Motorists endangering lives of emergency patients

The Penang General Hospital caters for thousands of patients daily, making the inner roads around the hospital one of the busiest on the island all day long.

This makes maintaining a smooth flow of traffic quite a task when irresponsible motorists park their vehicles along both sides of the road, making already narrow roads yet more impassable, and endangering the lives of those who depend on emergency services.

Despite being warned by the hospital security guards and the existence of many no-parking signs and double-lines along the roadside, some motorists still park wherever they please, with no consideration for others.

The hospital security guards have even put up temporary barriers to prevent cars being parked at areas prone to bottlenecks, especially the road leading to emergency entrance.

What makes the (sadly, typical) behaviour of these motorists more galling is the existence of a huge multi-level car park located less than 270 meters from the main entrance of the hospital. There is even prominent signage indicating the location of this six-storey parking complex.

The authorities must take drastic action against motorists who think they are committing the trivial offence of parking illegally, but who may be said to have caused the deaths of people who would have lived had they received emergency treatment in time.