In Istanbul, vehicle radios will be automatically interrupted to broadcast announcements to drivers such as “Please give way to the ambulance.” This aims to ensure that ambulances can move smoothly through traffic.
Evaluating this new ambulance announcement system, which has been introduced as a pilot project in Istanbul, Road and Traffic Safety Consultant Özgür Şener stated: “My recommendation is that, along with the ambulance announcement system, safe behaviors that all vehicle users and pedestrians must adopt when hearing ambulance announcements and sirens should be clearly defined, sufficient public awareness should be raised through public service announcements, and the practice should be gradually expanded afterwards.”
Özgür Şener, Instructor in the Department of Occupational Health and Safety at Üsküdar University and Road and Traffic Safety Consultant, shared important evaluations regarding the pilot ambulance announcement system introduced in Istanbul.
“It will not be effective unless the public is adequately informed”
According to the newly announced pilot application in Istanbul, when drivers are listening to the radio while driving, the broadcast will be interrupted and replaced with announcements such as: “Please give way to the ambulance,” “Please give way to the approaching ambulance,” and “Please apply the zipper system and give way to life.” ener stated: “In our country, many practices are being tried to ensure road traffic safety, to prevent traffic accidents, and to avoid deaths, injuries, and material losses caused by accidents. However, if the public is not sufficiently informed, these practices unfortunately cannot deliver the expected benefits.”
Misunderstandings during the “Pedestrian-Priority Traffic Year”
Reminding that 2019 was declared the “Pedestrian-Priority Traffic Year,” Şener noted: “In the campaign launched with the mottos ‘Priority is Life, Priority is Pedestrians’ and ‘Pedestrians are Our Red Line,’ aimed at ensuring pedestrian right of way, pedestrians, that is, lacking sufficient knowledge about their rights, entered the roadway without considering the flow of vehicle traffic. Many drivers faced this situation. We even saw in the media reports of pedestrians stepping onto the roadway believing they had the right of way, despite a red light for pedestrians and green light for vehicles.”
What are the potential risks of the new system?
To prevent such misunderstandings, Şener emphasized the need for all vehicle drivers to be adequately informed and for their required driving behavior to be clearly defined. He explained further: “The ambulance announcement system will interrupt radio broadcasts to inform drivers. However, it will not reach drivers who are listening to music, podcasts, or audiobooks through other devices or internet connections in their vehicles. While radio listeners will move right and left to apply the zipper system, those not listening to the radio may behave differently. In major cities, especially in Istanbul, motorcycle, bicycle, and scooter users, who make up a significant portion of traffic, generally do not listen to the radio. When car, light commercial, and heavy vehicle drivers move right and left to give way to ambulances and apply the zipper system after hearing the announcement, there is a potential risk of harming motorcycle, bicycle, and scooter users nearby or approaching from behind.”
“Public awareness must be raised through public service announcements”
Offering a solution as a professional working in road traffic safety, Şener concluded: “My recommendation, as a professional working in road traffic safety, is that along with the ambulance announcement system, the safe behavior expected from all vehicle users and pedestrians upon hearing ambulance announcements and sirens should be clearly defined. Public awareness should be sufficiently raised through public service announcements, and the practice should then be gradually expanded step by step.”