It is important for individuals who drive emergency response vehicles such as ambulances to pay full attention to the road as they drive. Sadly, one ambulance driver, who apparently admitted to driving while distracted, got into a serious accident in Ohio. A 56-year-old patient lost his life in the fatal accident.
The ambulance was reportedly driving along I-71 South in Mansfield en route from one hospital to another in order to transfer the patient. The ambulance veered off the Interstate and crashed through a guardrail. Once through the guardrail, the ambulance slid down a hill, causing it to roll over multiple times.
The patient riding in the back was ejected from the vehicle in the crash, and he was found a considerable distance away from the ambulance. He died from the injuries he suffered in the crash. When interviewing the driver of the ambulance, the authorities stated that she admitted to being distracted while driving. She said that she was attempting to use the GPS on her phone when she veered off the road. The authorities seized her phone, and they are attempting to determine if her statement was true or if she could have been texting or making a phone call instead.
When a person is injured or needs to be transferred to a different hospital with more specialized treatment options, that person depends on the ambulance driver to get them there both quickly and safely. In this case, no matter what the investigators discover she was doing on her phone, the driver reportedly admitted to being distracted as she drove. The patient’s family has the right to pursue a wrongful death claim in light of this fatal accident in Ohio. The claim would likely be made against the driver and the driver’s employer.
Source: fox8.com, “Troopers: Ambulance driver distracted before fatal crash“, Jack Shea, Aug. 18, 2014
Source: fox8.com, “Troopers: Ambulance driver distracted before fatal crash“, Jack Shea, Aug. 18, 2014