Why Is ‘Ambulance’ Spelt Backwards On The Front Of Ambulance Cars

The fastest way to carry a patient to the hospital is to use the Ambulance. The Ambulance has saved a lot of lives and it is still saving more. However, in front of every Ambulance vehicle, there is an inscription which reads ‘ECNALUBMA’. This is the exact spelling of an Ambulance but changes in the spelling. Let is find out why.

Whenever Ambulances move on the highways, it is expected that every driver move to the side of the road for the Ambulance truck to pass without difficulties of traffic.

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One way for a driver to know that an Ambulance is right behind his vehicle is to use his or her vehicle’s driving mirror. When the driver looks in it and sees the Ambulance from the mirror, the correct spelling of the Ambulance will show in the driving mirror as if the driver was looking at it directly. This is the main reason why the writings on an Ambulance car is written upside down.

Also, ambulance are typically in greater speed than surrounding vehicles. This makes the ambulance front visible in the rear-view mirrors of other cars. That way, those cars that need to give way for the ambulance to drive through in traffic would do so.

This is necessary because in traffic, ambulances are supposed to be given right of way and so apart from their sirens; the word ambulance is made easily readable from the mirror of vehicles in front of them. International standards state that ambulances should have the world ambulance written in reverse on the bonnet.
In some countries, the words “police” and “paramedics” are spelled backwards for similar reason. In essence, “mirror writing” on vehicles are used to quickly catch the attention of other motorists. This gives passage to ambulance trucks on highways during emergencies.