One morning last week I managed to get to work at St Luke’s Hospital faster than usual. It’s not that I drove any faster but only because I happened to be behind an ambulance which, thanks to its siren, could get all traffic out of its way. On my motorcycle I could easily follow the ambulance in the path that it was opening up for itself on its way down the hill from the University roundabout where I came across it, to Msida.

I was very thankful for all the reasonable drivers that were swerving in all directions to open a passage for the ambulance to rapidly proceed unhindered in its effort (I assumed) to get to the patient urgently needing medical attention.

The ambulance proceeded towards St Luke’s where it parked next to the Physiotherapy Department and, without much hurry, it stood there while a patient was helped to descend to the mentioned department. Some 10 minutes later the ambulance left.

So was this all the urgency? Is it fair that drivers are made to manoeuvre their cars dangerously to let an ambulance pass when there is no real emergency? Are there any rules that lay down when an ambulance or any other emergency vehicle is allowed to make use of its siren?

To be fair, I must mention that the ambulance concerned was not one of the Department of Health fleet but one belonging to a private company.