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A fatal auto accident involving a Philadelphia area ambulance squad has resulted in a $3 million dollar personal injury lawsuit being filed against the driver of the ambulance, the Philadelphia Volunteer Fire Department and Fort Drum, New York, which is the driver’s employer.
According to the lawsuit, the ambulance from Fort Drum was waiting on the side of the road for another ambulance coming from Philadelphia for the purposes of transferring a patient. The Fort Drum ambulance left the side of the road and allegedly made a U-turn into the path of the woman’s car.
The 2010 crash killed the woman’s 88-year-old mother, who was a passenger in the car. The driver herself sustained broken ribs, a lacerated wrist and injuries to both of her knees that needed surgery to repair.
The lawsuit claims that the defendants acted negligently by failing to have their emergency lights on and for not arranging a safe meeting place for the patient transfer to occur. The suit also alleges that the ambulance blocked the road and prohibited the injured driver from taking action to avoid the crash.
Sheriff Deputies investigating the accident determined that the ambulance had its lights and sirens on and declined to charge the driver with a crime or to issue any traffic citations.
Attorneys for the defendants named in the lawsuit said the accident happened due to circumstances beyond their control. The defendants said the driver of the car was injured through her own fault since she was not wearing a seatbelt. They have asked that any award be reduced equivalent to the amount that wearing a seatbelt could have prevented.
The defendants also insist they are protected by laws which allow emergency vehicles to stop, stand or park where other vehicles cannot.
Sometimes emergency vehicles misuse the special privileges awarded to them under the law and end up causing a threat to public safety. This will be an interesting case to watch evolve.
Source: Watertown Daily Times, “Philadelphia, ambulance squad deny wrongdoing in lawsuit over 2010 accident,” Brian Kelly, Sept. 1, 2011.