Man fined for driving fake ambulance to avoid traffic

Pre discussion questions

Why do you think someone would go to so much difficulty to make a fake ambulance?

How would you feel if you saw a fake ambulance?

A driver in England converted his car into a fake ambulance. The fake ambulance had  blue lights and a siren. The driver used his fake ambulance to force his car through traffic waiting to use a busy road tunnel. After being caught he has been fined more than £1,000.

CCTV showed the white vehicle, with its lights flashing, moving through cars waiting at the Tunnel. And it showed other car drivers getting out of the way of what they thought was an emergency ambulance.

Shaun Scandle, 31, received nine penalty points on his licence for careless driving after he went to court.

Suspicions began after staff at the tunnel saw the vehicle pass through rush-hour traffic at high speed.

And so staff asked the the North East Ambulance Service if they had an ambulance in the tunnel at that time. They said it had no record of one of its vehicles being in the area at the time.

An investigation was launched and Mr Scandle was discovered as the driver.

Officers found his white car had been made to look like an emergency ambulance.

They also discovered that he ran a business called Hadrian Medical Services. The business gave emergency first aid at events across England for which he used the vehicle.

On this occasion he had been giving first aid service for the Tour of Britain cycle race. And he had been travelling to attend a medical request.

Police Sergeant Alan Keenleyside, of the Police Operations Department, said: "This may seem like a bizarre story.  But the bad thing is that Mr Scandle risking other people’s lives by driving this way.

"Those working in the emergency services receive specialist training to drive emergency vehicles.  And the public should not try and do these services themselves.

Try to guess the meaning of the words in bold and match them with their closest meaning from the choices in the right. Some of the answers are very close and have similar meaning. The meaning of these words is how they are used in the reading. Some of these words have different meanings in the dictionary depending on how they are used.

 The answers are below the table.

A=3, B=1, C=8, D=6, E=4, F=2, G=5, H=7

Some example sentences using the new words or phrases from the meaning of how they are used in the reading to help you understand better.

1.      I converted my jeans into jean shorts by cutting them shorter with scissors.

2.      Do not buy this phone, it is fake, it is only a copy

3.      It was difficult to get out of the way of the rain storm that was coming.

4.      A man was acting suspiciously, so we called the police.

5.      This year the Pokemon Go app was launched and it has been very popular.

6.      My father ran a good business for 40 years.

7.      This wedding will be a great occasion.

8.      The weather is bizarre, it is snowing in July.

Some questions using the new words/phrases. Try to use the words/phrases in your answer.

1.      Where is the best place to convert your money into U.S. dollars here?

2.      How would you feel if an ambulance you saw was fake?

3.      Can you remember your parent telling you to get out of the way of something dangerous?

4.      Will you be suspicious of emergency vehicles in the future? Why or why not?

5.      How surprised do you think the fake driver was when he was caught?

6.      Why do you think the fake ambulance driver want to run a medical business and not some other kind of business?

7.      Have there been any occasions when this kind of thing has happened in your country? Would it be a bizarre event?