GUILFORD COUNTY, N.C. — There have been 15 crashes involving ambulances in one North Carolina county over the last eight months.
MyFox8.com reported the most recent crash in Guilford County occurred on Wednesday when a taxi collided with an ambulance. The ambulance was transporting a patient to the hospital, but did not have its lights and sirens on. An EMS provider was injured and taken to the hospital following the collision. Police determined the taxi driver was at fault.
Guilford County Operations Manager Billy Livingston said most ambulance transports do not require lights and sirens and that drivers should always assume an ambulance is carrying a patient, according to the report.
In seven of the 15 crashes, the ambulances were parked and struck by another vehicle. The other eight incidents occurred while the ambulances were driving — two of them with lights and sirens on.
“Be aware that the ambulance behind you may likely have somebody in the back that needs medical care and if it’s involved in an accident then it delays their assessment at a treatment facility,” Livingston said. “The most dangerous place we operate is on the roadways.”