Wash. Fire District Ambo Fined for Running Toll

A Washington ambulance rushing a critical patient to the hospital was ticketed for failing to stop at the toll booth on the Tacoma Narrows Bridge.

The ambulance was rushing a patient in cardiac arrest to Tacoma General Hospital. The driver bypassed the toll booth, according to The News Tribune.

The patient survived.

However, two weeks later the Jefferson County Fire District No. 2 received a $52 fine for not paying the $4 toll, the newspaper reported.

"Before we got there, I knew that I was going to go through the 'good to go' lane, because that was the least path of resistance," Joe Vierra, the ambulance driver, told the News Tribune.

"The last thing on our minds is whether or not we have to call another government agency to let them know we went code-red through their toll booth," Fire Chief Robert Low said.

Since disputing the ticket would have cost time and money, the department decided to pay the fine.

But the department says the issue here isn't about money; it's about saving lives. And the fire chief says the next time his crew has to race across the Tacoma Narrows Bridge in an attempt to save someone's life, the ambulance will not stop at the tolls.