Man killed as 'speeding' ambulance runs red light - so who's at fault?
A fatal crash involving an ambulance has divided opinion after it was captured on dashcam footage.
Viral video of the crash shows the ambulance speed through a red light in the Chinese city of Yingtan in Jiangxi province on Saturday with its siren on, Chinese state publication The Paper reported.
A motorised trike, a common vehicle in China, approaches the intersection from the left and fails to notice the ambulance.
Without slowing down, it ploughs straight into the side of the ambulance, sending both vehicles spinning across the road.
The middle-aged man driving the trike was killed instantly, the Yingtan Public Security Bureau told Chinese media.
The ambulance was en route to hospital with a patient inside the vehicle at the time of the crash.
The city’s traffic police said the incident was still under investigation and would determine whether the speed of the trike was a factor in the crash.
The patient in the ambulance was taken to hospital following the crash. There are no reports of injuries sustained by the paramedics.
Video sparks debate on Weibo
The video has proved divisive online and has prompted more than 1.7 million discussions on Chinese Twitter-like site Weibo as people debate who was in the wrong.
Many argued the ambulance driver drove too quickly through the junction.
“The ambulance ran through the red light and drove too fast. Even if you have privileges, you must ensure that others run the red light safely,” one person wrote.
“The ambulance should slow down and look when passing a red light intersection,” another comment read.
However others believed the trike driver was to blame for failing to notice the ambulance with its siren on.
“As long as the three wheels slow down like the motorcycle next to them, there will be no accidents,” one person said.
“Anyone with a little common sense knows that when an ambulance is performing its mission, it has the right to pass first,” another wrote.
Others said it was obvious the trike was going too fast through the intersection.
Some observers said they were unsure who was in the wrong.
Lawyer Yu Yunqing told Jiangxi TV’s Urban Live that ambulances can ignore traffic signals if they can adequately warn other motorists with the use of their lights and sirens and ensure the safety of those around them.
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