IAA publish “blue lights speeding exemption” guidelines
Tuesday, 27 May, 2014
The Independent Ambulance Association has published best business practice guidelines to help member companies and their drivers claim possible exemption from prosecution for speeding while on a “blue light” emergency journey, it was announced today (27 May 2014)
The guidelines advise members to establish an auditable “paper trail” starting from the moment they received instructions and any incidents during the journey.
The idea emerged during talks have held with a panel of experts from the Department of Transport, Association of Chief Police Officers and the Institute of Advanced Motoring which is advising the Government on changes in the law to extend the list of non-statutory organisation to be exempted from the speeding regulations.
In putting the case for the independent ambulance sector to be exempted, the IAA has recommended that the auditable ‘paper trail’ should be included in the new regulations.
David Davis, Director, IAA said: “The auditable ‘paper trail’ is a practical solution which would help establish that the ambulance driver had received authorisation to drive on ‘blue lights’ in advance of starting the journey and it would also help police identify an individual who gave the authorisation in the first instance”.
The IAA has also proposed a definition which extended to all relevant ambulance purposes, without allowing disreputable operators or individuals to abuse the system. The definition which, if accepted, be applied to Section 19 of the Road Safety Act 2006 is:
“A vehicle operated by, or on behalf of, an organisation registered pursuant to the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2010 for transport services, triage and medical advice provided remotely, or for treatment of disease, disorder or injury, where there is reasonable belief that an urgent medical need may exist”.
The DofT is aiming for the changes in the law to be made before the end of the year and it is possible that the IAA may be recalled for further discussions.
