National Fire Authority (NFA) is concern with the behaviour of some of the drivers on the road who do not give way to the NFA fire vehicles and ambulance during their response to fire and other emergencies.
NFA chief executive officer Mr. John O’Connor has raised his concern about the attitude and behaviour of some drivers after NFA Fire Brigade and Ambulance drivers have recently raised their concerns at the changing attitude and behaviour of drivers on our roads.
“When our fire trucks respond to fire or other emergency incidents, our drivers are now witnessing that other vehicles drivers are reluctant to give way to our fire trucks and ambulance even with the emergency siren and lights on.
“This is now one of the challenges which hinder our firefighting and emergency operations,” Mr O’Connor said.
“This kind of attitude by some of the drivers on the road and their action in not giving way to fire trucks or ambulances has greatly affected our firefighting operations in a number of occasions.
NFA is concerned because such attitude and behavior not only affects the effectiveness of our response to fires and other emergencies, it also compromises the safety of firefighters and other members of the community that are using our roads. Members of the communities must realize that these fire trucks are travelling at a high speed with a full load of water. As such, any minor incident, could result in a disastrous road accident.
Furthermore, our arrival time to the fire scene or accident scene is greatly impacted by such drivers behaviour. The delivery of service to those affected by accidents and fires is as such impacted.
“Our humble plea to members of the community is to please cooperate with us and whenever they see our fire vehicles with their emergency lights and siren on, they should always give way to our vehicles to go pass,” Mr O’Connor said.
“This precious moment in time is important as it will assist in saving someone’s life and property,” Mr O’Connor added.
PRESS RELEASE