Tr-Stars to slow down:
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by Steve Banner • East Anglian Ambulance Trust is restricting its 40 Canadian-built GMC TriStar front-line ambulances to 96km/h (60mph).
Crews have expressed unhappiness with the stability of the £50,000 vehicles at speed, says trade union Unison which represents them.
"There has been a feeling among drivers for sometime that they are unsatisfactory," says Ian Barber, Unison's regional head of health for East Anglia. "And rather than easing, their concerns have intensified."
Tim Rawlinson, Trust director of operations, confirms that investigations are being carried out into the Tr-Star's on-road behaviour.
Tr-Stars have been involved in two accidents— in one case a crew member sustained a serious back injury—but their cause has yet to be determined.
"We've spoken to the chassis manufacturer and the bodybuilder and to the tyre manufacturers," says Rawlinson.
The Trust will also be consulting Lotus Engineering.
Rawlinson claims that the speed restriction will not affect the service the Trust provides in its catchment area of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. "Sixty is a fair average speed around towns and cities and we'd rather have the vehicle complete its journey than not," he says.
Northumbria Ambulance Service runs similar Chevrolet G30 ambulances, bodied by Wheeled Coach of Orlando, Florida. It says it has experienced no problems with them and is ordering another 16 to join the six already in service.
Its vehicles are fitted with alloy bodies and twin rear wheels; the East Anglian ambulances have GRP bodies and single rear wheels.
The East Anglian Trust runs 130 front-line ambulances. Alongside the TrStars are vehicles by VW, Ford, Mercedes and Iveco.