The North Carolina Highway Patrol reported an accident that occurred recently in Gaston County that injured five people. The vehicles involved were an ambulance and a car.
The driver of the car had his wife and a girl riding with him. The girl’s arm was broken, while his wife received head injuries that are expected to heal.
According to reports by WCNC.com, the car accident occurred just before 4 p.m. on a Monday afternoon. The Stanley Fire and Rescue ambulance was responding to an emergency when the collision occurred. Two emergency medical technicians were on board at the time.
The driver of the ambulance is employed part-time with Stanley Civil Defense Rescue Squad. He suffered only minor injuries. He was involved in another wreck in 2013 while in an ambulance that was determined not to be his fault.
The other part-time employee in the rig was bruised from the deployment of the airbag. Both were treated in Gastonia at CaroMont Regional Medical Center and were later released. Another person suffered serious injuries and was transported to Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte.
At the time of the crash, the ambulance employees were in a newer model that was not their usual rig, which was older. It is the belief of their squad captain that had they been in the older rig, their injuries would have been more serious. It is unknown which driver was at fault in the collision.
Once police complete their investigation into the circumstances of the wreck, the injured parties may have a cause of action to file a personal injury suit against the insurance company of the at-fault driver.
Source: Fire Engineering, “Driver charged with DWI after accident with North Carolina ambulance” No author given, Jun. 04, 2014
