As soon as a ambulance is dispatched, risks on the road increase. The driver of the vehicle might be required to snake through traffic, disregard traffic control devices and stop signs and exceed speed limits. Even in a non-emergency situation, those who are inside of an ambulance share the risk of being injured in a crash.
In October 2018, there was an accident involving a car that crashed into a medic truck in Philadelphia’s Germantown at about 1:30 a.m. Apparently the medic truck wasn’t even on an emergency call. It was stopped at a red light at Godfrey Avenue and Broad street when a car crashed into the driver’s side door. All three people inside of the ambulance were injured.
The Numbers:
As per the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, there are about 4,500 ambulance accidents in the United States every year. About 30 of such accidents result in fatalities. Nearly all of the accidents involve at least one other vehicle. About 60 percent of all ambulance crashes occur during emergency use when lights and sirens are being used. It’s not always just ambulance personnel that are injured in these crashes though. Ambulance passengers and other motorists are also injured. Given its weight and the speed that an ambulance might travel at, a crash with a small vehicle, motorcyclist, bicyclist or pedestrian can result in severe injuries or even death.
The Ambulance Driver’s Duty:
It’s not unreasonable for a patient or emergency medical personnel to expect to arrive at their destination safely. In the course of responding to an emergency, the driver of an ambulance has a duty to operate the vehicle in a safe and careful manner. Of course, they can exceed a road’s speed limit, travel through red lights and maneuver in and out of traffic, but they must exercise due care and caution under the circumstances.
Common Causes of Ambulance Accidents:
There are times when ambulance accidents are unavoidable like when a careless and negligent driver crashes into one. In other cases, the ambulance driver and personnel aboard the vehicle might be negligent and cause harm to a patient. For example, the impact from a crash might cause equipment inside of the ambulance that was improperly stored to hit the patient. Even an improperly secured gurney that a patent is strapped to can make violent contact with the inside of the vehicle.
Contact an Experienced Personal Injury Lawyer:
If you were injured in an ambulance accident as a result of the negligence of the ambulance driver or other personnel, your claim will be against the entity that owns the vehicle and employs the negligent personnel. If you were injured as a result of the negligence of another driver, your claim will be against that individual. If he or she had no insurance, you might be able to pursue an uninsured motorist claim with your own insurance company. These types of accidents can get complicated quickly. You’ll need the help of an experienced, aggressive and effective Pennsylvania personal injury lawyer. We represent clients in Philadelphia and everywhere else in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. If you or somebody close to you was injured in an ambulance accident, don’t give a statement of any kind to an insurance company. It will only try to use your own words against you in the future. Don’t sit on your rights either. There are prerequisites to a lawsuit against a municipality that have strict time limits. Contact our offices right away. You can arrange for a free consultation and case review.