Ambulances involved in hundreds of accidents

Published on Monday 4 May 2009 21:57

SCOTTISH ambulances were involved in a crash almost every day of last year on average, it has been revealed.

Vehicles run by the Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) were involved in 330 collisions over the 12 month period. Of the smashes, 67 happened while an ambulance was responding to a 999 call.

Despite the high accident rate, only one driver has been suspended over a smash. The SAS said the numbers were "relatively small" and insisted their drivers were highly trained.

In 2008 SAS accident and emergency vehicles were involved in 160 bumps while the smaller paramedic response units accounted for 34. Patient transporters were involved in 102 accidents. Other vehicles added 34 crashes to the total.

Of all the crashes, 67 occurred while the vehicle was responding to an emergency call, while 59 happened during 'blue light' responses.

The SAS said one driver had been suspended during last year as the result of a collision but none of their staff had a driving conviction recorded as a result.

A spokesman for the SAS said

: "We are talking about 67 accidents out of almost half-a-million emergency responses.

"Our crews go through extensive driver training and when taken in context it is fortunately still a relatively small number – although we would always like it to be smaller."