Collision accident with a fire truck.. options?

Question

Serious answers only please..

I recently got in a collision with a firetruck.. I know what most of you are thinking " How did you hit a fire truck?!! Its so loud and big!!"

I told the officer what happened.
It was during traffic hour, I could not see the firetruck, and I couldn't hear it either. There were 2 lanes, I was on the left lane.
I told them I couldn't see or hear the firetruck.
My light was green, the fire truck's light was red.

They sent a letter home saying i am at 100% fault.


I spoke to the investigator who was VERY rude.
My defense: I had a green light, so I proceeded, the firetruck had a red light, and the fire truck did not stop/slow down at the red light, and just kept going, which caused the collision

The investigator ignored the fact the fire truck had a red light and kept trying to make me feel bad and say that i hit a fire truck, a big loud fire truck. She kept ignoring that it had a red light and should have slowed down.

Opinions? Thanks

Answer 1

You don't have many options.

Emergency vechiles take priority. If you have a green light, you yield to the vechile with the lights. You can't say that you didn't hear or see them--do you not look at other cars as you're crossing an intersection?

Even though the firetruck caused the collision, you caused the accident by not yielding. It's like merging into traffic and saying that you didn't see the car in your blind spot.

Answer 2

If a fire truck is responding to an emergency call with lights and sirens. They get to run red lights. Think about it - your house is on fire - your family member may be trapped inside ......how fast would you like the fire truck to get there? Same thing applies to Ambulances and law enforcement vehicles. This is why the average citizen is not allowed to have lights and sirens on their vehicles.


However, if the fire truck does not have lights and sirens on - then they have to stop for red lights just like everyone else.

Having a green light does not mean that you get to go and ignore everything else around you b/c "my light is green". You still have an obligation to make sure that the way is clear and that you can safely enter the intersection. If there is fire truck with lights and sirens then you yield to the fire truck.

If you were not able to hear the sirens - then you need to either 1. consider having your ears checked - maybe you have a medical problem you did not know about, 2. drive with the radio not quite so loud, 3. pay better attention to what is happening around you when driving.

Answer 3

You are in a tough spot here, but you already know that.

I'm sorry, but you have no chance of getting out of being at-fault for this accident.

1. Emergency vehicles have the right-of-way as long as they have their emergency lights/sirens on. The traffic light status does not make any difference. They automatically get the right-of-way no matter what color their light is.

2. In most states the emergency vehicle is owned by a government entity and many have immunity from claims against them.

3. Even though you had the green light you still have a duty to make sure it is safe to proceed through the intersection. Just because you have the green light does not mean you can just proceed without looking. If you did not see or hear the fire truck you failed in that duty. You would be surprised how many people have told me over the years that they didn't see or hear the emergency vehicle. If that is the case then somebody wasn't paying attention as they were driving.

4. Since you will be at-fault for this I hope you have liability insurance to pay for any damages to the fire truck.

Good Luck.

Answer 4

Contrary to most opinions here, emergency vehicles do not have the right of way in this situation. Emergency vehicles are held to the same traffic laws as other vehicles. What this is going to boil down to is who hit who. If you entered the intersection after the fire engine was in the intersection and hit it then it's your fault. If you had entered the intersection and the fire engine blew threw the red light and hit you then it's the engineer's fault. These kinds of accidents typically alway favor the emergency vehicle right or wrong. Your insurance company knows this and if you provide enough evidence they may fix your vehicle without raising your rates due to an accident.
A couple of years ago I attended a police car accident where the police were running their lights and siren and collided with a car pulling into the road into an oncoming lane. They skidded 120 feet crossed the center line and struck the oncoming vehicle. The police charged the oncoming driver with failure to yeild the right of way but photo evidence showed that the police had crossed the center line and were did not and were not in control of their vehicle at the time of the accident. The oncoming vehicle insurance company fixed her car and denied any responisbility for fixing the police car citing that to pursue the city for the damages to their insured would not be practical. Her rates remained the same.
Bottom line, alway carry a camera and take your own pictures. If you feel you are not at fault I'm sure the fire dept has photos of this accident you could use for your defense although you may have to get a lawyer to get them.

Answer 5

Your options - which is what you asked for . . .file the collision claim under your auto policy. Your auto policy will also pay for the damage to the fire truck, up to the property damage limit (which likely won't come CLOSE to paying for repairs. Do you have any idea how much a fire truck costs?). If they want to, they can then come after you for any difference, if you don't have enough insurance to cover the damage.

Pull out the drivers ed handbook for your state. You'll notice, that regardless of lights/signals, a fire truck or police truck or ambulance with the lights/siren going, ALWAYS have the right of way.

So yes, you're at fault for this. The only way *I* can think of that you didn't hear the siren, assuming you're not deaf, is that you had your stereo blaring so loud you couldn't hear the siren. Which STILL makes it your fault.

Answer 6

They put lights and sirens on fire trucks for a reason. You couldn't see it, but you should have heard the siren. Are you deaf, or did you have your subwoofer cranked up? The fact of the matter is the emergency vehicle has the right of way and you failed to yield. It doesn't matter if you had the green light. The fire truck didn't have to stop at the red light. You have no defense here.

Answer 7

She shouldn't have been rude.

But you need to know the road rules, man. All emergency vehicles have right of way. Red lights can be totally ignored and you are EXPECTED to get out of their way. They have the sirens because they are hugely loud and warn people from a fair distance away that they are coming.

So unfortunately for you and your hearing (did you have the rado blaring or what?), you ARE 100% totally at fault.

Your defense isn't a defense. If your house is burning down, you don't want a fire truck to wait meekly at the light because someome who can't hear anything really loud and can't see a big red noisy thing coming IS totally at fault.

Sorry.

Answer 8

Yikes, I doubt you will have much luck with someone from any sort of public agency. (They are all somewhat "brothers") Maybe a private investigator might be able to argue your case. But technically your green light means nothing if a fire engine had on a siren and lights. It might as well have been a red light for you. So that might not be the point to try and argue. Sorry, I know how hard it is to work out all the issues after an accident. Good luck!

Answer 9

You have no options.... The emergency vehicle has the right of way, no matter what the light says. It is your responsibility to look and listen for sirens and yield the right of way to that vehicle.

You might try turning down your stereo a little next time. Then maybe you will be able to hear the firetruck, police car, etc.

Good luck... you will probably need it.

Answer 10

you are in a pickle I dont think that you will be able to fight it. Emergency vehicles have the right of way and if they had theri lights and sirens on then you are at fault 100% no questions asked. fire trucks are big and red cant really miss them. Good luck and drive safe