First responders must get to their destinations as fast as they safely can. When an ambulance, fire truck, or police car is responding to an emergency, we all know to get out of the way and let them get to where they need to go. When these vehicles have their lights and sirens on, they are legally allowed to speed, run stoplights, weave through traffic, and engage in other driving that would ordinarily violate the law. Unfortunately, in some cases, emergency vehicle drivers end up causing others harm by causing extremely serious accidents.
If you’ve suffered an injury in an accident caused by an emergency vehicle, you should speak to a lawyer as soon as you can. Call Brauns Law Accident Injury Lawyers, PC today to schedule a free consultation with an Atlanta personal injury attorney.
First-Responders Don’t Get a Free Pass to Be Negligent
While people who are driving emergency vehicles with their lights and sirens on maybe allowed to violate traffic laws to get to where they are going, that does not give them license to engage in negligence or recklessness. For example, while it wouldn’t likely wouldn’t be considered negligent for an ambulance driver to drive through a red light with his or her lights and siren on, a court may deem that driver negligent for driving 90 miles per hour down a residential street—emergency lights and sirens or not. Here are some of the other ways that an emergency vehicle driver could potentially be negligent:
- Driving while impaired
- Failing to activate emergency lights and sirens
- Distracted driving
- Driving with excessive speed in light of the circumstances
- Failing to account for adverse weather conditions
- Driving while fatigued
In Some Cases, Another Driver May Have Caused the Accident
It’s important to understand that another driver may be at fault for an accident, even if the accident only involved you and the emergency vehicle. This situation can arise when a driver failed to yield the right of way to an emergency vehicle as required by law, causing the emergency vehicle to take evasive action and collide with your vehicle. When this occurs, it may be possible for you to hold the driver that failed to yield to the emergency vehicle liable for your injuries, even though he or she never directly collided with your car.
There Is No Time to Waste After an Accident With an Emergency Vehicle
Municipal or state governments and their employees operate many emergency vehicles, which means that victims must bring claims arising from accidents with them within an extremely short window of time. For this reason, if you suffer an injury in an accident involving an emergency vehicle, it’s critical that you call an attorney as soon as you can. Waiting too long could make it impossible for you to recover compensation at all.
Call Us Today to Schedule a Free Case Evaluation with an Atlanta Personal Injury Attorney
At Brauns Law Accident Injury Lawyers, PC, we are dedicated to helping accident victims recover compensation for their injuries. We will review the facts of your crash at no cost to you and let you know whether you have a legal claim. To schedule a free case evaluation with Atlanta PI lawyer David Brauns, call our office today at 404-418-8244 or contact us online.
