Daily Archives: February 8, 2013

Car causes accident with paramedic and tow truck after not following traffic law

New York — Car accident victims in Westchester, NY were being attended to by a paramedic when a passing car struck the paramedic’s vehicle. Investigators say that the car that hit the paramedic truck was not involved in the original car accident. They explain that the new accident pushed the paramedic vehicle into a tow truck that had been also working at the New York State Thruway crash scene. Police reports show that the car apparently did not move over an extra lane while passing the original car crash, as is required by a newer state law in New York. The traffic safety law, referred to as the Move Over Law, says that drivers who are passing the scene of an accident must slow down and move over at least one lane in order to prevent another motor vehicle accident involving emergency vehicles or the initial crash, as occurred here. It was unclear if the driver of the car did slow down when approaching the original car crash but officials were continuing their investigation to determine if any further negligence occurred. The paramedic and tow truck workers were both injured in the secondary accident, as were the victims of the original car accident. The injured victims were treated and taken to the emergency room of the closest hospital by additional ambulance personnel for further evaluation. Lawmakers passed this traffic law in order to protect emergency workers from this type of accident and injury, at the hands of a careless driver, while operating on the side of dangerous roads and highways. The original law was passed over a year ago but some drivers have still not yet adapted or complied with it according to advocates. They included tow truck operators and road maintenance workers in the law in order to protect them in addition to police, firefighters and ambulance personnel. A New York City based law firm that specializes in accident injuries warns that too many workers are injured on roadways due to careless driving. This includes emergency workers as well as construction workers who often need to dodge dangerous drivers. Find out more about the Move Over Law and how to prevent these types of car and truck accidents here.

Photo by U.S. Navy [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons