Recently, I was driving along Ang Mo Kio Street 61 behind an ambulance with flashing lights but without sirens. I was quite puzzled when I saw it waiting at a red traffic light.

It was a pedestrian crossing, and not a T-junction or cross-junction. Furthermore, at that time, there were no pedestrians crossing the road.

In some countries, emergency vehicles responding to emergencies are allowed to run red lights, provided it is safe to do so.

In one of the cities in Australia, I witnessed a fire engine on an emergency call run the red lights at a cross-junction in the central business district.

What are the protocols for emergency vehicles in Singapore? Are they permitted to run red lights when the situation is clearly safe (such as when there are no other vehicles, or when there are no pedestrians at a traffic light-controlled pedestrian crossing), or when other motorists with the right of way have clearly yielded?

I hope the authorities can shed some light on this matter.

Francis Tay