The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-01-27
AMBULANCE MEN
 LIKE NEW LAWS
Light Signals Aid In Making Quick Time To
 Accidents

Veteran ambulance drivers, who shook their heads as Birmingham in- stalled her new signal lights, were loud in their praise of the system after giv- ing it fair trial.
 When we roll into the race track district, blow once, we can feel req sonably sure that we are not going to hurt someone trying to save some one else," was Jimmie Kelso's comment, after making several record runs through the business district.
 Tt sure makes it lots easier for the driver" Jimmie said. and he should know for he began driving back in 1911 when the horse-drawn ambulance was in style and has driven every other kind that has been in the city since. The new light system throws open the right of way to the ambulances on an emergency call the same as it does On fire alarms. All of the ambulance equipped their machines with special horns to be used only on such calls. The drivers, on entering the loop dis trict, signal the traffic tower operator. who throws on the orange light, halting 1 traffic on all of the streets and ave nues.
 Means Big Saving
 This saves as much as ten or fifteen l minutes sometimes in getting through the business district, ambulance men say, and in many instances this. short | time means life or death for the man, woman or child, crushed and bleeding, awaiting aid. @ Getting the ambulance to them quick | ly sometimes save time in other ways, and possibly life by preventing pass | ing autoists from picking up the in- jured. Physicians and ambulance men agree that more than one death has resulted in crowding badly injured peo- | pie into automobiles. Others have died through the ignorance on the part of their ould-be-benefits, as to the whereabouts of hospitals and the man. ner of getting an injured man inside.
 Doubts, which first arose in the minds of the drivers in regard to the cooperation of the police in clearing the streets for them, were thoroughly wiped out, when the officers met them more than half way. Traffic officers in several instances, ambulance men tHdJg uatC thACu RCASOhdA AAcnS " co sc some thoughtless ,autoist from a col lision with the rushing ambulance.
 Want Lights Extended
 Many ambulance men have expressed the wish that the lights be extended to the resident districts as it is there that they are now having their greatest trouble. People there, they state, do not seem to see the broken, bleeding form at the end of the journey, or lay ing whimpering in the car. They leis- urley cross in, front of the carriage and cause the loss of several seconds that are sometimes precious. Women, they say, are especially good at this. | A representative of The Age-Herald, few days ago, had occasion to ride an ambulance through the suburban sec tions. He found that the drivers of smbulances, while seeming reckless, were in realty very careful, extremely so, considering the speed they are com pelled to make. Street cars in every case make way for ambulances. Men of the working class show them every courtesy and women usually disregard them.
 With all of these difficulties the am bulance interpretations of Birmingham i have built up a remarkable record. In no case has there been a serious acci- dent charged to the ambulance drivers. They attribut this to obeying traffic | lous and hoinv na rnful