§ 5-164. Ambulances, operation of.

No person shall operate an ambulance, which shall include any motor vehicle primarily designed and used for conveyance of sick or injured persons, in a manner not conforming to a provision of the motor vehicle laws and regulations of this state or of this city as such provision applies to motor vehicles in general, except in compliance with the following conditions:

(1)

The person operating the ambulance shall be either responding to a bona fide emergency call or specifically directed by a licensed physician to disregard traffic laws in operating the ambulance during and for the purpose of the specific trip or journey that is involved;

(2)

The ambulance shall be equipped with a siren producing an audible signal of an intensity of one hundred (100) decibels at a distance of fifty (50) feet from said siren, and with a lamp emitting an oscillating, rotating or flashing red beam directed in part toward the front of the vehicle and containing a power rating of at least one hundred (100) amperes;

(3)

The aforesaid siren and lamp shall be in full operation at all times during such trip or journey; and

(4)

Whenever the ambulance is operated at a speed in excess of forty (40) miles per hour, the ambulance shall be operated in complete conformance with every other motor vehicle law and regulation of this state and of this city in which the ambulance is operated, relating to the operation of motor vehicles, as such provision applies to motor vehicles in general, except laws and regulations pertaining to compliance with official traffic-control devices or to vehicular operation upon the right half of the roadway.

(Ord. No. A-180, § 14, 4-24-2000)