In Istanbul, to ensure ambulances are given way in traffic, vehicle radios will automatically be cut and drivers will be announced "Please give way to the ambulance".
Evaluating this new ambulance announcement system, announced as a pilot study in Istanbul, Road and Traffic Safety Consultant Özgür Şener said, "My recommendation is to determine the safe behavior that all vehicle users and pedestrians in traffic should adopt when they hear the ambulance announcement and siren, to provide sufficient information through public service announcements, and to gradually expand the application thereafter."
Üsküdar Üniversitesi Occupational Health and Safety Department Lecturer, Road and Traffic Safety Consultant Özgür Şener made important evaluations regarding the new ambulance announcement system, which was announced as a pilot study in Istanbul.
If the public is not sufficiently informed, it will not be beneficial
According to the new application, announced to be implemented as a pilot study in Istanbul; Özgür Şener noted that the broadcasts on the radios of drivers listening to radio while driving will be cut, and announcements such as "Please give way to the ambulance", "Please give way to the approaching ambulance" and "Please give way to life by applying the zipper system" will be broadcast. He added, "Many applications are being tried in our country to ensure Road Traffic Safety, prevent traffic accidents, and prevent deaths, injuries, and material losses resulting from traffic accidents. Unfortunately, these applications cannot provide the expected benefit if the public is not adequately informed."
"Misunderstandings arose during the 'Pedestrian Priority Traffic Year'"
Özgür Şener reminded that 2019 was declared the "Pedestrian Priority Traffic Year" and stated, "In the application launched with the mottos 'Life is Priority, Pedestrian is Priority' and 'Pedestrians Are Our Red Line' to ensure priority for pedestrians, pedestrians went onto the roadway without looking at the flow of vehicle traffic because they did not have sufficient information about their right of way. Many of our drivers encountered this situation. We followed many news reports in the press about pedestrians who went onto the roadway, thinking they had the right of way, even though the light was red for pedestrians and green for vehicles."
What are the potential risks in the new system?
Stating that all vehicle drivers must be sufficiently informed and their driving behavior clearly defined to prevent these misunderstandings, Özgür Şener continued:
“The ambulance announcement system will interrupt the radio broadcast of a driver listening to the radio and provide information to the driver. However, it will not be possible to reach drivers who listen to music, podcasts, or audiobooks by connecting to another device or the internet via their vehicle's audio-music system. While drivers listening to radio broadcasts move right and left for the zipper system, drivers not listening to broadcasts may act differently.
In large cities, especially in Istanbul traffic, motorcycle, bicycle, and scooter users, who are heavily present in traffic, cannot listen to the radio. When car, light commercial, and heavy vehicle drivers move right and left to give way to the ambulance, applying the 'zipper system' in response to the ambulance announcement, there will be a potential to harm motorcycle, bicycle, and scooter riders next to or behind them.”
Sufficient information should be provided through public service announcements
Özgür Şener, as a professional working in the field, offered a solution and concluded, "As a professional working within the scope of Road Traffic Safety, my recommendation is to determine the safe behavior that all vehicle users and pedestrians in traffic should adopt when they hear the ambulance announcement and siren, to provide sufficient information through public service announcements, and to gradually expand the application thereafter."