Car driver arrested by V.V. Puram Traffic Police; Court imposes a fine of Rs. 11,000 

Mysore/Mysuru: The city Police have arrested a car driver for deliberately blocking the way of an ambulance carrying an aged person who suffered a heart attack. The elderly person was being shifted from Chikkamagalur to Mysuru for speciality care. Sadly, he died as there was a delay in bringing him to the hospital.

Eighty-five-year-old Chandrashekar Acharya, a resident of Chikkamagalur, suffered a heart attack on Aug. 22 and as there are no proper medical facilities there, he was being brought to Narayana Multispecialty Hospital in Mysuru the same day in an ambulance (KA-18-C-2406).

Driver Kishore left Chikkamagalur and entered the city outskirts at around 8 pm. As he reached Belavadi Junction at around 8.30 pm, a Hyundai i20 car (KA-13-P-8342) that was moving ahead of the ambulance deliberately blocked the ambulance and was also driving dangerously. 

Though the ambulance driver Kishore repeatedly signalled and honked and also switched on the blaring sirens, the errant car driver continued his mischief. At many places, the car driver was driving in a zigzag manner. 

At one point, the car driver stopped his vehicle and parked it across the road, totally blocking the way. Kishore got down from the ambulance and told the car driver that he was carrying a heart-attack victim and it was  an emergency. 

The car driver, however, did not budge despite Kishore’s repeated pleas. He argued with Kishore and continued to block the road. This drama went on for over 30 minutes. After much pleading by the elderly person’s relatives, who were in the ambulance, the car driver relented. But he still continued to drive rashly in front of the ambulance. 

As both the vehicle entered the city limits, the car sped away. Meanwhile, the ambulance reached Narayana Hospital where Chandrashekar Acharya was declared brought dead. Doctors told the family members that there was a delay in shifting the patient and the life-saving moments were lost. 

Kishore and the elderly man’s relatives decided not to leave the matter but pursue it by initiating action against the car driver. Kishore had noted down the car number. He later approached the V.V. Puram Traffic Police with a complaint. Mysuru Traffic ACP S.N. Sandesh Kumar directed V.V. Puram Traffic Inspector Aruna Kumari to book a case and trace the car driver. 

Based on the car’s registration number given by Kishore, the car owner was identified as Jayanth, son of Jagadeesh from Arasikere in Hassan. 

He was booked for rash driving and dangerous driving and also for not giving way to Ambulance. Jayanth was arrested and produced before a Court which imposed a fine of Rs. 11,000. The Court let him off with a warning. 

The IPC sections under which Jayanth was booked caries an imprisonment of six months, a fine of Rs. 10,000. The Judge used his discretion and imposed a fine of Rs. 11,000 and warned him sternly. 

As per a Bill passed by Parliament, anyone who is seen blocking the way of an ambulance on roads will be fined for Rs. 10,000. The rule is the part of Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill which has got the Union Cabinet’s nod last year.

The Bill was introduced following several cases that surfaced where ambulances were stuck for hours either due to agitations on roads, vehicular traffic or due to a Minister’s visit, sometimes resulting in patient deaths.