question, then, is whether it is necessary for VIP convoys in Malaysia to all act in that manner – to take up entire car lanes, grind the traffic to a standstill, and treat the roads as a racetrack? Not all government officials do it this way.

Fascinating Japanese convoy

There is a fascinating video on YouTube to see how the Japanese prime minister’s car drives on the road. Here’s how they do it:

The Japanese prime minister’s car, a Toyota Century, is trying to merge from a ramp to enter the highway.

Three men stretched their bodies out of the right-side window, dressed in a dark blazer, blew rounds of the whistle while signalling to the cars to slow down with their white-gloved hands and red batons.

Once the five government cars had entered the highway safely, the three men bowed down to thank the car users and apologised for the inconvenience.

The entire process took less than five seconds, other vehicles only stopped slightly, and the prime minister’s cars were driving not much faster than the rest on the road - almost like a perfect choreography.

When the prime minister’s car is stuck in traffic congestion and wants to move past a left exit, the same thing happens. They move like the rest of the road users, with the privilege of a gentle whistle and white-gloved men who stuck their heads out, cutting slowly to the left lane and bowing as thanks and apology.

You can’t say this doesn’t work because the Japanese are the most punctual people on earth. This is a country where the minister apologises for being three minutes late to a meeting. They didn’t need to break the rules or stop ambulances to get there - they just needed to be on time.

What could be the reason for this stark cultural difference between Malaysia and Japan? The answer may lie in something called the Power Distance Index (PDI), which measures how people feel about authority and power.

In low PDI countries, “power holders are almost ashamed, and they will try to underplay.” For instance, in Austria, the prime minister would sometimes take the streetcar to work to downplay his power, or in the Netherlands where the leader goes camping on his motor home.

Why are we so different?

Japan has a PDI of 54, which makes it a borderline hierarchical society. They are conscious of where they belong and think twice before offending their bosses. But there is also a strong notion of equality; everyone can get ahead, and no one is above everyone else.

It is a country where the prime minister resigns almost every year. It is the country where the rail company “sincerely apologises for the inconvenience” of departing 20 seconds early. It is the country where the train conductor bows in apology to each passenger for being late.

That is why their prime minister does not take up so much space on the highway. They do not even dare to blare their sirens too loudly. Five seconds. It is best if you didn’t even notice it.

Do you know what the PDI of Malaysia is? 100. That means “people accept a hierarchical order in which everybody has a place and which needs no further justification.” A “benevolent autocrat” is ideal, and “challenges to the leadership are not well-received.”

In a country with a score of 100 on PDI, the VIP overtakes the ambulance. - Mkini

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JAMES CHAI is a political analyst. He also blogs at www.jameschai.com.my and he can be reached at jameschai.mpuk@gmail.com.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.