PRETORIA - National traffic police officers have arrested the driver of a private ambulance in Olifantsfontein in Gauteng for reckless and negligent driving, driving the emergency vehicle without a professional driving permit, and failing to obey instructions of traffic officers who attempted to stop the ambulance, the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) said on Sunday.
The owner of the ambulance was also arrested when he later attempted to intervene after his driver's arrest, RTMC spokesman Simon Zwane said.
"The driver attracted the attention [of] traffic officers [after] the ambulance was observed cutting in front of traffic dangerously. The driver failed to stop when instructed to do so, and other traffic officers had to be called before he was eventually handcuffed," said Zwane.
"The owner of the ambulance was arrested when he arrived at the police [station] to check on his driver. He will be charged with fraud because the operator’s permit displayed on the vehicle was invalid."
Both the driver and the ambulance owner were detained at the Olifantsfontein police station and were expected to appear in court on Monday, Zwane said.