W.Va. Ambulance Crash Claims Patient
Although no charges have been filed, police are saying the driver of a West Virginia ambulance appears to be at fault in a crash Sunday that claimed the life of a patient.
The Doddridge County Emergency Services ambulance was transporting William Wiseman 53, to United Hospital Center in Bridgeport, when the crash occurred, according to WVMetroNews.com.
Lt. David Wygal with the Clarksburg Police Dept., told the station: "The driver of the ambulance approached the red light with his lights and sirens on and proceeded to go through the red light and was struck on his driver's side, t-bone fashion [by a pick-up truck]. He lost control of the [ambulance] and it flipped on its driver's side."
Wiseman, who was being transported for non-life-threatening injuries, was killed in the wreck. The driver, the victim's wife, who was riding in the passenger seat, and three crew members in the back suffered only minor injuries, according to MetroNews.
The officer said while may appear that the ambulance had the right of way since it's lights and sirens were on, he stressed the driver was still required to make sure no one was coming before he proceeded through the light.
"Lights and sirens just don't give you the right to do what you want...You have to take control of the intersection, which means you need to make some type of eye contact or just make sure it's going to be safe to proceed through that light,” Wygal told reporters.
No charges have been filed. But, Wygal said he will meet with a prosecuting attorney later this week about his investigation.
