One Person Injured In Sacramento Car Accident With Ambulance By 12th Avenue and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard
SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA (August 28, 2022) – At least one person was injured in a Sacramento car accident with an ambulance by 12th Avenue and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
Sacramento police officials are saying that the accident took place around 2:00 a.m. on Thursday. An ambulance and a passenger vehicle collided at the intersection under unclear circumstances.
Paramedics were called to the scene in order to tend to the injured. The driver of the passenger vehicle was taken to the hospital in order to receive treatment.
A full investigation remains ongoing at this time.
Liability In Sacramento Car Accidents
Ambulances are essential in emergency situations, but they also pose a number of unique safety hazards. According to the NHTSA, “we analyzed data from the past 20 years and found that each year, the nation averages 29 fatal crashes involving an ambulance, resulting in an average of 33 fatalities annually.” Many collisions take place while the ambulance is traveling to an emergency situation. There are a number of steps that ambulance drivers should take to avoid collisions.
- Ambulance drivers should activate their lights and sirens when responding to an emergency.
- Ambulance drivers must continuously scan the road ahead of them for hazards.
- Ambulance drivers should receive plenty of training before starting their job.
Determining liability for any accident involving an ambulance can be difficult. Generally speaking, authorized emergency vehicles and the departments that they work for have a great deal of immunity from civil suits when they are involved in a collision. But the authorized emergency vehicle must have been responding to an emergency when the crash took place. They must also have had their lights and sirens on. If an authorized emergency driver didn’t have their lights or sirens on during an emergency trip, this could form the basis of a negligence claim.
When an ambulance is not responding to an emergency, they must obey all of the rules of the road like any other driver. This includes rules with respect to right-of-way laws and speeding. If an ambulance driver causes an accident, the company or municipal entity that they work for could be held at fault. In general, companies are liable for the wrongful actions of their employees – insofar as those employees were working within the course and scope of their job duties. Victims of ambulance accidents tend to suffer very serious injuries including:
- Broken bones
- Head injuries
- Lacerations
- Spinal cord injuries
Any person that is injured in an ambulance accident may have legal recourse through a bodily injury claim. Damages in a civil claim can help cover lost wages, medical bills and pain and suffering. It is important that all evidence is properly preserved after any collision. A personal injury attorney can examine all of the unique facts of your case and let you know what your legal options are.
Investigating A Sacramento Car Accident
We at TorkLaw extend our best wishes to the person injured in this ambulance accident. Any person that may have more information about what happened should reach out to police. There needs to be a thorough investigation into what happened.
Have you or someone that you care about been injured in an accident involving an ambulance? There are a number of laws designed to protect your rights. Our team of personal injury attorneys are here to help in any way that we can. We care that accident victims get the support that they need in order to recover. You are always welcome to reach out to us anytime at (888) 441-4991.
