Effect of Speed Humps on Ambulance Delay

Introduction: Speed humps allow vehicles to slow down their speeds, but they also cause emergency vehicles to waste time on their way to their destinations. The study aims to determine the delay times alone and queue delay time of ambulances passing through speed humps. Methods: Three types of ambulances (Van, Multiple Victim Assistance, Bariatric) and vehicles (Truck, Lorry, Van) are passed in a controlled manner through speed humps at different speeds in three streets of Adıyaman province of Turkey. Ambulances and vehicles are slowed down to 15 km/h while passing the speed hump for safe passage. Passing and lost times were calculated with the help of a stopwatch (Catiga CG-503; Catiga Electronics Company, Hong Kong) and a global positioning system (GPS) speedometer (Vjoycar smart speedometer; Vjoy Car Electronics Limited, China). Differences in passing times in the absence and the presence of speed humps, determined with the speed equation formula (t=x / V), were lost timings or delay timings for ambulances and vehicles. Results: In the first region, the lost time for the van ambulance with a speed of 70 km/h was 8.41 seconds, 10.14 seconds for the multiple victim assistance ambulances, and 9.56 seconds for the bariatric ambulance. While there was a truck in front of the van ambulance with a speed of 50 km/h, the lost time was also the queue delay time for the ambulance and was 54.96 seconds, with a lorry 42.81 seconds, and 7.02 seconds with a van. In the second region with a double-speed hump, the lost time for the van ambulance with a speed of 60 km/h was 9.94 seconds, 16.32 seconds for the multiple victim assistance ambulances, and 14.49 seconds for the bariatric ambulance. Ambulances did not waste time in the third region, as ambulances and other vehicles do not have to slow down. Conclusion: Ambulances waste time by themselves or due to the vehicles in front of them passing speed hump. As the speed of ambulances increased, the lost time also increased. So, more time is lost when the ambulance needs to go faster.