When the ambulance is flashed
Blue light at red light drives Solothurn’s cantonal parliament
On Tuesday, the Solothurn cantonal parliament dealt with the violation of traffic rules when construction lights were used. At an Oltner intersection with red light monitoring near the cantonal hospital, there were hundreds of violations by ambulances.
Published: 8 minutes ago
When an ambulance runs its blue light over a red light – that’s a political issue in the canton of Solothurn. (icon picture)
Almost only ambulances are flashed at the city crossing in Olten: Since 2021 there have been 869 transgressions by ambulances in rescue operations – and that led to a lot of paperwork: the police always receive a radar photo as proof and deliver it to the cantonal hospital in Olten every time.
This then has to take a position and prove that the ambulance had switched on the blue light due to urgency – otherwise it will issue a fine. This is not about bureaucracy, but about the legal mandate under the Road Traffic Act,” the government council said. There must always be a “case-by-case assessment”.
As a result of media reports, the blue light at red light developed into a political issue in the canton of Solothurn – and called the politicians into action.
The SVP parliamentary group demanded that the vehicle numbers of the ambulances be stored in the police system in order to reduce bureaucracy. The government council and parliament wanted nothing to do with this. Parliament rejected the order on Tuesday by a vote of 73 to 21.
However, Parliament unanimously passed an order from the Centre/EPP group. The goal: “To minimize the current administrative effort for blue light organizations in connection with traffic violations”. And the parliament then decided with 74 to 21 votes to “write off” the order straight away – meaning: the task has already been accomplished.
The processes at the police and the public prosecutor’s office have been simplified, the government council assured. “Thanks to optimized responsibilities”, the process has become “sludge-free and digitalized”. And the government council assured: “Process optimization within the legal framework is an ongoing task.”