A DeKalb County EMT was killed and another was seriously injured while rendering roadside assistance to victims of a previous crash. The accident occurred on Saturday morning as the two EMTs were en route to Louisiana to deliver supplies to Hurricane Ida victims. They came upon an accident scene on Interstate 85, in which the driver of a Kia Forte had struck the center median cable barrier. The EMTs stopped their non-emergency vehicle on the side of the road and crossed the interstate to provide assistance to the driver. While they were rendering aid to the wounded driver, a Dodge pickup struck the Kia, killing one of the EMTs, while the other suffered serious, non-fatal injuries. The driver and passenger of the pickup were transported to a hospital in Columbus for treatment of their injuries.
Like most states, Georgia has a Move Over law that requires drivers who are coming up on a scene where there are emergency vehicles with flashing lights to move over at least one lane away from where the emergency vehicle is parked when passing it. If the traffic is too heavy to allow a lane’s worth of space when driving past the emergency vehicle, drivers are required to slow down and be prepared to stop. Unfortunately this law did not apply in this situation, as the EMTs who were rendering aid were not in an emergency vehicle with its lights flashing.
Determining liability in a chain reaction crash — which is an accident that results in a vehicle becoming disabled on the roadway that is subsequently struck by another vehicle — is often a complex endeavor that depends on a number of issues, including how fast the driver of the second vehicle was traveling and whether they had adequate opportunity to see and avoid striking the vehicle. If have been injured in a chain reaction crash, an experienced accident attorney from Cambre & Associates LLC can help. Contact us for a free case evaluation.
