[DAWN] KARACHI: The Sindh Assembly on Wednesday passed five laws ‐ three of them related to the regularisation of doctors and other contractual employees ‐ one of which sparked debate in the house on, as the opposition benches argued, giving a "licence to kill" to individuals driving emergency vehicles.Having driven an ambulance in my day, I've seen the way nitwits in even a fairly law-abiding country like the USA refuse to get out of the way of flashing lights and sirens, hog emergency lanes, and do other surprisingly stoopid stuff.
The Provincial Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill, 2018 was tabled by Law Minister Zia Lanjar to amend the Provincial Motor Vehicles Ordinance, 1965 to bring the rules in conformity with modern-day needs.
Among certain provisions in the bills, which the opposition benches countered, sub-clause 5 of clause 6 in the new law sparked controversy.
The new sub-section read: "No driver of an emergency vehicle shall be convicted of an offence punishable under sub-section (1) if he was responding to an emergency and was not exceeding the limit of 80km/hour."
Initially, Opposition Leader Khwaja Izharul Hasan said the bill should be reconsidered as the controversial clause absolving individuals from conviction while driving emergency vehicles would make things complicated.
"You should legislate in line with international standards but that should not give licence to kill to such individuals," he said.