An ambulance driver put himself on the wrong side of the equation in a crash last year as he drove through a red light, striking a car in cross-traffic and killing the driver.
In a Pennsylvania suburb outside of Pittsburgh, the ambulance, which was not en route to an emergency call, and did not have its sirens on, when it drove through a red light. According to witnesses on the scene, the ambulance dodged around one vehicle and struck another, a Ford Bronco driven by a prison guard, who was not wearing his seat belt and died of blunt force trauma to the head.
The driver of the ambulance and his passenger were returning to base from a call. He entered a plea of not guilty to charges of vehicular homicide and reckless driving. His lawyer claims that he did not express “conscious disregard” of traffic laws, and that he was simply “negligent,” but not, in the words of the law, grossly so. The lawyer pointed to the driver’s previously clean record and police data that neither vehicle was speeding.
In response, the district attorney argued that anyone who goes through a red light at a busy intersection is “grossly negligent.” He pointed out that “There’s a risk someone’s going to be hit and could be killed,” to which I would have to agree.
Some of the worst crimes in our society are when those who we trust to save lives turn around and take them instead. In these cases, it is especially crucial to make sure that medical personnel are not negligent in their duty. If you or someone you love has suffered at the hands of a negligent medical professional, contact a personal injury attorney at the law firm of G. Eric Nielson & Associates, serving the Salt Lake City area.
