Court ruling - Accident with emergency ambulance: Both parties pay half
If a driver collides with an ambulance at a traffic light when the light is green, it may be legal to split the material damage equally. This is the result of a decision published on Monday by the Frankfurt Higher Regional Court (OLG). According to the ruling, the driver of an ambulance may only cross an intersection at a red light if he or she is convinced that other road users are aware of this and are prepared for it. (Case no. 17 U 121/23)
In this particular case, the parties were in dispute over compensation following a traffic accident in Wetzlar. A driver and an emergency vehicle had approached a junction with traffic lights at the same time. The traffic light had turned green for the car, while the traffic light for the emergency vehicle was red at the time. As a car in front of the car did not start despite the green light, the driver moved into the left lane and drove into the junction. There he collided with the emergency vehicle, which was traveling with its blue lights and siren on. Both vehicles were damaged.
The owner of the car sued the operator of the emergency service for payment of 75 percent of the damage. The regional court had previously ruled that the damage should be split equally. Following an appeal by both parties, the Higher Regional Court has now confirmed the decision of the Regional Court.
In the view of the Higher Regional Court, the driver of the emergency ambulance breached his duty of care when using special rights. Although emergency service vehicles are exempt from the road traffic regulations during operations, road safety always takes precedence over the rapid progress of the emergency vehicle. In the case in question, the driver of the car had also committed a serious traffic offense by not paying attention to the special signals of the emergency vehicle. "A prudent driver would have at least assumed that the traffic situation was unclear and adjusted his driving style accordingly," the court explained the decision, which cannot be appealed.
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Source: www.stern.de
