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Have you ever been puzzled about why the word ambulance is written upside down (laterally inverted) on the ambulance vehicles? So that when viewed under the rearview mirror of the car in front it can be viewed correctly.
An ambulance is an emergency response vehicle placed with necessary medical equipment for the preservation of life. An ambulance is used to transport injured or ill people to the hospital. An ambulance depends on fast speeds and effective maneuverability through traffic to maintain a good response time and ensure patients get to a hospital in good time. The ambulance has identifier features such as the siren and emergency lights, however, the most puzzling one is the laterally inverted word AMBULANCE at the front.
The name AMBULANCE is written laterally inverted as ECNALUBMA to allow easier legibility from the rearview mirrors in vehicles in front. This allows the drivers in front to quickly identify the ambulance and give way to it.
Many would say that the name is written upside down however that is not the case. The method used to write the name is known as lateral inversion where the orientation of the letters runs from left to right for the letter to be viewed easily on reflective surfaces
The rearview being a convex mirror that allows a wide range of view, corrects the lateral inversion into the upright word as it should be. If the word was not laterally inverted, it would appear as ECNALUBMA on the rearview mirror. and the driver of the vehicle in front would have to look back to interpret the word causing a delay in giving way.
This mode of writing has also been used in other emergency response vehicles such as police vehicles and fire trucks in some regions of the world. However international standards are more particular on medical response vehicles having the name at the front laterally inverted.
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