Who's fault is it if an ambulance hits you while it is on the wrong side of the road?

[_Stu_]

Hey, a family member got run off the road by an ambulance with blues and twos on last night but the police say that because the ambulance is allowed anywhere on the road that she was in it's path making it het fault! Is this true? Also does anyone know what way ambulances are insured?

Cheers

 

[Marc]

did your family member and the ambulance collide?

If so, get onto your insurance company, apportioning blame is for the insurance companies to sort not a police officer

 

[_Stu_]

Yeah, ambulance has a dented wing and the car is a write off

 

[Marc]

call your insurance company.. they should be able to sort it out for you hopefully in your favour..

 

[_Stu_]

Hope so, door won't close on the car, waiting for recovery

 

[PeteMoore]

you are not legally required to get out of the way

however, we all do cos if the ambulance was for us, we would like to think others would move.

If it is likely to cause damage to your property or to you then i class that as being beyond where i would move to, if the ambulance hits you then i would be straight down to the best solicitor i could find, they have blue lights to warn you of their presence - not to give them a get out of jail free card.

 

[spaceh0pper]

It really depends on the circumstances.

Let's say your family member was driving in his or her own lane, and the ambulance moved out around a parked car and clipped their car then I'd say the ambulance driver was to blame.

But let's say the ambulance was already over the white line, for example passing a row of parked cars, and your family member then moved out around a car and hit the oncoming ambulance, then of course he or she is to blame.

A driver is supposed to read the road ahead, not take the moral high ground because they happen to be in a particular lane.

 

[Sgt_Major]

I think it would depend entirely on the circumstances.

I know a good solicitor if you need one.

Tony

 

[ian]

My sister is in the ambluance service and if u are on the wrong side of the road and hit an oncoming vehicle it is the fault of the person driving the ambluance as yes they have the blues and twos on but that is only to warn you of there presence. Same goes for any emergency vechicle. They are only alould on the wrong side of the road if it is safe to do so and there is a clear path.

Hope this helps

Ian

 

[pablo]

Id have thought the same as Ian, the driver has to assume not everyone knows he is there.

 

[Chris Mac]

Indeed, ambulance drivers fault

my uncle ended up under a fire engine that went on the wrong side of the road to miss red lights at a busy junction, it ended up they had to send other units to the fire while the unit that hit him cut him from the wreckage

the fire service eventually admitted liability and everything was settled out of court

 

[Boydie]

They still have to drive with discretion and with other roads users safety in mind.

They do have an advantage of using the whole road as long as it is safe!! You can't just plow out infront of a car but I would imagine that adrenaline gets to you when driving an ambulance hearing a flat liner in the back

 

[B A Baracus]

Id be getting that statement from the cop on paper and making a complaint against him.

 

[_Stu_]

Thanks for the advice, I'm certain the cars a write off, all in the hands of the insurance company now I guess

 

[pmk]

All depends on the circumstances involved. Most accidents that I have heard about at work the ambulance service generally pays out.

 

[forde]

might not have been the ambulance drivers fault, maybe the oncoming lane was clear as far as he could see and this person pulled out into it or something

 

[_Stu_]

The ambulance overtook far too close to the side of the car and caught the rear quarter pannel, this sent the car sideways and caused it to be t boned by the ambulance.

 

[avo5021]

The ambulance service, police and fire service all still have to abide by the laws and regulations even when on blues and two's.. the sirens and lights are merely to alert you to their presence on the road.

Saying that though if one of the above approaches a junction and you moved out into the path of a moving vehicle when you should have been stopped at a red light that would become your fault..

Leave it upto the insurance company, contact a good solicitor (as Tony says he knows a good one..lol)

I personally always turn off sirens approaching a queue of traffic (as taught to do) but leave the lights on as i wouldnt want to be accused of forcing another vehicle to be placing itself in danger, if they do it of their own accord then on their head be it..

 

[_Stu_]

Thanks mate, things are looking quite positive, insurance company have the car now so will see what they say.

 

[_Stu_]

Quick update, over 3k damage to the car so we are negotiating to get it written off, no idea what way to claim, sister has whiplash so duno what to do about claiming about that and also getting excess back.

 

[Red Head]

I was waiting to turn right off the Saintfield Road last night and I had my indicator on-and even had the brake lights on to warn others that I was stationary and waiting to turn across the road. Suddenly an ambulance Skoda Fabia estate flies up behind me with the flashing lights (watching the rear view mirror in sheer horror), sees me at the last minute, and just about misses me. I couldn't pull out across heavy oncoming traffic and had nowhere else to go! Was expecting a Fabia in my boot ffs. Or passenger seat at the speed they were going.

Livid wasn't the word

I appreciate the urgency of their jobs, but if would be greatly appreciated if they didn't wipe the rest of the road users out in the process.

 

[davecoupe]

I was nearly hit something similar Jen. There was an ambulance tearing up the middle of two lanes on chevrons. (i was turning right). There is nothing you can do except clench and hope lol

I thought that the emergency services had to obey every rule of the road while under blues and twos except the speed limit?? I am probably wrong though

 

[rybo]

There's a difference between making maximum safe progress and driving dangerously.

There is also a phenomenon known as 'red mist' that can affect drivers of emergency vehicles. This occurs when the drivers overriding objective is catching the baddie, getting to the dying victim or whatever and this wrongly takes precedence over safety considerations in the heat of the moment.

This is generally screened out by training staff who put students under the pressure of emergency runs etc and assessing if they can perform calmly & safely under those conditions. If not, they're failed or taken off the course.

In the Advanced course, a driver would be expected to give a running commentary of all relevant information including road signage, speed, actual or potential hazards, mirror checks, road alignment etc etc - not easy when you're driving at high speed and carrying out overtakes.

Obviously every emergency services driver wants to get to the call to save life of a dying person, catch an armed robber or whatever as quickly as possible, but they shoudn't risk putting themselves or others in hospital in the process, or they'll not get there at all.

 

[PrimO]

Like has been said above the ambulance driver is 100% at fault. The blues and twos are merely a warning to other drivers, they do not exempt the driver from the law. It doesnt make any difference how much of an emergency the ambulance is attending to, if it caused an accident because it was on the wrong side of the road then they are totally at fault, in fact its dangerous driving! The PSNI officer is also blatantly wrong and you should tell your family member to report them to the ombudsman as they were clearly trying to cover for the ambulance driver and get your family member to accept blame by giving false information.