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French ambulance (cropped, licensed CC BY SA 2.0 on Flickr by user MPD01605).jpgEmergency vehicle causes crash in peloton
An ambulance caused chaos and crashes in a peloton when it drove onto the course of the Faun-Ardèche Classic.
A video posted by La Flamme Rouge shows the emergency vehicle approaching the pack head on as it drives around a corner on a narrow stretch of road.
A number of riders hit the deck shortly after although it is not clear from the footage whether any of them actually made contact with the van.
Yeah, that's not supposed to work like that. @UCI_cycling #BDA21 #RiderSafety pic.twitter.com/Hrq7gnfGEd
— La Flamme Rouge (@laflammerouge16) February 28, 2021
Posting under the video, La Flamme Rouge wrote: "Why this should never happen because some people don't seem to understand.
"The race is supported by police vehicles to close the road.
"They MUST let jury know if there are any difficulties on the road in closing it down. If jury knows this they they instantly neutralise the race."
Some people however questioned who should have priority on the road in an emergency situation.
One Twitter user wrote: "The UCI has nothing to do with this or the organisation, it is an emergency car.
"Firefighters or ambulance that is passing has priority. It is considered a road accident."
However, La Flamme Rouge, replied: "Just because there's an emergency doesn't mean others lives have to be put at risk.
"The commissaires of the race are UCI commissaires, so yes UCI has a lot to do with it.
"It's above all a race on the UCI calendar."
This year's edition of the French race was won by Groupama-FDJ's David Gaudu with Clément Champoussin of AG2R and Education First's Hugh Carthy completing the podium.
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8 comments
Emergency vehicles have right of way every time. In the UK I've seen it a couple of times, where the police have been notified that an ambulance or fire engine is oncoming to the race, all cars are told to halt safely off the road and the NEG along with Moto Comm slow/neutralise/stop the riders and make sure they are safe. Clearly, something went wrong in this case.
I think your right A emergancy vhicle with light on has the right of way And a bike has to follow the rules of the road. The road may be closed for the race but it may also be the only route for the ambulance to take.
Emergency vehicals also have to follow the rules of the road.
The ambulance caused an accident while driving on legally closed roads
This isnt a no fault accident
But then the bikes were on the wrong side of the road going around the corner. I'm surprised the Ambulance did continue at the speed it did around the corners at it must have realised what was in front of it and the motos at the back must have been close to being knocked off as well.
A bike - or a rather a rider - can make a good decision and avoid a collision. An ambulance driver can make a good decision and avoid a collision.
A peloton of riders might have the information available to make good decisions (much less likely on a bend, on a closed road, I'd imagine) - but unless they are directed by someone or something, there is a good chance that not all those good decisions will be compatible and there will be collisions. This should be obvious to someone driving an ambulance.
I totally agree that they have right of way, but it looks like neither the riders nor the race vehicles out front had any idea it was coming. The situation could easily have been avoided if there'd been some warning so the peloton could have been neutralised. It doesn't look like there was a breakaway either, so it would have had no significant impact on the race. It's all very well saying 'the ambulance had right of way', but I suspect approaching a corner at race speed the riders weren't expecting to need to suddenly cram into half the road during a closed-road race. Looks like this one is the organiser's fault.
Yes, but right of way - or more accurately 'priority' - isn't licence to just plough through an obvious hazard.
Meanwhile, in other news, the UCI has banned resting your forearms on your bars and is still measuring sock length....