Lakewood, NJ ambulance seen doing donuts on video

[Guest]

Lakewood ambulance seen doing donuts on video

March 13, 2009

The Associated Press

LAKEWOOD, N.J. - Authorities in Lakewood are reviewing a video posted on a Web site that shows an ambulance and an EMS squad car spinning out in a snow-covered parking lot.

The clip has since been removed from a car-enthusiast Web

FULL STORY: http://www.lohud.com/article/20090313/NEWS/903130380

[x129K 1,393]

D'oh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

[SpartanML 0]

Aggressive driver training that's all!

[LTNRFD 266]

I think there is more than one person on this site that has done similar things. I always wanted to know how the vehicle I was operating would handle in snow and ice. To find an open parking lot with no hazards was priceless. The problem is that this group made it public as a music video.

[mfc2257 464]

I think there is more than one person on this site that has done similar things. I always wanted to know how the vehicle I was operating would handle in snow and ice. To find an open parking lot with no hazards was priceless. The problem is that this group made it public as a music video.

Absolutely agree.... Video = Stupid...

Getting a feel for how a vehicle reacts on snowy roads by using a vacant obsticle free parking area is fine with me as long as someone in an official capacity knows that the vehicles are being operated and has approved the action.

Edited March 13, 2009 by mfc2257

[x129K 1,393]

O hell...I've been there, done that for sure!

I am just glad that I don't work NOW, in the instant eletronic age!

[NJMedic 96]

Can't say I have sone something similar but I did it going straight and tried soft braking, hard braking, and turning. Of course we didn't put it on video or the internet (then again it was the early '80's). But then again if the person couldn't tell it was EMS and not PD I doubt there knew the people doing it. Hard to explain what driving technique there were trying to learn by doing doughnuts.

[Tapout 42]

Hard to explain what driving technique they were trying to learn by doing doughnuts.

The vehicle operator just wanted to know the turning radius of his vehicle and the speed at which traction is lost in a tight turn or otherwise evasive maneuver. I review such things during every snow storm in a local restaurant parking lot, provided no one is around and no vehicular obstacles are present to impede my "research."

That's my story and I'm sticking with it.

[Guest alsfirefighter]

Have I've done something similar...absolutely...but in my POV...not a work vehicle. All I can say to that is..."here's your sign...."

I'm a huge advocate of getting someone out and drive a vehicle in all conditions they will encounter, particularly with road chains to see how it handles but lets get real also...doing donuts has nothing to do with how a vehicle "handles in the snow." A vehicle should handle one way in the snow....slow and cautious. Race car drivers do things to see how a vehicle "handles." Why...because they are pushing the envelope of vehicular capability. Not something you want to do in bad weather and most times you can find out how a vehicle will handle by talking with others who've driven in the condition in question...and new vehicles you definitely want to slow it down until you know its weak points.

[ckroll 101]

I haven't seen the video, but I've certainly taken an ambulance to the back lot to check on snow conditions and handling. If you don't know what an ambulance can do, then that can be an issue, especially with braking. They are heavy and handle like pigs. I'm not sure one can find out about their handling only by asking around. We all drive/react differently and ought to know what any given vehicle will do for us. Several years ago we had a member who was skittish about snowy conditions and we went out back after a call and got her over it. Fun was had, and it was clearly established that 15 mph was top speed for an ambulance in snow. In a genuine emergency is no time to be finding out where the limits are. And that said, I've not seen the need to take my work vehicles out back as my POV is similar and I have plenty of experience with it.

The larger issue, and it is becoming a real 800 lb gorilla, is candid video. Footage robbed of context and edited to push an agenda is showing up all the time. Video is a mixed situation. On the one hand, if we live well and do things well, then it shouldn't be an issue. If knowing that we can and WILL be judged by strangers across the nation makes each of us try a little harder and do a little better, then that's good. It becomes a huge problem when there are uneducated audiences looking for mindless entertainment that do not know and do not want to know the context in which events are happening. If the standard we have to meet is that we can never do or say anything that can be clipped or cropped or edited, then that is life lived in a straight jacket.

[smwells 7]

I haven't seen the video, but I've certainly taken an ambulance to the back lot to check on snow conditions and handling. If you don't know what an ambulance can do, then that can be an issue, especially with braking. They are heavy and handle like pigs. I'm not sure one can find out about their handling only by asking around. We all drive/react differently and ought to know what any given vehicle will do for us. Several years ago we had a member who was skittish about snowy conditions and we went out back after a call and got her over it. Fun was had, and it was clearly established that 15 mph was top speed for an ambulance in snow. In a genuine emergency is no time to be finding out where the limits are. And that said, I've not seen the need to take my work vehicles out back as my POV is similar and I have plenty of experience with it.

The larger issue, and it is becoming a real 800 lb gorilla, is candid video. Footage robbed of context and edited to push an agenda is showing up all the time. Video is a mixed situation. On the one hand, if we live well and do things well, then it shouldn't be an issue. If knowing that we can and WILL be judged by strangers across the nation makes each of us try a little harder and do a little better, then that's good. It becomes a huge problem when there are uneducated audiences looking for mindless entertainment that do not know and do not want to know the context in which events are happening. If the standard we have to meet is that we can never do or say anything that can be clipped or cropped or edited, then that is life lived in a straight jacket.

I have not seen this video, but learning how your vehicle handles in bad weather has it's merits (for training). Too many drivers (myself included) dont spend enough hours behind the wheel to fully know how a type III ambulance will handle in adverse conditions.

As far as video goes, almost 100% of the videos posted on youtube and here, can and are taken out of context of the events surrounding the video. Without the supporting information, people will always jump to conclusions.