![050814: Thirty children, aged 7 to 12, sustained injuries ranging from minor to serious when a school bus overturned on the main Harding road near Port Shepstone yesterday. \[garth.johnstone\]near the “confusion Junction” inter changeRobert McKenzie of KZN EMS said the bus had been carrying 34 children, who all managed to get out of the wreck themselves. While some of the children were taken to hospital by their parents, ambulance services took the more seriously injured and the driver to health facilities in the area. Police were still investigating the cause of the accident. Picture: Netcare911\[garth.johnstone\] N2 in Port Shepstone this afternoon. Exact detail to the cause of the accident and preceding events will remain a subject for police investigation and comment. Netcare 911 paramedics and other services arrived at the scene and found the bus on its side obstructing the highway. After the injured were stabilised at the scene they transported them to various hospitals for the care that they required.](https://image-prod.iol.co.za/16x9/1600/050814-Thirty-children-aged-7-to-12-sustained-injuries-ranging-from-minor-to-serious-when-a-school-bus-overturned-on-the-main-Harding-road-near-Port-Shepstone-yesterday-garth-johnstone-near-the-confusion-Junction-inter-changeRobert-McKenzie-of-KZN-EMS-said-the-bus-had-been-carrying-34-children-who-all-managed-to-get-out-of-the-wreck-themselves-While-some-of-the-children-were-taken-to-hospital-by-their-parents-ambulance-services-took-the-more-seriously-injured-and-the-driver-to-health-facilities-in-the-area-Police-were-still-investigating-the-cause-of-the-accident-Picture-Netcare911-garth-johnstone-N2-in-Port-Shepstone-this-afternoon-Exact-detail-to-the-cause-of-the-accident-and-preceding-events-will-remain-a-subject-for-police-investigation-and-comment-Netcare-911-paramedics-and-other-services-arrived-at-the-scene-and-found-the-bus-on-its-side-obstructing-the-highway-After-the-injured-were-stabilised-at-the-scene-they-transported-them-to-various-hospitals-for-the-care-that-they-required?source=https://iol-prod.appspot.com/image/dd245b29e439c9833c66c8c021447f6e4041215a/2000&operation=CROP&offset=0x146&resize=2000x1125)
Johannesburg - How long can you hold your breath? Scenario: An eight- year-old child just had an asthma attack and cannot breathe. While the life of the child hangs in the balance, an emergency response unit is fighting through peak-hour traffic to get to the child’s home. Every second they are delayed means another agonising second ticks by while a child is fighting to live.
South African road users simply do not realise that their actions on our roads can mean the difference between life and death.
Fury Motor Group risk and credit manager Peter de Kock is a volunteer on a Netcare 911 road-accident support vehicle sponsored by his company and Cartrack.
“Most drivers don’t know how to behave when an emergency vehicle approaches,” he said.
Netcare 911 regional operations manager for Gauteng West Neill Visser agreed, adding: “Some will try and ‘clear’ the way for us but will put their own lives at risk in doing so. Others are too bewildered and freeze because they don’t know what to do, and block our way.
“Other road users are completely oblivious of the approaching lights and sirens of an emergency vehicle because the music in their vehicles is too loud or they’re simply not paying attention.”
ARROGANCE AND IMPATIENCE
Arrogant drivers who refuse to move out of the way are also the order of the day.
Visser said: “It places us in a difficult position of having to try and weave in and out of traffic in an attempt to move around them.”
According to Netcare 911’s Shalen Ramduth, their biggest concern is the emergency lanes on freeways that are frequently used by impatient drivers who try to avoid traffic congestion.
“We often find that once we have cleared the backlog in the emergency lane, the same culprits who blocked the lane will pull out behind the emergency vehicle and follow it. The yellow lane is there for emergency vehicles only,” says Ramduth. “It’s illegal to use the emergency lane for anything other than an emergency or a breakdown.”
Juan Marais of fleet mangement and tracking firm Cartrack said a lack of awareness was to blame to an extent.
“South African road users are showing an increasing disregard for the rules of the road, and we believe a lot of this has to do with a lack of law enforcement,” he said. “It’s leading to crashes, road-rage incidents and interfering with the work of emergency personnel.
“The only way that it will get better is if there is more consistent and stronger enforcement of road regulations from a policing perspective, and secondly if people take a step back and realise the extraordinary impact that their actions can have on a life and death situation.”
WHAT TO DO IN AN EMERGENCY SITUATION
Use your rear-view mirrors- you’ll see the emergency vehicle long before you hear the sirens.
Relax when an emergency vehicle approaches. Look at the vehicle and/or driver as they will indicate where they want to go, guiding you where you should go.
Move towards the left so the vehicle can pass on your right.
Should you not be able to move left, move towards the edge of your lane so the emergency vehicle can pass between the vehicles.
Never tailgate an emergency vehicle- it could suddenly decelerate or stop at any time.
Don’t use the emergency lane if traffic is backed up.
Visser advised: “The next time you see an emergency vehicle fighting its way through traffic, ask yourself: How long can you hold your breath? What if the victim they need to get to is someone I know?
“Be it with the police going to a robbery or a major accident scene, or ambulances attending to a medical emergency, always consider that lives could be at stake and every second we can get there quicker, could mean the difference between life and death.”