Incident in Texas

[Sponge60]

Anyone see the article on Firehouse.com about the fatal crash in Texas involving a volunteer responding to an emergency. The article was http://www.firehouse.com/news/2002/6/6_Paccident.html and there was a quote from Lt. John Denholm of the Harris County (Texas)Sheriff's Department. The quote was "Lt. Denholm says Maglitto had every right as an emergency responder to disregard the rules of the road..." Wow. Good thing we all don't think we can drive that way.

[TheWeave]

This is a tragety. The question that comes to my mind is, "What Fire Department does not conduct a criminal background on it's personnel and WHY NOT?" As for the driver of the fire apparatus (which apparently did have the lights and siren on), what was he thinking? Truthfully, he was acting like most personnel that drive fire apparatus....Must get there and fast or we can't let that other engine company beat us in....We have all seen this type of action before. We must remember that we are the professional drivers and must drive to protect the public and ourselves. The California Vehicle Code has two interesting codes in it. #1 - The driver of an emergency vehicle while traveling to an emergency is exempt from certain rules of the road. (This includes speed, lanes of travel, stop signs and stop lights, parking, turning lanes, and a few others). #2 - Basic speed law (The driver of a vehicle shall travel at a safe speed and drive at a speed that is safe based on weather, road conditions, and traffic status).
But there is the catch all that has not really been tested by the law or in court yet. It states that even though the the driver of an emergency vehicle is exempt from certain laws of the road, they have the duty to driver with "Due regard and safety for others". This is a vague statement because it is open to interpretation. Luckly for the personnel that have been involved in fatal accidents in Southern California lately, the drivers of the other vehicle have been sited by the PD with a failure to yield violation, but the drivers of the emergency vehicles have still had to live with the fact that they created a fatality by their driving of that emergency vehicle (mental anguish).
On another note, there has been 6-8 cases in the USA where personnel that were driving an emergency vehicle and involved in a fatal accident, were found guilty of neglient vehicluar manslaughter or neglient vehicluar homicide and convicted of a felony and sentenced to time in prison.
The best thing we can do as emergency vehicle drivers and instructors, is teach our prosonnel to be aware and drive as if their and other lives depend on it, because they do. Also, teach your personnel to expect the unexpected and SLOW DOWN.

TheWeave
LACoFD