TENKASI: All motorists part lanes on the road upon hearing the blaring siren of an ambulance in the hope that the person battling for life inside the vehicle would reach a medical facility within the golden hour. Taking advantage of this unwritten code of humanity, as many as 10 bike riders, including a 17-year-old boy, hired a mini-ambulance and used it as a pilot vehicle to partake in a bike race from Sivakasi to Tenkasi on Sunday. Needless to say, all the other vehicles on Thirumangalam-Kollam Highway made way for the ambulance and got hoodwinked into laying a red carpet for the bikers to vroom past them.
Upon alert from Virudhunagar police, Tenkasi traffic police personnel intercepted the vehicles at Kuthukkalvalasai. Police imposed a total penalty of `14,700 on the riders for violating a slew of road rules. “A few of the bikes did not have side mirrors. Five of them lacked number plates. The pillion riders were not wearing helmets. They had also illegally used modified silencers. Further, the ambulance owner had not updated his name in the Regional Transport Office records after purchasing the vehicle,” police sources said.
When asked if a case has been registered against the riders who illegally conducted the bike race using an ambulance, traffic police inspector Mani Murugan said they were not booked since all of them regretted their offence. “We released them after obtaining a written statement that they will not repeat the offence. The vehicles were also released,” he added. The riders had bought their KTM bikes from a showroom in Sivakasi, and authorities of the showroom allegedly helped the youth hire the ambulance.