Several INEM ambulance, car and motorbike team members have been done for speeding and fined by the National Road Safety Authority, despite being on life-saving missions.
One INEM motorcyclist in the Algarve responded to a call and ended up with a €300 fine, a two year ban and three points taken off his licence.
The National Institute for Medical Emergencies (INEM) paramedic was clocked at 139 kmph on his motorbike and, despite submitting a statement from the Urgent Patient Centre that proved he was on an emergency mission, he was done.
The INEM staff member said to the press that his situation was ridiculous, "If we are going to save lives, we are not worried about radars."
Pedro Moreira, president of the Union of Emergency Medical Technicians, stressed that these complaints about fines, "are daily events and happen from the north to the south of the country."
In April, the National Road Safety Authority asked that the drivers of emergency vehicles should be identified so they could be sent a fine - but that they could file a written defence in mitigation.
Although the INEM has been confirming who was driving and issuing proof that the vehicle was on a mercy mission, the fine-hungry National Road Safety Authority has ignored any such justification and simply has used the information to issue the fine to the identified driver.
Comments
But if he or she is driving at high speed for for thrill of it, then they should be cautioned or prosecuted.
I imagine that all emergency service drivers know the state of the law, and of the powers of the police. They should act accordingly.
Maybe that's the idea, less sick people = cost-saving.
But how different it would be if it was "one of their own" in the back of an ambulance....