West Briton
ENGLAND — An ambulance driver narrowly escaped losing his license after driving on the wrong side of a road and anticlockwise round a roundabout. He was carrying vital equipment for a teenager on life support who needed to be taken to a hospital in Bristol for a lifesaving operation.
But police at Truro station saw the incident and followed him, thinking the ambulance might be stolen.
Michael John Quick, 54, was leaving the Shell garage on Tregolls Road when he drove 20 to 25 metres on the wrong side of the road.
Police stopped him at Royal Cornwall Hospital, Treliske, where he said: “I bet it was a f***ing hobby bobby that saw me. Haven’t you lot got anything better to do? “I’ve got a sick child up there.” In Truro Magistrates’ Court last Thursday, Mr Quick apologised for swearing, saying the two-hour 40-minute emergency drive to Truro had given him an adrenaline rush.
Mr Quick defended himself, dressed in a Bristol Ambulance uniform.
In a letter read out to the court, he stated: “At no time was any vehicle or pedestrian put in danger. My vision was clear and there were no other cars.
I am a careful driver and would never put any patients or members of the public in danger.
“I am deeply sorry for the inconvenience I have caused everybody.” He asked the court not to disqualify him from driving, saying: “Without my licence, what use would I be to anybody?” Mr Quick arrived in Truro at around 3am on April 23 to collect a 13-year-old with critical heart problems.
He dropped off some equipment at the hospital, then went to refuel before picking the patient up.
Mistake But while at the petrol station he was told he had accidentally kept an item of equipment in the ambulance.
He left the garage with his siren and lights on and turned right on to the dual carriageway by mistake, then cut round Trafalgar roundabout the wrong way.
Mr Quick’s training officer, Michael Walters, supported him in court.
He said: “The whole incident is completely and utterly out of character. “Mr Quick has an exemplary record and is a well-respected member of my team.
“I would be deeply saddened if he lost his driving licence today.”
Mr Quick was given six points and a £200 fine for driving without due care and attention.
He was not disqualified but will have to retake a professional driving course before going back to work.
Outside court, the ambulance drivers looked relieved.
And Mr Walters joked: “Now he can drive back to Bristol - I thought I was going to have to do it.”