Woman Ticketed Following Ariz. Ambulance Crash

A woman was ticketed by police after allegedly cutting off an ambulance that was transporting a patient to the hospital and causing a minor collision Friday morning. There were no injuries reported.

According to the Yuma Police Department, the incident happened at about 11 a.m. The woman had been driving a 2005 Silverado pick-up truck southbound in the left lane of Avenue A approaching 23rd Street in front of the Yuma Fire Department ambulance, which was traveling just behind her in the right lane.

"She decided she was going to transition into the other lane, and she didn't see the ambulance," said Joseph Waterford, YFD battalion chief.

The woman then entered the right lane and collided with the front left side of the ambulance.

"She scuffed the vehicle. It was extremely minor," Waterford said. "It is going to take longer to do the paperwork than to fix the rig."

Since the ambulance was carrying a patient, the driver stopped long enough to tell the woman to follow them to Yuma Regional Medical Center, located just up the street, Waterford added.

"The patient was relatively stable but needed to go to the hospital. We didn't want to delay that, so we proceeded to the hospital. The lady involved in the accident followed us, exchanged information, and that was about the extent of everything. The patient was OK."

The woman was ticketed for an unsafe lane change.

Copyright 2012 - The Sun, Yuma, Ariz.

McClatchy-Tribune News Service