Hey folks,
I’ve always wondered how it works with accidents that involve official vehicles like ambulances or police cars. Yesterday, I actually saw a small crash happen right in front of me — an ambulance was rushing through an intersection, sirens on, and this car must’ve not noticed it in time and they collided. It didn’t look too bad, thankfully, but still, the ambulance was clearly on duty.
So, how does responsibility work in situations like that? I mean, I get that emergency vehicles have priority, but is it always automatically the other driver’s fault? Or can the driver of the ambulance or police car be at fault too? Would be great to hear how this works in practice
Good question, and actually it’s not always as clear-cut as people think. A friend of mine got tangled up in a similar situation — he was driving normally, green light, and a police car without sirens suddenly tried to squeeze through and sideswiped him. At first, he thought there was nothing he could do because it was a police car, but turns out, the same rules apply — they still need to follow proper procedures unless it’s a real emergency with lights and sirens.
Liability depends on the circumstances, but yeah, they aren’t automatically off the hook just because they’re official vehicles. It can get legally messy though, so it’s always smart to get proper legal advice. My friend ended up checking everything through kremenchuker law firm — they had some solid info about situations with official transport and what to expect if you want to file a claim.