Man charged for collision with ambulance - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

DownhillGoat · 03-11-2011, 04:40 PM

http://www.calgaryherald.com/Calgary...259/story.html

Are you kidding? An ambulance is travelling the wrong way down an off-ramp, and the civilian involved in the collision gets charged with failing to yield and careless driving. I hope he fights the tickets.

Resolute 14 · 03-11-2011, 04:43 PM

And I hope he loses. You have to be pretty effing stupid to not notice the giant ambulance coming at you with lights and sirens.

You Need a Thneed · 03-11-2011, 04:43 PM

Pretty hard to judge the situation without more details.

I find it hard to believe that a man would be charged unless he was being pretty careless. He wouldn't be charged if he was driving normally. It's likely that the ambulance would have been moving fairly slowly.

Pinner · 03-11-2011, 04:44 PM

He deserved those charges

4X4 · 03-11-2011, 04:49 PM

Just two weeks ago I saw a dumass take off at Barlow and 32nd, right in front of a cop who was bearing down, siren blazing, and lights flashing. Some people are just so stupid. I hope the fine sticks and the guy's insurance goes up. If you're too much of a space cadet to notice an ambulance with lights and sirens coming at you, you really shouldn't be driving.

What excuses are there? You didn't see? Where were you looking? Rubbernecking the dead guy? Was your stupid stereo blaring so loud you couldn't hear? Maybe you're deaf. Ok, I'll drop that. But come on. It's an AMBULANCE. They're not exactly camouflaged.

Pinner · 03-11-2011, 05:00 PM

Exactly, a Looky lou got busted for careless driving, bout time.

burn_this_city · 03-11-2011, 05:03 PM

Good, there is far too many stunned morons in Calgary that ignore emergency vehicles.

WhiteTiger · 03-11-2011, 05:09 PM

Yeah, it's kind of sparse on the details, but given the space cadetting I see around calgary's roads (being a pedestrian), I'm not surprised. You hear an emergency vehicle, you start your head on a swivel until you locate it and then get out of it's way in the fastest, safest way possible.

puckluck · 03-11-2011, 05:11 PM

The idiot trying to cross Deerfoot should be charged.

And that guys ticket is probably legitimate, but will likely be thrown out.

zamler · 03-11-2011, 05:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WhiteTiger

You hear an emergency vehicle, you start your head on a swivel until you locate it and then get out of it's way in the fastest, safest way possible.

This. I've actually watched people STILL fail to make way for the Ambulance when it's right in front of them with sirens blaring. Are some people really that brain dead? It's times like that I wish there was a Cop around.

But we need to know all the facts here, for all we know the Ambulance driver was the one not paying enough attention. Doubt it, but could be.

4X4 · 03-11-2011, 05:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by puckluck

The idiot trying to cross Deerfoot should be charged.

That too. One of those instances where a person should have to pay his own medical bills.

Yasa · 03-11-2011, 05:19 PM

It's pretty common for an ambulance to drive on the wrong side. We've had to drive south on north-bound highway 2 to get to a truck roll over. Scary, but people moved.

Pinner · 03-11-2011, 05:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by puckluck

The idiot trying to cross Deerfoot should be charged.

And that guys ticket is probably legitimate, but will likely be thrown out.

Not a chance,

puckluck · 03-11-2011, 05:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pinner

Not a chance,

Want to make a bet?

DownhillGoat · 03-11-2011, 05:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Resolute 14

You have to be pretty effing stupid to not notice the giant ambulance coming at you with lights and sirens.

Not sure on the setup of the offramp, but what are you supposed to do in that situation? Would there even be enough room to get a vehichle and ambulance through? Judging by the damage to the ambulance, it sure looks like he was trying to get out of the way. I'm not too sure how many options one would have on an off-ramp. Not to mention I'm sure the guy would be a bit confused at the fact there's lights coming up the wrong way in the first place.

4X4 · 03-11-2011, 05:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kunkstyle

Not sure on the setup of the offramp, but what are you supposed to do in that situation? Judging by the damage to the ambulance, it sure looks like he was trying to get out of the way. I'm not too sure how many options one would have on an off-ramp. Not to mention I'm sure the guy would be a bit confused at the fact there's lights coming up the wrong way in the first place.

The same as everywhere else. Pull to the right and STOP. Every on ramp I've ever been on has more than enough room for two way traffic in an emergency.

Tiger · 03-11-2011, 05:50 PM

Don't worry they'll get out of it.

years ago a girl ran into the back of a firetruck that was stopped on Deerfoot (they were on the southbound side looking after an accident on the northbound side). The girl killed herself and the family sue and won, even though she drove over road flares and pylons into a firetruck with flashing lights and a big flashing arrow on the back. Now the fire dept has to drive past the accident to switch side of deerfoot when they need to they can never stop on the opposite side (which is a lot like driving the wrong way down the ramp)

BlackArcher101 · 03-11-2011, 05:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Resolute 14

And I hope he loses. You have to be pretty effing stupid to not notice the giant ambulance coming at you with lights and sirens.

And you know what? The amublance driver has more driver training than the van driver. They take defensive driving courses. How come the ambulance driver also didn't see the van coming straight at him? How is it the guy with training to avoid just this thing wasn't able to avoid it?

Two parties involved in this.

Can't believe they transferred all the blame on the guy that thought he was obeying the traffic laws up until that point. Poor sod is probably going 60 km/hr on an off ramp, only to see an ambulance coming the other direction at probably 100+ km/hr closing speed. Hard for joe blow to react that quickly, but Mr. Ambulance driver has the training on just that scenario.

puckluck · 03-11-2011, 06:02 PM

It would be nice to know why no police officer was charged with this offense

http://forum.calgarypuck.com/showthread.php?t=96053

Made this thread a while ago, but no officers have been charged with anything. Both were breaking the law while responding to an accident scene and collided with each other and another vehicle in the intersection (where they are supposed to slow down to 5km/hr)

Point of this post is that it could very well be the ambulance at fault as well. People in uniform do break laws and can be at fault.

Resolute 14 · 03-11-2011, 06:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlackArcher101

Can't believe they transferred all the blame on the guy that thought he was obeying the traffic laws up until that point. Poor sod is probably going 60 km/hr on an off ramp, only to see an ambulance coming the other direction at probably 100+ km/hr closing speed. Hard for joe blow to react that quickly, but Mr. Ambulance driver has the training on just that scenario.

Failure to yield to an emergency vechile is a traffic law that this person evidently did not obey.

The merge lane at 64th is easily wide enough to fit two vehicles, and is short and straight enough that a driver should be able to see what is in front of him.

And there is no way the ambulance would have been driving 100KPH the wrong way on an off ramp. Especially that close to the victim they intended to treat. If that victim was hit on Deerfoot, then the ambulance would have been coming off of 64th, while the driver would have been exiting Deerfoot onto 64th. Logically, it would be the car doing 100+, and the ambulance going much slower.

All of this is speculation on my part, but logically, the ambulance would have been on the left side of the ramp - on the median - and the other driver probably failed to move to his right to give enough room, instead hitting the ambulance on the drivers side door. Most other possible senarios I can imagine for how the ambulance could have been driving suggests a head on collision.